Skillstreaming the
Child/Adolescent
By Arnold Goldstein and Ellen McGinnis
Materials Needed
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Program Forms (Manual that can be photocopied)
Student Manual (ideally, for each student in group)
Skill Cards (one box)
Easel or Whiteboard
History and Development of
Skillstreaming
• During the 1970’s psychological skills training
emerged
• Individual was seen in more educational and
academic terms rather than as a client in need of
therapy
• The roots of this approach was in education and
psychology, and the most direct contribution from
psychology was social learning theory.
• Skills Trainer:
– Viewed individual as deficient in the skills
necessary for effective daily living
– Was more active and engaged in deliberate
teaching of desirable behaviors (rather than
using interpretation, reflection, or reinforcement)
Psychological Skills Training Movement
• Initial trainees were low-income families who were underserved
in terms of mental health and psychological needs
• The work identified differences in child rearing among economic
classes:
– Low-income families: focus on the outcome or results of
enacted behavior (consequences); a direct, concrete,
behavioral response to such perceived consequences
(action); heavy reliance on the urgings, directives, or
commands of others rather than on self-control (external
authority)
Psychological Skills Training Movement
• Middle class families: more likely to be asked what
motivated their behavior; empathy was also
encouraged; and the children were reminded that
they should be able to use self-control and control
the urge to engage in such behavior
Psychological Skills Training Movement
• The contrasting child-rearing experiences became
relevant to the use of interventions in that learning
styles of the children were different
• Statistics indicate that two-thirds of middle class
clients consistently participating in verbal, insightoriented psychotherapy improve.
Psychological Skills Training Movement
• However, low income clients with a contrasting
learning styles do much less in response to such an
approach.
• An intervention tailored to the learning styles of the
low-income families were expected to show greater
success.
• The initial development of Skillstreaming sought to
accomplish this through role-playing, performance
feedback, and generalization.
Introducing Skillstreaming
• Emphasize:
– Skillstreaming will help you to deal with “people
problems” in ways that work for the adults and
peers in a student’s life
– The goal of Skillstreaming is to increase the
choices you have, not to force you to act in any
particular way
Examples of “People Problems”
• Have you ever experienced any of the following:
– Times when you feel angry but don’t know quite what to do about
it?
– Times when you want to express positive feelings toward another
person but can’t figure out the best way?
– Times when you think you need help from someone else but
aren’t sure how or when to ask?
– Times when you have been left out of something and don’t know
what to do?
– Times when you need to make or answer a complaint, respond to
an accusation, or deal with failure?
Skillstreaming Checklists
• There are three ways to measure initial use of skills and progress on
skill use:
– Teacher/Staff checklist
– Parent checklist
– Student checklist
• Decide which checklist(s) you will use, and decide when you will use
the checklist(s).
• Review of checklists
• For students, emphasize:
– No right or wrong answers, only “you” can decide on competence
in each skills, importance of answering the way “you” really feel
Skillstreaming Methods
(1) Modeling
(2) Role-playing
(3) Feedback
(4) Transfer
•
Emphasize to students: These methods are the same
ones they have used to learn many of the things they
already know. Take away the mystery.
Example - Basketball
• Someone good probably showed you how to shoot
baskets (Modeling)
• You then tried it yourself (Role-playing)
• The “coach” gave you things you were doing right
and the things you needed to change to become a
better player (Feedback)
• You practiced on your own and maybe shot some
baskets with friends (Transfer)
Modeling
• Having someone show you the skill
• A powerful way to learn!
• There are lots of examples of learning by modeling
in our society:
– Dressing, dancing, problem solving, etc
– We do not imitate all of the behaviors that we see
• Group leaders begin each Skillstreaming meeting
by modeling one of the skills chosen for learning
Role-Playing
• Trying out the skill yourself
• Students are asked to think of situations where they
could use the skill demonstrated in MODELING,
and then the group leader helps to pick one to roleplay
• Three roles:
– main actor, co-actor, observer
Role Playing – Main Actor
• The main actor acts out the steps of the skill being
learned
• The main actor will…
– think of a situation
– choose a co-actor
– give the co-actor needed information
– act out the skill steps
– think thoughts aloud
Role-Playing – Co-Actor
• The co-actor helps the main actor practice by
reacting in a realistic way to what the main actor
says and does
• The co-actor will…
– help the main actor
– receive help from the group leaders
Role-Playing - Observer
• The observer will pay close attention to what the main actor
and co-actor are doing and saying during the role-play, and
comment on what the main actor does well and give
suggestions about how he or she could improve
• The observer will…
– listen
– watch
– think of things done well
– think of suggestions for improvement
Why is Role-Playing Important?
• Role-playing increases the chances that students
will learn the skill better and remember it longer
• “Practice makes perfect” – with people skills, roleplaying is the opportunity to practice
Feedback
• Giving information on well a person has done during the role-play
• The only way the main actor will know how he or she has done –
what went well and what needs improvement
• Each group member will be assigned a skill step to watch for during
the role-play
• Following the role-play, group leaders ask each member:
– whether the main actor followed the step
– what the main actor did to follow the step
– what was done well
– what could have been improved
Feedback (cont)
• Feedback can also include suggestions:
– Other things the main actor might say
– Comments about the main actor’s nonverbal
actions – e.g., tone of voice, gestures, posture,
etc.
Transfer
• Transfer involves trying the skill outside of the
group, in real life
• Transfer = “homework assignment”
• Students:
– write out their plan on a Homework Report
– follow through with plan
– briefly write how well plan worked
– talk with group about what happened when skill was tried in
real life