Our Mission Statement
At Friendship Builders in Newport Beach, our mission is to create a safe, supportive space where children and teens can overcome social anxiety and develop the social skills needed to form lasting friendships. By utilizing evidence-based pragmatic language therapy, we provide a clear roadmap for parents seeking expert guidance on how to help their child or teen with social skills and foster the confidence needed to build meaningful, lasting friendships.
In our cozy office, our pediatric speech therapists help children and teens navigate those tricky "social speed bumps" that can make making friends feel hard. Whether it’s learning how to bounce back after a rejection, knowing how to join a conversation without it feeling awkward, or "reading the room," we provide the tools they need in a comfortable, small-group setting.
About the Owner
Molly B. Stuckey is a Licensed and Board-Certified Speech and Language Pathologist
Molly Stuckey, M.A., CCC-SLP, is a board-certified and licensed speech and language pathologist in Newport Beach with over 25 years of experience and the founder of Coastal Speech Therapy Inc. and Friendship Builders LLC. Recognizing the rise in child social anxiety, social-emotional regression, and social delays following COVID, Molly founded Friendship Builders in 2021. As an expert in social communication therapy, she is dedicated to helping children and teens build confidence, reconnect, and develop meaningful friendships in a supportive environment.
She has the following training and certifications: UCLA PEERS® for adolescents, Floor time Greenspan, Fluency Disorders, Myofunctional Therapy, Orton-Gillingham and Lindamood-Bell programs for Dyslexia and Apraxia. Molly has been a featured guest on The Stowell Center podcast and was published in The American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) Journal for her research in Stuttering. She was an honored listee in Marquis Who’s Who, 2025.
Molly wrote Flexi Lexi to inspire children to become more adaptable, using meaningful visuals to encourage self-awareness and new ways of approaching social challenges. This focus on cognitive flexibility is a cornerstone of her private practice at Friendship Builders, where she integrates these concepts into social skills groups for children and teens in Newport Beach.
