Personal Growth and Leadership: Session 240 with Rich Brooks

In Session 178, we're going to hop in the time machine and take a trip back to April 2021. That's correct. This episode of The Behavioral Observations Podcast comes from the recorded panel discussion at last year's Verbal Behavior Conference. The panel consisted of Drs. Pat McGreevy, April Kisamore, Nicole Rodriguez, Alice Shillingsburg, Hank Schlinger, and Vince Carbone. With regard to Vince's appearance on the panel, I'm told that he really never does them, so our hosts at the Central Texas Autism Center must have been incredibly persuasive to get him to participate! Here are just a few things we covered in this panel event: Prompts and prompt dependence Training, supervision, and burnout issues for direct service providers How to think about the concept of 'behavioral artistry' How the behavior of the client informs and influences the behavior of the therapist How to advocate teaching functional skills instead of academic ones How three BCBAs hired an OBM consultant to assess their practice Why some of the panelists feel teaching to the BACB task list is not good for the field One of the reasons I held back on publishing this until now is that the 2022 VBC is coming up soon, and I thought that this would be a great way to get folks adequately prepared for it. The 2022 event will be taking place both in-person and virtually over April 7th and 8th. If you can't make it to Austin, Texas, then head over to behaviorlive.com/vbc for info on how to tune in from afar. One of the unique things about the 2022 event is that Dr. Hank Schlinger will be teaching a four-part Verbal Behavior master class to get you prepared for the conference. These will occur in four, 2-hour sessions that will take place on February 16th, February 23rd, March 2nd, and March 9th. The conference itself will feature Vince Carbone, Francesca Degli Espinosa, Tamara Kasper, Pat McGreevy, Sarah Lechago, Kevin Luczynski, Kelle Rich, David Roth, Mark Sundberg, and Hank Schlinger. I will be there too to host the 2022 Panel Discussion, so again, if you're interested in learning more, head on over to behaviorlive.com/vbc for more details. This episode is brought to you by Tate Behavioral, a progressive ABA provider located in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. If you're a BCBA looking to work for a supportive and innovative team, and live in the heart of charming New England, visit tatebehavioral.com We are also brought to you by HRIC Recruiting. If you're a new BCBA – or a BCBA of any experience level for that matter – and you need an independent person to advise you on today's job market, go to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential appointment with Barbara Voss.

8 Helmi 20221h 2min

As far as podcast go, this episode was kind of tough to write a headline for (a task that I probably devote way too much time to doing!). My guest in Session 177, John McElwee, has been in the field - to paraphrase a line from Aubrey Daniels - before there was a field. John has had a long and productive career that's had some very interesting twists and turns. He's still going strong these days, and learning new things to help individuals with a wide variety of developmental and behavioral challenges. With that in mind, I suppose an overarching theme in this episode could be thought of as how John charted his own career path. In other words, by being open to new experiences, and actively investing in his professional development, he has been able to do some really interesting things in the field of ABA. So for early career professionals, try to listen to this episode with this in mind. In this episode, we discuss how John got into the field, the he took a detour in his graduate training to work as a union electrician, the work he did in the area of marriage and family systems, his connections with folks like Drs. Alan Kazdin and Russell Barkely, and lots more. But in the latter half of the show, we spend a considerable time discussing how John serendipitously discovered Relational Frame Theory by chatting up Dermot and Yvonne Barnes-Holmes at an ABAI conference, and how he saw the benefits of using this approach with individuals with ASD in an Early Intervention context. Along the way, we discuss the upcoming webinar series that John's doing with Peak Behavioral. If you're interested in learning more about this, it starts in March 2022. You can find information about this webinar series as well as individualized coaching opportunities with John through Peak Behavioral Services' website: www.pkservice.org/purchase. If this is something you're interested in and you'd like to save a few bucks in the process, use the promo code "podcast22" at checkout to receive a discounted price of $79 per webinar. Resources mentioned in this episode: Check out John's webinar series with Peak Behavior! Oregon Social Learning Center. Dr. Russell Barkley. Dr. Alan Kazdin. The Purple Book.* Brief Report: The Training and Assessment of Relational Precursors and Abilities (TARPA): A Preliminary Analysis (Moran, Stewart, McElwee, and Ming, 2010). Using RFT to Promote Generative Language, Volume 1 (Ming, Stewart, and McElwee). This podcast is brought to you with the support of: The Whoop Strap! I've been wearing the Whoop Strap for over a year now, and I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed getting quantitative information on all aspects of my health, including sleep analytics, heart rate, along with heart rate variability, calorie burn, exercise intensity, and Whoop's proprietary "strain" score. I could extol this neat device's virtues indefinitely to you, but instead, you can go check it out for yourself. To get your first month free, head over to behavioralobservations.com/whoop! Institutional Tier Patron Greenspace Behavioral Technology. Greenspace behavior offers cutting edge supervisor coaching, performance and competency-based trainings, and organizational supports for new BCBA and trainees. Find out how you can optimize your supervision practices, improve clinical outcomes, and increase employee satisfaction at Greenspacebehavior.com. And of course, the aforementioned Peak Behavioral, where you can sign up for John's webinar series using the discount code, podcast22 at checkout.

