 | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(July 2010) |
A licensed behavior analyst is a type of behavioral health professional in the United States. They have at least a master's degree, and sometimes a doctorate, in behavior analysis or a related field. [1] Behavior analysts apply radical behaviorism, or applied behavior analysis, to people. [1]
The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) defines behavior analysis as follows: [2]
The analysis. The experimental analysis of behavior (EAB) is the basic science of this field and has over many decades accumulated a substantial and well-respected research literature. This literature provides the scientific foundation for applied behavior analysis (ABA), which is both an applied science that develops methods of changing behavior and a profession that provides services to meet diverse behavioral needs. Briefly, professionals in applied behavior analysis engage in the specific and comprehensive use of principles of learning, including operant and respondent learning, in order to address behavioral needs of widely varying individuals in diverse settings. Examples of these applications include: building the skills and achievements of children in school settings; enhancing the development, abilities, and choices of children and adults with different kinds of disabilities; and augmenting the performance and satisfaction of employees in organizations and businesses.
As the above suggests, behavior analysis is based on the principles of operant and respondent conditioning. This places behavior analysis as one of the dominant models of behavior management, behavioral engineering and behavior therapy. Behavior analysis is an active, environmental based approach and some behavior analytic procedures are considered highly restrictive (see least restrictive environment). For example, these service may make access to preferred items contingent on performance. This has led to abuses in the past, in particular where punishment programs have been involved. [3] In addition, failure to be an independent profession often leads behavior analysts and other behavior modifiers to have their ethical codes supplanted by those of other professions. [4] For example, a behavior analyst working in the hospital setting might design a token economy, a form of contingency management. He may desire to meet his ethical obligation to make the program habilitative and in the clients' best long-term interest. The physicians and nurses in the hospital who supervise him may decide that the token economy should instead create order in the nursing routines so clients get their medication quickly and efficiently. Instead of the ethical code of the Behavior Analysis Certification Board and the Association for Behavior Analysis International's position that those receiving treatment have a right to effective treatment [5] and a right to effective education. [5] In addition, failure on the part of a behavior analyst to adequately supervise his or her workers could lead to abuse. [6] Finally, misrepresentations of the field and historical problems between academics has led to frequent calls to professionalize behavior analysis. [7]
In general, there is wide support within the profession for licensure. [1]
The professional practice of behavior analysis ranges from treatment of individuals with autism and developmental disabilities to behavioral coaching and behavioral psychotherapy. In addition to treatment of mental health problems and corrections, [8] [9] [10] the professional practice of behavior analysis includes organizational behavioral management, behavioral safety and even maintaining the behavioral health of astronauts while within and beyond Earth's orbit. [11]
The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) and the Qualified Applied Behavior Analysis Credentialing Board (QABA®) offers a technical certificates in behavior analysis. These certifications are internationally recognized. These certifications states the level of training and requires an exam to show a minimum level of competence to call oneself a board certified behavior analyst (BCBA) or qualified behavior analyst (QBA). Certification came about because of many ethical issues with behavioral interventions being delivered including the use of aversive and humiliating treatments in the name of behavior modification. [12] American psychological association offers a diplomate (post Ph.D. and licensed certification) in behavioral psychology. [13]
BACB and QABA are a private organizations without governmental powers to regulate behavior analytic practice. While the BACB and QABA certifications means that candidates have satisfied entry-level requirements in behavior analytic training, certificants may require a government license for independent practice when treating behavioral health or medical problems. Licensed certificants must operate within the scope of their license and must practice within their areas of expertise. Where the government regulates behavior analytic services unlicensed certificants must be supervised by a licensed professional and operate within the scope of their supervisor's license when treating disorders. Unlicensed certificants who provide behavior analytic training for educational or optimal performance purposes do not require licensed supervision. Where the government does not regulate the treatment of medical or psychological disorders certificants should practice in accord with the laws of their state, province, or country. All certificants must practice within their personal areas of expertise.
