UNIALFA develops an extension project in Social Skills Training to strengthen the socio-emotional competencies of students.

The Psychology course at UNIALFA is developing, throughout the 2025/2 semester, the Extension Project in Promotion and Training in Social Skills (THS), an initiative that seeks to strengthen essential skills for coexistence, autonomy, and well-being of students. The work is supervised by Professor Maria Virgínia de Carvalho and involves the participation of interns and undergraduate research students from the course.

In scientific literature, social skills are considered factors directly associated with quality of life, conflict resolution, and the establishment of healthy interpersonal relationships. In this context, the Social Skills Training group is designed for psychology students interested in improving their socio-emotional competencies, especially those that contribute to ethical and humanized professional practice.

Throughout the meetings, the project addresses fundamental themes such as:

• basic human rights;

• Assertive communication;

• How to say "no";

• public speaking skills;

• respectful social interactions;

• Active listening and expression of feelings.

The undergraduate research students linked to the project, Amanda da Silva Lima, Leonardo Enrique Pereira Silva, and Thiago Makishi, are conducting research to evaluate the impact of social skills training on self-esteem and social skills.

Intern Luciana Maciel is developing research to evaluate social skills and resilience training: relationship and impact after training, and intern Mayara Carstens studied the impact of social skills training on the motivation to learn of psychology students, the topic of her undergraduate thesis.

Initiatives like this broaden students' understanding of the role of Psychology in promoting human development. Social skills training allows students to experience, in practice, essential strategies for care, dialogue, and building healthier relationships, both in their personal lives and in their professional practice.

The project is part of UNIALFA's comprehensive education program, which combines teaching, research, and outreach to prepare professionals capable of acting with responsibility, sensitivity, and scientific rigor.