50: Get Your ACT Together with Jonathan Tarbox

Dr. Becca Tagg, PsyD, MSCP, NCSP, BCBA-D, joins me in Session 97 to discuss the pros and cons to starting your own ABA practice. Becca owns and operates The Del Mar Center for Behavioral Health in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and produces and hosts The Business of Behavior Podcast. Becca also founded The ABA Business Builders Facebook Group, which, as of this writing, has almost 8,800 members. So it is with her vast experience in mind that I wanted to have her on the show to talk about her experiences, trials, and tribulations with regard to running a successful ABA practice. This conversation was inspired by a post in the ABA Business Builders group a few months ago that asked the following question: "If you knew in advance the challenges of owning and operating an ABA practice, would you do it again?" As we discussed in this episode, the answers were mostly, "no." I wasn't really sure what I should have expected, but I was kind of surprised at how so many business owners would take a pass if they had to do it all over again. So Becca and I spend quite a bit of time discussing some common challenges to running ABA business, and she shares how she addresses them in her own work. Along the way, we field a handful of listener questions, mainly from BCBA's who are contemplating making the leap towards self-employment. Becca, as always, provided many thoughtful answers, and in our conversation, we referenced the following resources: The E-Myth Revisited. The (New) One Minute Manager. The Mindful and Effective Employee. The Aubrey Daniels Amazon Author Page. ADP (payroll, HR stuff, etc...). The Business of Behavior Store (a treasure trove of forms, policies, etc...). BoB Podcast episode, "Balance is Bull$hit." BoB Podcast episode, "Outsourcing." BoB Podcast episode, "Virtual Assistants." BoB Podcast episode, interview with random person. Constellations Behavioral Services. This episode of The Behavioral Observations Podcast is sponsored by the following: The University of Cincinnati Online. The UC Online program can be a rewarding way to advance in your career. Gain the cutting-edge knowledge and skills so you can help others while increasing your career options and earning potential. For more information, please visit behavioranalysisuc.online for more information. HRI Colorado.com, and whether you live in Colorado or Connecticut, or anywhere else in between, their mission is to find you your dream job. So for a confidential chat about opportunities in your neck of the woods, go to HRIColorado.com. The upcoming 4-day ACT BootCamp® for Behavior Analysts workshop that's going down on November 7-10th in sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. It will feature ACT experts like Steven C. Hayes, Ruth Anne Rehfeldt, Tom Szabo, Jonathan Tarbox and more. This workshop will cover: Parent training Staff management and development Organizational work Work with developmentally delayed populations and the chronically mentally ill Educational settings with special needs students This workshop is intensive. Over the course of 4 days, you'll earn 32 Type 2 CE's, including 4 hours of ethics, and 3 hours of supervision CE's. So if you're ready to take the next step, head over to praxiscet.com/bopodcast, and use the code BOP50 to save at check out as well! Go Lotus is an intuitive, easy to use, and dare I say beautiful system. It handles every aspect of practice management from data tracking and automatic SOAP notes, to scheduling and billing. They even offer a white-glove in-house billing service if you want billing fully managed outside your clinic. It is so simple your entire team can be up and running in less than an hour. For more information, go to golotus.com/register for a free demo. If you do sign up, tell them I sent you or use the coupon code Matt2019 and you will get 25% off for the first 3 months. They are so confident that you will love the system they allow you to cancel at any time. There is no risk and no commitment required. If you want more info, head over to golotus.com/register.

16 Loka 20191h 18min

Dr. Joe Parks, the Medical Director of the National Council for Behavioral Health, joins me in Session 96 to discuss mass shootings - a topic that was first talked about on this podcast back in Session 79, with Dr. Merrill Winston. It turns out that the National Council's Medical Directors Institute was wrapping up a lengthy report, titled Mass Violence in America, around the same time that Merrill's episode aired. As such, the council graciously offered to have Dr. Parks joins me to discuss the report's findings.First, here's a little background on Dr. Parks: In addition to serving as the Medical Director of the National Council, Dr. Parks is a Distinguished Research Professor of Science at the University of Missouri-St.Louis, as well as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Missouri-Colombia. He also practices outpatient psychiatry at the Family Health Center, a federally funded community mental health center established to expand services to uninsured, and under-insured populations. In this episode, Dr. Parks and I discuss the following: How he first became involved in this research project. How the MDI researchers defined mass violence for the purposes of their report. What motivates mass shooters. Prevention strategies that are and aren't helpful. The role of "threat assessment." The role of "problem solving," courts. And most importantly, what individuals can do if they suspect someone is behaving in a manner consistent with mass shooter profiles. If you're interested in reading the MDI report, click here to access it. And for more information about the National Council for Behavioral Health, click here. This podcast was supported by the Mental Health Risk Retention Group and Negley Associates. For 30 years, the Mental Health Risk Retention Group and Negley Associates have proudly served the unique insurance needs of mental health centers, community mental health facilities, shelters, halfway houses, counseling centers, and substance abuse and addiction treatment centers, to name just a few. They specialize in meeting the needs of behavioral health care organizations to ensure they get the comprehensive liability insurance programs they need. The Mental Health Risk Retention Group & Negley Associates bring together "best in class" insurance experts to provide a broad array of customized coverages. Their team of distinguished attorneys and actuaries, reinsurance companies, and underwriting and claim managers have decades of insurance experience in the behavioral health care industry. With Mental Health Risk Retention Group & Negley behind you, you have the peace-of-mind to focus on running your organization and serving your client, knowing that they have you protected. For more information, check out mhrrg.com. Or better yet, call them today at 862-286-3517 to schedule a meeting and find out how they can work with you to create a specialized package that meets your organizational needs.