Recently[ when? ], a move has occurred to license behavior analysts. [3] [14] Licensure's purpose is to protect the public from employing unqualified practitioners. [15]
The model licensing act states that a person is a behavior analyst by training and experience. The person seeking licensure must have mastered behavior analysis by achieving a master's degree in behavior analysis or related subject matter. Like all other master level licensed professions (see counseling and licensed professional counselor) the model act sets the standard for a master's degree. This requirement states that the person has achieved textbook knowledge of behavior analysis which can be then tested through the exam offered by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board or the one offered by the QABA. It also requires an internship in which a behavior analysts works under another master or Ph.D. level behavior analyst for a period of one year (750 hours) with at least two hours/week of supervision. Finally, those 750 hours are considered tutelage time. After that, the behavior analyst must engage in supervised practice under a behavior analyst for a period of another 2 years (2,000 hours).
Once this process is complete, the person applies to a state board who ensures that he or she has indeed met the above conditions. Once the person is licensed public protection is still monitored by the licensing board, which makes sure that the person receives sufficient ongoing education, and the licensing board investigates ethical complaints. A licensed behavior analyst would have equal training, knowledge, skills and abilities in their discipline as would a mental health counselor or marriage and family therapist in their discipline. In February 2008, Indiana, Arizona, Massachusetts, Vermont, Oklahoma and other states now have legislation pending to create licensure for behavior analysts. Pennsylvania was the first state in 2008 to license "behavior specialists" to cover behavior analysts. Arizona, less than three weeks later, became the first state to license "behavior analysts." Other states such as New York, [16] Nevada and Wisconsin also have passed behavior analytic licensure.
Recently[ when? ] licensure efforts have occurred in Canada for behavior analysts.
The Association for Behavior Analysis International has a special interest group for practitioner issues, which focuses on key issues related to licensing behavior analysts. In addition, they have a practice board and a policy board to handle legislative issues ABA:I. Finally, the association has recently put out its own model licensing act for behavior analysts.
Association for behavior analysis international serves as the core intellectual home for behavior analysts. [15] [17] The Association for Behavior Analysis International sponsors 2 conferences per year – one in the U.S. and one international.
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limitations imposed by practicality, regulation, safety and cost. The word engineer is derived from the Latin words ingeniare and ingenium ("cleverness"). The foundational qualifications of a licensed professional engineer typically include a four-year bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline, or in some jurisdictions, a master's degree in an engineering discipline plus four to six years of peer-reviewed professional practice and passage of engineering board examinations.
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how individuals relate to each other and to their environments.
The Doctor of Psychology is a professional doctoral degree intended to prepare graduates for careers that apply scientific knowledge of psychology and deliver empirically based service to individuals, groups and organizations. Earning the degree was originally completed through one of two established training models for clinical psychology. However, Psy.D. programs are no longer limited to Clinical Psychology as several universities and professional schools have begun to award professional doctorates in Business Psychology, Organizational Development, Forensic Psychology, Counseling Psychology, and School Psychology.
Counseling psychology is a psychological specialty that began with a focus on vocational counseling, but later moved its emphasis to adjustment counseling, and then expanded to cover all normal psychology psychotherapy. There are many subcategories for counseling psychology, such as marriage and family counseling, rehabilitation counseling, clinical mental health counseling, educational counseling, etc. In each setting, they are all required to follow the same guidelines.
A behavior modification facility is a residential educational and treatment institution enrolling adolescents who are perceived as displaying antisocial behavior, in an attempt to alter their conduct.
Applied behavior analysis (ABA), also called behavioral engineering, is a psychological intervention that applies approaches based upon the principles of respondent and operant conditioning to change behavior of social significance. It is the applied form of behavior analysis; the other two forms are radical behaviorism and the experimental analysis of behavior.
