School Programs
PEERS® for Teenagers, Delivered in Your School
A structured, ten-week social skills program for secondary students, developed at UCLA and delivered in your school by a psychologist.
PEERS® explicitly teaches and practises common social conventions and strategies — how conversations start and end, how friendships are built and kept, and what to do about teasing, gossip and disagreement. Much of this is usually left to be picked up by observation. PEERS® sets it out directly instead, then gives students structured opportunities to practise.
At a Glance
What This Looks Like in a School
- Year Levels
- Year 7 and above — typically 13 to 17 years
- Length
- 10 weekly sessions
- Session
- 90 minutes
- Group Size
- Targeted small group, agreed with the school
- Facilitation
- Psychologist-led; therapy-assistant support depending on group numbers
- Parent / Social Coach
- Yes
- Teacher / Educator Support
- Yes
- Where
- On site at your school
- Cost
- Quoted per school; additional fees apply where parent/social-coach sessions are scheduled outside school hours
Identifying a Group
Which Students This Suits
PEERS® for Teenagers is designed for students who are interested in developing practical strategies for making and maintaining friendships, and who are willing to practise between sessions. Schools most often identify students who are:
- Finding it difficult to make or maintain friendships
- Often on the periphery of peer groups or social activities
- Uncertain or anxious in everyday social situations
- Finding conversations hard to start, join or exit
- Struggling with teasing, rumours or peer conflict
- Wanting practical strategies rather than general encouragement
A diagnosis is not required to take part, and taking part is not an assessment. Where a school is unsure whether the program may be appropriate for the students it has in mind, we are glad to talk it through first.
Program Content
What Students Work On
Each session introduces one set of strategies, demonstrates it, and gives students structured practice before they take it into the week. These are common social conventions made explicit and open to examination — not a single correct way to be social.
Conversations & Connection
- Starting and maintaining two-way conversations
- Finding and using shared interests
- Entering and exiting conversations
- Developing and maintaining friendships
Social Communication
- Exploring how humour can be interpreted in different contexts
- Communicating online and by text
- Organising and hosting get-togethers
- Good sportsmanship during games and shared activities
Navigating Social Challenges
- Responding to teasing and embarrassing feedback
- Managing disagreements and conflict
- Navigating rumours and gossip
- Strategies for bullying and reputational challenges
Understanding Friendship
- Recognising common friendship expectations
- Exploring reciprocal social interaction
- Practising skills across different contexts
- Increasing familiarity with common peer situations
Delivery
How It Runs in Your School
- 01
Identify the Group
Your wellbeing team identifies a proposed group of students. We meet with the school to discuss whether the proposed group is a workable fit. When forming the group, we consider developmental stage and group fit rather than matching students simply by diagnosis.
- 02
Place It in the Timetable
Ten weekly 90-minute sessions, generally within a single term. Schools commonly use a wellbeing period, an elective line or a consistent afternoon slot so students miss the same lesson rather than a different one each week.
- 03
Set Up the Social Coaches
Parent/carer participation forms part of the program. We work with the school to plan how the concurrent social-coach session fits the program timetable. Where those sessions need to be scheduled outside school hours, an additional fee applies.
- 04
Run the Program
A psychologist facilitates the program, with a therapy assistant supporting delivery where group numbers require. Students practise between sessions and each week begins by reviewing how that practice went.
- 05
Close the Loop With Staff
We can brief the wellbeing team on what the group is working on each week, so the strategies students are learning are recognised and reinforced in the playground and the classroom.
Working Together
What We Bring, What the School Provides
We Bring
- Psychologist-led delivery of PEERS® for Teenagers, with therapy-assistant support depending on group numbers
- All PEERS® program materials and student handouts
- Weekly social-coach sessions for parents and carers, on site or online
- Liaison with your wellbeing team throughout the program
- Insurance, Working with Children Checks and required documentation
The School Provides
- A consistent, private room for the ten sessions
- A timetabled slot that works for the identified students
- Identification of the student group, with your wellbeing team
- Communication with parents and carers about the coach sessions
- A staff contact for the duration of the program
- Access to a screen or whiteboard where available
Families & School Staff
Parent, Carer and Teacher Involvement
PEERS® for Teenagers includes a concurrent social-coach component for a parent or carer. Social coaches attend their own session alongside the student group, learn the strategies being covered, and review and troubleshoot each week's practice at home. The component is designed to support practice between sessions and help students use the strategies in everyday situations. This is part of the full PEERS® for Teenagers program — it is not an optional add-on, and it is what distinguishes the full program from our shorter PEERS® bootcamps, which have no social-coach component.
Parent/carer participation should be considered when planning the program timetable. Where families are unable to attend during school hours, The Social Space can arrange social-coach sessions outside school hours for an additional fee. This is quoted alongside the rest of the program rather than assumed within it.
We also offer teacher support. With the school's agreement, we brief teaching and wellbeing staff on what the group is working on each week. Teacher and wellbeing-staff awareness can provide additional support for recognising and practising strategies during the school day. It sits alongside the social-coach component rather than replacing it, and school staff are not asked to act as facilitators, therapists or social coaches.
The parent, carer and teacher arrangement is agreed with the school before the program is scheduled. We are glad to talk through what is realistic for your school community.
Research & Evidence
What the Research Tells Us
PEERS® for Adolescents was developed at UCLA and has been studied as a structured social-skills intervention. The findings below describe outcomes observed across groups of participants, not a guaranteed result for any individual student.
Social Skills & Knowledge
Studies have reported improvements in social-skills knowledge and aspects of social functioning, including social communication, cooperation and assertion, following participation in PEERS® for adolescents.
Social Responsiveness
Research has reported reductions in scores on standardised measures of social responsiveness. "Social-communication impairment" is the terminology those measures and the research literature use; it is not how we would describe a student.
Friendship & Social Engagement
Studies have reported increases in the frequency of hosted get-togethers and other social engagement following participation, although findings vary across studies and outcome measures.
International Replication
PEERS® for adolescents has been independently replicated outside the United States, including a randomised controlled trial of the Korean-language version.
Much of this research was conducted with autistic adolescents and with families who attended a clinic. A school group may differ from those samples in ways that matter.
School Delivery & Pricing
Costs depend on the number of sessions, the size of the student group and practical requirements such as travel, so we quote per school rather than publishing a set fee. Tell us what you are considering and we will put together a quote.
Parent/carer participation is part of the program. Where those sessions need to be scheduled outside school hours, an additional fee applies and is set out in the quote — the standard delivery cost does not assume out-of-hours parent sessions.
School delivery is arranged directly with the school. Medicare and NDIS arrangements apply to individual clinic participation, not to a program commissioned by a school.
School Enquiries
Talk to Us About Running PEERS® for Teenagers at Your School
Tell us about the students you have in mind and what your school is hoping to support. We can talk through whether the program may be appropriate for the proposed group and what practical delivery could look like.
Enquire About DeliveryTalk to Our Team
Looking for PEERS® for Teenagers for your own child? See the PEERS® for Teenagers program page.