Guide to Social Skill Training

While much has been written about the teaching of social skills to the less able, particularly in the context of mental health, the idea of teaching such skills to students undergoing professional training is comparatively innovatory.

First published in 1981, A Guide to Social Skill Training is both a practical guide for those about to set up SST programmes and a critical review of theory and practice in SST. Social skills training is divided into three categories for the purpose of this study: remedial (as taught to the mentally handicapped and psychiatric patients); developmental (for normal or ‘at risk’ children in schools); and specialised (for students of the ‘interpersonal’ professions).

The practical guidance offered to prospective trainees includes advice on skill selection and arrangement and on the three major elements in training, namely, sensitisation, practice, and feedback. The authors draw upon considerable experience of a programme of Simulated Social Skills Training (SSST), explaining its procedure, logistics, and cost-effectiveness.

A major theme throughout the book is the need to integrate social skills training into a total curriculum, and the book therefore will be of direct practical value to clinical and applied psychologists and to teachers in special education, ordinary schools, and tertiary education.