31 Tammi 20221h 9min

In the 10th (tenth!!!) installment of the Inside JABA Series, Dr. Linda LeBlanc and I are joined by Drs. Jenn Austin and Dithu Rajaraman to discuss the paper they co-authored with Drs. Holly Gover, Tony Cammilleri, David Donnelly, and Greg Hanley. The paper is titled, Towards Trauma-Informed Applications of Behavior Analysis, and you can find it in the latest issue of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. If you haven't seen the paper yet, check out the abstract below: Despite a growing acknowledgement of the importance of understanding the impacts of trauma on therapeutic approaches across human service disciplines, discussions of trauma have been relatively infrequent in the behavior analytic literature. In this paper, we delineate some of the barriers to discussing and investigating trauma in applied behavior analysis (ABA) and describe how the core commitments of trauma-informed care could be applied to behavior analysis. We then provide some examples of how trauma-informed care might be incorporated into ABA practice. We conclude by suggesting opportunities to approach trauma as a viable avenue for behavior analytic research and argue that omitting trauma-informed care from ABA could be detrimental not only to the public perception of ABA, but to the effectiveness of our assessment and treatment procedures. Rajaraman et al. (2022) During the discussion, we covered: How this large group of authors became connected. What motivated them to write this paper. What literatures outside of Behavior Analysis informed their point of view. How this paper is a "Big Idea Paper." Why Behavior Analysts may shy away from discussing trauma. The core commitments of Trauma-Informed ABA. The parallels between Compassionate Care and Trauma-Informed ABA. The role of Respondent Conditioning. Whether a Trauma-specific certification for ABA providers would be helpful. If you haven't done so already, I do recommend going back in the catalog and checking out Session 131 with Dr. Camille Kolu. As a matter of fact, I've been in contact with her recently, and we're planning on a follow up episode, so if you're interested in learning more about the implications of adverse experiences as they relate to the practice of Behavior Analysis, simply stay tuned. As with the other shows in the Inside JABA Series, this episode is available for BACB Continuing Education. If you'd like to learn more about how to access these podcasts for your professional development needs, click here. Also, if you enjoy the Inside JABA content, please consider subscribing to the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. Compared to other journals, it's quite a bargain price-wise, and it helps to support the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Resourced discussed in this episode: The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma* Toxic Childhood Stress* Compassionate Care in Behavior Analytic Treatment. Taylor, LeBlanc, and Nosik (2018). Centers for Disease Control ACES page.

18 Tammi 20221h 20min

As noted in the first few minutes of this episode, Dr. Florence DiGennaro Reed has been one of the most-requested guests by audience members, and I'm thrilled to have her back on the show for a one-on-one chat. Dr. DiGennaro Reed, better known as Flo by friends and colleagues, is the Chairperson of the Department of Applied Behavioral Science as well as the Director of The Performance Management Laboratory at the University of Kansas. In this interview, we chat about her unique early experiences in Behavior Analysis and the fascinating research that she's conducting at KU. We also spent a good chunk of time talking about meetings. I know that may sound boring, but hear me out... we talk about the attributes of bad meetings, and conversely how to run effective meetings. We also talk about how to determine whether that meeting you had really could have bene an email (insert meme here ;-). We then segued into discussing navigating power differentials in the workplace, having difficult conversations in the workplace, optimizing Behavioral Skills Training sequences, and learning essential professional repertoires for today's BCBAs. We close the public feed of this interview with some fantastic advice for the newly-minted BCBA (or BCBAs of all experience levels for that matter!) For Patreon subscribers, we spend some additional content time discussing how to present effectively via Zoom or other conferencing platforms. Resources discussed in this episode: The Performance Management Laboratory. An Introduction to Behavior Analysis (disclosure: Amazon Affiliate Link). Meeting vs. Email decision chart. Planning and Leading Effective Meetings (LeBlanc and Nosik, 2019). Enhancing the training integrity of human service staff using pyramidal behavioral skills training (Erath et al, 2020). Training human service staff to implement behavioral skills training using a video-based intervention (Erath, DiGennaro Reed, and Blackman, 2021). Functional Assessment and Intervention for Organizational Behavior Change: Improving the Timeliness of Staff Meetings at a Human Services Organization (Fienup et al, 2013). Crucial Conversations (disclosure: Amazon Affiliate Link). ACT Bullseye Exercise. Reddit ABA page. Session 175 is brought to you with support from: HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. Behavior University. (who incidentally is sponsoring the Stone Soup Conference!) Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.