1 Loka 201950min

Dr. Lauren Kryzak and Celia Heyman are on the podcast to discuss the ever-important topic of Supervision! Last spring, this dynamic duo presented a fantastic workshop on supervision at the New Jersey ABA conference, and they are here today to share some of the highlights of their approach to mentoring would-be BCBA's.If this sounds like something you want to learn more about, they'll be reprising this workshop at the upcoming Autism NJ conference, which is taking place on October 17th and 18th. I'll have details for this event in today's show notes, along with the other references and resources we discussed. During the show, we mentioned a variety of resources, and I've attempted to list links to all of them below: The details for their upcoming Autism NJ event (see p. 29). The 2016 Behavior Analysis and Practice Supervision Issue. Leaf et al. (2016). ABA is a Science, and Therefore, Progressive. The ABA Study Group. And hey, while we're on the topic of supervision... This episode was brought to you with support from the following: The University of Cincinnati Online. The UC Online program can be a rewarding way to advance in your career. Gain the cutting-edge knowledge and skills so you can help others while increasing your career options and earning potential. For more information, please visit behavioranalysisuc.online for more information. HRI Colorado.com, and whether you live in Colorado or Connecticut, or anywhere else in between, their mission is to find you your dream job. So for a confidential chat about opportunities in your neck of the woods, go to HRIColorado.com. The upcoming 4-day ACT BootCamp® for Behavior Analysts workshop that's going down on November 7-10th in sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. It will feature ACT experts like Steven C. Hayes, Ruth Anne Rehfeldt, Tom Szabo, Jonathan Tarbox and more. This workshop is designed to provide behavior analysts a foundational understanding of ACT, and it will cover: Parent training Staff management and development Organizational work Work with developmentally delayed populations and the chronically mentally ill Educational settings with special needs students This workshop is intensive. Over the course of 4 days, you'll earn 32 Type 2 CE's, including 4 hours of ethics, and 3 hours of supervision CE's. So if you're ready to take the next step, head over to praxiscet.com/bopodcast, and use the code BOP50 to save at check out as well! Lastly, did you know that Springfield, Massachusetts is just a hop, skip, and a jump from just about anywhere in the Northeast (look it up, it's true!). So find out how close it is to you, so you can be ready to attend the first annual Tate Behavioral Conference! Come hear from podcast favorites like Megan Miller, Kim Berens, and Ryan O'Donnell. I will also be doing a talk on the lessons I've learned from almost four years of podcasting, and we'll close the event with a live taping of a BOP interview, where I'll pick Dr. Kim's brain on all things Precision Teaching, fluency, measurement, and so on.

