The Training Experiences of Behavior Analysts: Compassionate Care and Therapeutic Relationships with Caregivers

Abstract

Successfully working with families of children with autism requires technical behavior-analytic skills and critical interpersonal relationship-building skills. Taylor, LeBlanc, and Nosik (2018) suggested that many Board Certified Behavior Analysts might have been trained in graduate programs that focus primarily on conceptual and technical skills with little coverage of skills related to building therapeutic relationships. The current paper provides the results of an online survey of the precredential and postcredential training experiences of behavior analysts. The majority of behavior analysts surveyed indicated that they received no explicit didactic training or reading assignments on relationship-building skills in their graduate coursework in behavior analysis. Approximately half indicated that their practical experience supervisor provided guidance and mentoring on these skills. The majority of behavior analysts indicated that it is very important or extremely important that professional training programs develop formal training in this area.

First Things First: Parent Psychological Flexibility and Self-Compassion During COVID-19

“…Families may need assistance to ensure that their basic needs are met, including food, shelter, clothing, safety, healthcare, and financial support, before behavior analysts provide other kinds of support. Practitioners will need more than their standard toolbox of behavioral parenting strategies: technical skills must be balanced with fluency in collaboration, compassionate care, therapeutic alliance and self-care skills (LeBlanc, Taylor, & Marchese, 2019;Taylor, LeBlanc, & Nosik, 2019).…”

First Things First: Parent Psychological Flexibility and Self-Compassion During COVID-19

“…Families may need assistance to ensure that their basic needs are met, including food, shelter, clothing, safety, health care, and financial support, before behavior analysts provide other kinds of support. Practitioners will need more than their standard toolbox of behavioral parenting strategies: Technical skills must be balanced with fluency in collaboration, compassionate care, therapeutic alliance, and self-care skills (LeBlanc, Taylor, & Marchese, 2019;Taylor, LeBlanc, & Nosik, 2019).…”

Quality of Life for People with Disabilities: Why Applied Behavior Analysts Should Consider This a Primary Dependent Variable

“…In the past few years, some behavior analysts have suggested that in addition to learning the conceptual and technical aspects of ABA, behavior analysts need to focus on compassionate care-the soft skills that will help them work more successfully with families, clients, and other consumers (e.g., Taylor et al, 2019). Core components of compassionate care include active listening, collaboration, understanding a family's culture, avoiding jargon, and asking open-ended questions (LeBlanc et al, 2019).…”