4 Tammi 20221h 3min

Hi folks, as I note in my opening comments, my friends from ABA Inside Track and I got together again for a Year-In-Review episode. Perhaps in keeping with our mood, we kept this year's review somewhat light. Instead of discussing the weighty issues of Behavior Analysis, we talked about what we've been up to in 2021. Jackie and I talk about our Covid stories, Diana shares her go to source on all things pandemic, and Rob and I talk about what we're seeing in schools these days. We also talk about what's new for our shows, and at the very end, we discuss some of our favorite non-ABA podcasts too. Before signing off for 2021, I want to extend a huge thanks to everyone who listened to the show this year. I'd also like to thank my awesome sponsors (special shout outs to Behavior University and HRIC!), Patreon subscribers, and CEU customers. Collectively, you've all made this podcast truly viable, and for that I am eternally grateful! On that note, I hope everyone in listener-land has a safe, happy, and prosperous New Year. I look forward to sharing more fun conversations with you in 2022!

29 Joulu 20211h 31min

If you're like me, you are seeing more and more news articles about the challenges schools are facing with students engaging in problem behavior. For example, not too far from my home, a school district in Vermont recently proposed to shorten the school week in order to provide teachers with extra time to prepare for, and perhaps recover from, challenging behaviors in the classroom setting. As we've discussed many times before on this podcast, clearly there is a role for Behavior Analysis in these settings. And it is with that in mind that I was excited to chat with Dr. Paulie Gavoni, Anika Costa, and Andrew Houvouras about the book that they recently published with co-authors Frank Krukauskas and Eric Gormley. It's called "Quick Responses for Reducing Misbehavior and Suspensions: A behavioral toolbox for classroom and school leaders." In this episode, we spend a good chunk of time discussing the impact of the pandemic on student behavior, and why they felt this type of book was necessary to write. And while they provide an overview of the Quick Room process, I do think the book is worth getting for any school leader who is grappling with these increasingly common problems. For Patreon subscribers, we spent an additional 10-20 minutes talking about the book writing process more generally, along with what the authors learned after putting this incredible resource together. If you'd like to become a Patreon member to get commercial free access to the show, it's really easy to do so. Just go to Patreon.com/behavioralobservations to learn more. During our chat, we referenced a ton of resources, and I have done my best to catalog them below: The Quick Responses book The "Sprick Ratio" The 5:1 ratio in marriage "Human Competence," Thomas Gilbert Motivating Human Services Staff, Reed and Parsons (2006) School consultation pods (Session 74, Session 101, Session 78, etc...) Motivational Interviewing This podcast is brought to you by the following: Institutional Tier Patron Greenspace Behavioral Technology. Greenspace behavior offers cutting edge supervisor coaching, performance and competency-based trainings, and organizational supports for new BCBA and trainees. Find out how you can optimize your supervision practices, improve clinical outcomes, and increase employee satisfaction at Greenspacebehavior.com. Our very own BOP CEU offerings! Did you know we offer over 28 CEU events? To add to that, I'll have a few more that I'll be putting out there in early 2021, so if you'd like to learn about functional assessment, supervision, ethics, school consultation, along with the nerdy goodness of all the Inside JABA episodes, learn more at Behavioralobservations.com/Get-ceus! Lastly, if your 2022 plans include marketing your product, service, or agency to one of the largest and most engaged ABA audiences, consider advertising on Behavioral Observations.