28 Syys 20191h 13min

Greg Hanley - the most popular Behavioral Observations guest by quite a bit - returns to the show for a fourth time, and this may be my favorite conversation with him yet! In this episode, we talk about the following: Why he started his new consultancy, FTF Behavioral Consulting, How he arrived at the decision to leave his academic post at Western New England University, Why he chose to "re-brand" the IISCA approach - which he now refers to as Practical Functional Assessment, How the PFA model has evolved over time, What should students and practitioners make regarding the divergent views between the Standard Functional Analysis and the Practical Functional Assessment models, How the PFA model can be construed as Trauma-Informed treatment, The BALANCE parent training protocol, What it's like to have PFA referenced in the 3rd edition of Cooper, Heron, and Heward, How Greg prepares for a conference presentation (in which we reference Pat Friman's contributions), What it's like to be an "ABA Rock Star," Lastly, we take several questions from The Behavioral Observations Membership Group. In answering these questions, Greg provides valuable insight into the nuances of this assessment and treatment approach for problem behavior. Greg cites a number of studies, and instead of listing them out here, I'd rather direct you to the website he's built to disseminate this work. There, you'll find a list of publications on this topic. Here's a list of a few other resources and trainings: The Facebook group for BCBAs Using the IISCA, The training event he and his colleagues are hosting on October 5th, in Worcester, MA, A two-part workshop on the BALANCE protocol at this year's NJ Autism Society's annual conference (see events B22 and B33), OK, I couldn't help myself, here is a paper that Greg mentioned not found on his site: Van Haaren (2015). Session 93 is brought to you by: Behavior University. Behavior University provides university-quality continuing education for everyday practitioners. To learn more about their CE offerings, discounts for podcast listeners, etc... please visit behavioruniversity.com/observations. The First Annual Tate Behavioral Conference taking place on October 25th in Springfield, Massachusetts, featuring presentations by Megan Miller, Ryan O'Donnell, Yours Truly, and Kim Berens. It will also include a live recording of the Behavioral Observations Podcast with my interview with Kim Berens. Here are a few other important details: 6 BACB CE credits (including 1.5 Ethics CEs) Oh, and save 15% off of your registration by using the promo code, "Matt" Did I mention that there's a free lunch? GoLotus. Go Lotus is an intuitive and easy to use, practice management system. It handles every aspect of practice management from data collection, to scheduling and billing, and more. It is so simple your entire team can be up and running in less than an hour. Listeners who use the promo code MATT, the first 100 people will receive 90 days of our data trackers completely free. And by signing up, you'll then receive an additional discount of 25% off the first 12 months. For more info, head over to golotus.com/register.

16 Syys 20192h 2min

I'm thrilled to bring back Dr. Rick Kubina of Central Reach and the University of Pennsylvania. It's been quite a while since he was first on the podcast, so we spend the initial segment of the program catching up on some exciting things that he's been involved with. Specifically, we discuss his triumphant return to podcasting with his brand new show, ABA on Call, and we also discuss the acquisition of Chartlytics, the company he co-founded with Dave Stevens, by Central Reach. Rick and I spend the most amount of time, however, discussing some really cool research projects that he's been involved with using Precision Teaching and Measurement in very non-traditional settings. What types of settings do you ask? Well, you'll have to tune in and find out. But long story short, it's some really cool stuff. We also talk about CR Unite, which is a Central Reach Users Conference, that's coming up in October. If you're a CR user, you may want to consider checking this event out so you can get the most out of this platform. If you listen to this episode and are wondering how to learn more about Precision Teaching, well you're in luck, because Rick and I round out the podcast by discussing how to learn more about PT. Here are links to the resources we mentioned: CR Unite, the Central Reach Users' Conference. Rick's new book, The Precision Teaching Implementation Manual. Heward (1978). Operant Conditioning of a .300 Hitter? Links to Martin Levy's work on teaching surgical residents using clicker training: NPR Article. Hidden Brain Article. Scientific American Article. The Central Reach Institute. The Standard Celeration Society. The SCS Facebook Group. This episode is brought to you by HowToABA.com. HowToABA.com is your go-to source an online ABA community. Members get access to ABA resources and materials, monthly CEU events, and an online forum where they can collaborate with like-minded practitioners from around the world. For more information, and to access over 40 free data sheets, visual supports, program descriptions, and more, go to HowtoABA.com, and click the "free ABA materials and resources" tab. Lastly, did you know that Springfield, Massachusetts is just a hop, skip, and a jump from just about anywhere in the Northeast (look it up, it's true!). So find out how close it is to you, so you can be ready to attend the first annual Tate Behavioral Conference! Come hear from podcast favorites like Megan Miller, Kim Berens, and Ryan O'Donnell. I will also be doing a talk on the lessons I've learned from almost four years of podcasting, and we'll close the event with a live taping of a BOP interview, where I'll pick Dr. Kim's brain on all things Precision Teaching, fluency, measurement, and so on.