Behaviour therapy or behavioural psychotherapy is a broad term referring to clinical psychotherapy that uses techniques derived from behaviourism and/or cognitive psychology. It looks at specific, learned behaviours and how the environment, or other people's mental states, influences those behaviours, and consists of techniques based on behaviorism's theory of learning: respondent or operant conditioning. Behaviourists who practice these techniques are either behaviour analysts or cognitive-behavioural therapists. They tend to look for treatment outcomes that are objectively measurable. Behaviour therapy does not involve one specific method, but it has a wide range of techniques that can be used to treat a person's psychological problems.
Behavior modification is a treatment approach that uses respondent and operant conditioning to change behavior. Based on methodological behaviorism, overt behavior is modified with (antecedent) stimulus control and consequences, including positive and negative reinforcement contingencies to increase desirable behavior, or administering positive and negative punishment and/or extinction to reduce problematic behavior. It also uses "flooding" desensitization to combat phobias.
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) is a licensure for mental health professionals in some countries.
A mental health professional is a health care practitioner or social and human services provider who offers services for the purpose of improving an individual's mental health or to treat mental disorders. This broad category was developed as a name for community personnel who worked in the new community mental health agencies begun in the 1970s to assist individuals moving from state hospitals, to prevent admissions, and to provide support in homes, jobs, education, and community. These individuals were the forefront brigade to develop the community programs, which today may be referred to by names such as supported housing, psychiatric rehabilitation, supported or transitional employment, sheltered workshops, supported education, daily living skills, affirmative industries, dual diagnosis treatment, individual and family psychoeducation, adult day care, foster care, family services and mental health counseling.
The professional practice of behavior analysis is a domain of behavior analysis, the others being radical behaviorism, experimental analysis of behavior and applied behavior analysis. The practice of behavior analysis is the delivery of interventions to consumers that are guided by the principles of radical behaviorism and the research of both experimental and applied behavior analysis. Professional practice seeks to change specific behavior through the implementation of these principles. In many states, practicing behavior analysts hold a license, certificate, or registration. In other states, there are no laws governing their practice and, as such, the practice may be prohibited as falling under the practice definition of other mental health professionals. This is rapidly changing as behavior analysts are becoming more and more common.
Behavioral activation (BA) is a third-generation behavior therapy for treating mood disorders. Behavioral activation primarily emphasizes engaging in positive and enjoyable activities to enhance one's mood.
The behavioral analysis of child development originates from John B. Watson's behaviorism.
Functional analysis in behavioral psychology is the application of the laws of operant and respondent conditioning to establish the relationships between stimuli and responses. To establish the function of operant behavior, one typically examines the "four-term contingency": first by identifying the motivating operations, then identifying the antecedent or trigger of the behavior, identifying the behavior itself as it has been operationalized, and identifying the consequence of the behavior which continues to maintain it.
Occupational licensing, also called licensure, is a form of government regulation requiring a license to pursue a particular profession or vocation for compensation. It is related to occupational closure.
The Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) is a licensing examination developed by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) that is used in most U.S. states and Canadian provinces.
The Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) is an organization that issues certificates for biofeedback, which is "gaining awareness of biological processes".
Clinical behavior analysis is the clinical application of behavior analysis (ABA). CBA represents a movement in behavior therapy away from methodological behaviorism and back toward radical behaviorism and the use of functional analytic models of verbal behavior—particularly, relational frame theory (RFT).
Clinical mental health counseling is a healthcare profession addressing issues such as substance abuse, addiction, relational problems, stress management, as well as more serious conditions such as suicidal ideation and acute behavioral disorders. Practitioners may also assist with occupational growth in neurodivergent populations and behavioral and educational development. Clinical mental health (CMH) counselors include psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health technicians, marriage counselors, social workers, and family therapists.
Bridget A. Taylor is an American psychologist and behavior analyst, specializing in autism. She is the co-founder and CEO of Alpine Learning Group, a private school for children and adults with autism. Taylor is recognized for her research on children with autism in an applied practice setting, which has led to the development of research programs in other applied settings.