21 Joulu 20211h 31min

Mandy Mason's road to discovering Behavior Analysis is a little different than most of my guests. When her daughter was diagnosed with Autism, she literally traveled the globe to find out how best to help her. I don't want to spoil the story too much, but what I will say is that Mandy's search for an effective treatment changed not only her daughter's life, but the lives of countless others. That's because once Mandy discovered ABA, and combined it with the power of Precision Teaching and Precision Measurement, she was off to the races. Mandy is the founder and CEO of Fit Learning Australia, where she and her team provide learning and behavioral interventions for a wide variety of clients. Her talents extend far beyond the world of Precision Teaching though. She is an Autism advocate in Australia, a Motivational Speaker, and in her spare time, a World Champion sprinter. Oh yeah, in her "spare" time, she also hosts The ABA and PT Podcast, which you can find on just about all podcast platforms (please check it out, and if you do, be sure to leave a great rating and review!). In this episode, we get into how Mandy discovered ABA, what led her to adopting a PT approach to her daughter's programming, how she connected with longtime friend-of-podcast Dr. Kimberly Berens, how she started Fit Learning Australia, how she balances such incredible work and life demands, and much more. For Patreon subscribers, we spend about another 20 minutes talking about how she got into sprinting, athlete management and coaching, and other fitness-related topics. This podcast is brought to you by: HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. Behavior University. (who incidentally is sponsoring the Stone Soup Conference!) Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. The Professional Crisis Management Association, or PCMA for short. Later on in the show, you'll hear from one of the most popular podcast guests, Dr. Merrill Winston, where he'll talk about how PCMA helps agencies support individuals who exhibit dangerous behaviors. For more info on them, go to PCMA.com.

6 Joulu 20211h 9min

If you're a BCBA supporting kids in public school settings, or even if you're a parent who has kids in school, you probably already know that sound classroom management is hard to come by. This phenomenon is perhaps more acute as schools have to contend with the disruptions in continuity imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, it is reasonable to ask what Behavior Analysis has to offer when it comes to helping teachers spend more time teaching, and less time dealing with conduct problems. Luckily, Behavior Analysis has provided us with a tried and true, easily implemented strategy for improving classroom management, and it's called The Good Behavior Game (GBG for short). And in Session 171, I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Jeanne Donaldson from Louisiana State University about the GBG in quite a bit of detail. As you'll discover in the interview, Jeanne earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Florida and is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Louisiana State University, where she conducts research on commonly-encountered childhood behavioral challenges. She was the 2018 recipient of the B. F. Skinner Foundation New Applied Researcher Award from APA Division 25. She is currently an Associate Editor at the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. Dr. Donaldson is a BCBA-D and Licensed Behavior Analyst in the state of Louisiana. In this episode we discuss how Jeanne got into Behavior Analysis, we provide an overview of the general structure of the GBG, and we hear what it was like for Jeanne to run the GBG for the first time in a classroom setting. We also talk about procedural variations of the GBG as well as how to troubleshoot when the GBG. In these exchanges, I hope you'll develop an appreciation of the broad applicability of this approach, especially in light of some of the positive outcomes that have been documented in some longitudinal studies of the GBG. At the same time, I always get a bit disappointed when discussing the GBG, because we have an extraordinarily robust intervention ready to offer the world, but as we discuss in this episode, most public school teachers have no clue about it. It's kind of the opposite of the Habit Reversal literature, where the behavioral treatment of tic disorders could be considered standard-of-care these days. As such, for my fellow school-based practitioners, I'd love to hear what you think the barriers are to this intervention. Lastly, Jeanne has also contributed to the Time Out literature, and for Patreon subscribers, we spend the last 15 minutes or so discussing what some current best practices are for using this procedure. Patreon subscribers can get early access and ad-free episodes, along with bonus content like this. Here are links to the resources we discussed: Kindergarten Cop. Perone (2013), The Negative Effects of Positive Reinforcement. Groves and Austin (2018), Does the GBG Evoke Negative Peer Pressure? Joslyn et al (2020), A Practitioner's Guide to the GBG (ed note: highly recommended!). Donaldson et al (2013), An Evaluation of the GBG in Kindergarten Classrooms (data from Jeanne's first use of the GBG, as discussed in the episode). Where to sign up to hear Jeanne's talk at MABA 2021. Asking for a discount/the world is more flexible than you think (comfort challenge reference) This podcast is brought to you with the support of: HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. Consider joining the BOP Patreon. Patreon members get early access to podcasts, bonus podcast material, discounts on CEU events from FTF and other continuing ed purveyors, occasional Zoom hangouts, and more! Institutional Tier Patron Greenspace Behavioral Technology. Greenspace behavior offers cutting edge supervisor coaching, performance and competency-based trainings, and organizational supports for new BCBA and trainees. Find out how you can optimize your supervision practices, improve clinical outcomes, and increase employee satisfaction at Greenspacebehavior.com.

18 Marras 20211h 38min