6 Syys 20191h 17min

Steve Hayes returns to discuss all things ACT, RFT, and his new book, A Liberated Mind: How to Pivot to What Really Matters. We begin the show with a quick tutorial of sorts on Relational Frame Theory, as well as it's relationship with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. We then spend quite a bit of time discussing the use of ACT in the context of preventing and responding to staff burnout. We also discuss managing "difficult people," optimizing staff performance, and other aspects of management and supervision. Along the way, we frequently reference A Liberated Mind. To be candid, to say that this book is a big deal is a bit of an understatement. As Steve explains, A Liberated Mind is being published by one of the largest publishing houses in the world, which means that our science will have an opportunity to be disseminated in a way that we haven't seen before. In addition to the book, we discussed a few other resources, including: The Prosocial.world website. The Maslach Burnout Inventory. Bond & Bunce (2000). Bond & Hayes (2002). Steve's website, where you can get his free ACT Mini-Course. Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life. This episode is brought to you by the following: Behavior University. Behavior University provides university-quality continuing education for everyday practitioners. To learn more about their CE offerings, please visit behavioruniversity.com/observations. The First Annual Tate Behavioral Conference taking place on October 25th in Springfield, Massachusetts, featuring presentations by Megan Miller, Ryan O'Donnell, Yours Truly, and Kim Berens. It will also include a live recording of the Behavioral Observations Podcast with my interview with Kim Berens. Here are a few other important details: 6 BACB CE credits (including 1.5 Ethics CEs) Doors open for registration and coffee at 8:00 am Speakers begin at 9 am and end at 5 pm Lunch included Oh, and save 15% off of your registration by using the promo code, "Matt" GoLotus. Go Lotus is an intuitive and easy to use, practice management system. It handles every aspect of practice management from data collection, to scheduling and billing, and more. It is so simple your entire team can be up and running in less than an hour. Listeners who use the promo code MATT, the first 100 people will receive 90 days of our data trackers completely free. And by signing up, you'll then receive an additional discount of 25% off the first 12 months. For more info, head over to golotus.com/register.

21 Elo 20191h 26min

When I first interviewed Chuck Merbitz, he informed me that he had cancer, and that his case was terminal. You wouldn't know that by listing to the conversation though. One of the things that struck me about that episode was just how positive Chuck was. The day after he passed away, I re-listened to the interview, and found so many nuggets of wise advice that had forgotten about. I suppose the main takeaway to this episode was the importance of working well with people outside of our field. So with that in mind, I urge you to give this episode another listen. Even if you're not interested in precision teaching or starting a behavior analysis program at a university, there are lessons a-plenty to be found, particularly towards the end of the conversation. At some point, we may do an episode discussing his contributions to the field, but for now, let's take a moment to hear his story again. Lastly, I have been in contact with his family, and they have provided me a list of causes that were important to Chuck. These include: Union of Concerned Scientists (very active on climate change) American Civil Liberties Union (fighting for human rights in the courts) Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) Move to Amend (to end corruption and secrecy in campaign financing) If you'd like to make a contribution in his honor, I have links to these organizations in this episode's show notes. So without any further delay, please enjoy this conversation with Chuck Merbitz, and keep his loved ones in your thoughts. He will be missed indeed.

15 Elo 20191h 21min

If you're looking to improve your supervision practices, this is the podcast for you! In Session 90, I'm joined by Dr. Zahra Hajiaghamohseni, who recently wrapped up her dissertation on this topic. Here's a short excerpt from her dissertation's abstract: The purpose of my study was to examine the supervision practices of BCBA/BCBA-D who supervise precertification candidates and to determine if there were any statistically significant differences between supervisor demographics and supervision practices. An additional correlation test ... was conducted to evaluate for any associations between self-reported frequency of supervisor behaviors and precertification candidates BACB exam pass rate. (Hajiaghamohseni, 2019) I will not spoil the podcast by sharing the results here, but Zahra has generously provided access to her dissertation in the list of links below: Supervision Behaviors of Board Certified Behavior Analysts with Precertification Candidates (Zahra's dissertation... Hajiaghamohseni, 2019). The Behavior Analysis in Practice Special Edition on Supervision. Reed, et al. 2016, Toward quantifying the abuse liability of ultraviolet tanning: A behavioral economic approach to tanning addiction. BACB Resources, such as, The Professional Ethical Compliance Code. The white paper on ethics violations and code enforcement. ASD Practice Guidelines. 2018 BACB Annual Data Report. BACB Certificant Data through July 2019. BACB Supervisor Training Curriculum Outline. And if you're still looking for more supervision resources, check out these resources: Fieldwork Supervision for Behavior Analysts: A Handbook (Kazemi, et al., 2019). Remote Fieldwork Supervision for BCBA Trainees (Britton and Some Other Person, 2019). This episode is sponsored by: The First Annual Tate Behavioral Conference taking place on October 25th in Springfield, Massachusetts, featuring presentations by Megan Miller, Ryan O'Donnell, Yours Truly, and Kim Berens. It will also include a live recording of the Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria, interviewing Kim Berens. Here are a few other important details: 6 BACB CE credits (including 1.5 Ethics CEs) Doors open for registration and coffee at 8:00 am Speakers begin at 9 am and end at 5 pm Lunch included Oh, and save 15% off of your registration by using the promo code, "Matt" Behavior University. Behavior University's goal is to provide university-quality instruction for practitioners seeking continuing education! They've put together a special deal for BOP listeners, so head over to behavioruniversity.com/observations, where you'll save 10% on all courses and webinars. HRIC Recruiting. Let Barb Voss' 30 years of experience help you find your dream job, or if you're an agency, your dream candidate. For a confidential conversation about your career, reach out to Barb at https://www.hricolorado.com/contact.

8 Elo 20191h 29min