Want success as a BCBA? 3 key areas to think about
Managing these three key areas might increase your effectiveness as a clinician for years to come.
There certainly isn’t a one size fits all approach when it comes to wise words and BCBA success —don’t let the headline mislead you. But, like any desired behavior, there are a few prerequisites that increase the likelihood that you’ll succeed as a BCBA (and enjoy it too)! What is interesting is how these three things aren’t as technical or clinical as one might think. Meaning, it might be your deep knowledge of functional communication training, social skills groups, or functionally equivalent replacement behaviors that will ultimately dictate your success as a BCBA. Not that these aren’t important—they certainly are. Instead, there are a few aspects to working as a clinician that likely won’t be addressed in your masters program. Pay attention to these three key domains when assessing your own performance.
Document management. Not an exciting topic for most of us but organizing your files is organizing your mind. When you think about where your clinical documentation resides, there should be a feeling of warmth and comfort instead of stress and anxiety. (Definitely not excitement or enthusiasm though—that would be weird). You’ve worked too hard to certify yourself as a BCBA for it all to go up in flames thanks to a missing form. Know where your paper work is at! Ask yourself frequently: Where are my supervision documents (if you’re supervising BCBAs)? Wait, where are my supervision documents (from when I was a supervisee)? Where are my CEU certificates for this renewal period? How does my computer desktop look right now? Are all of my client’s clinical documents in the right spot? Are my files listed under the correct naming convention? Can I find everything quickly? Or am I digging in multiple locations to locate them? Touch base with yourself on this at least once a week.
Time management. This one is huge! Learn to run your day. Plan your work, work your plan. Time and time again I’ve seen competent, amazing clinicians allow their day to get away from them. In the future, I’ll include a plethora of tips and tricks in this area. For now, you can ask yourself a few questions. Do I check my calendar frequently and keep it up to date? Do I add important dates or appointments as they come up? Or do I forget to? Do I work off of a list? Do I expect myself to complete everything on that list? Or are my expectations more reasonable? Am I in a position where I’m frequently interrupted? Do I leave consultations, assessments, and sessions to put fires out elsewhere? Are my notes and documentation routinely in on time? Right now, there aren’t right answers to these questions. But it is worth asking them.
Relationship Management. Another big one. I think people in ABA especially remain with an organization for the quality of the relationships they have with their coworkers, kids, and families. Being a BCBA comes with its curveballs in this department. Now certified, you may have previously been an RBT. You find yourself giving feedback to people who consider you more of an equal than a supervisor. Maybe you’re terrified of giving feedback and ensuing confrontation. Maybe when you get unexpected pushback, you feel hurt. There are a variety of ways relationships can go awry on a daily basis and its important to check in with yourself and your environment to see where these relationships are at. Look for the imbalances and ask yourself (and your supervisor) if this is something that you need to fix. Other questions to touch base with yourself on: How are things with my supervisor? Which therapists are responding well to my guidance? Which aren’t? How could I improve this? How do the families I’m working with feel about things? What would my peers and supervisors say about my leadership? Where you might not be able to solve every relational issue right away, its important to check in and make an honest assessment.
The first step to fixing issues is identifying them. And these are areas that most masters level programs only touch on. The clinical world is a beast and it goes beyond mands and tacts. From my experience, if a BCBA flounders and burns out, it isn’t because of a lack of behavior analytic quality and integrity. Instead, its a general lack of awareness to what their strengths and weaknesses are—specifically in regard to the three areas mentioned above. Arguably, BCBAs are case managers before they are behavior scientists. Many of the principles found within the latter can be applied to the former.
As a BCBA, what did you find most overwhelming at first? What was the toughest “non-clinical” thing you had to master?
Martin
I found it most overwhelming to manage my schedule with billable hour requirements in a clinical setting. The stress of meeting hours while also being mindful of the patient's authorization minutes was hard at times, especially for early learners in their beginning stages of skill acquisition. I wanted to be intentional with their consultation hours but also needed to meet my billing requirements for the week. Overtime, having a set schedule helped me manage this better. I now work in a school setting and it took me a while to adjust my thought process of focusing more on my job duties and less on the time spent directly providing services.
The most "non-clinical" area that was the toughest to master was giving myself grace. I felt like I had to know everything, Cooper front to back and upside down! I've come to accept that as a science, the research is forever evolving, making me a forever student! I enjoy the aspect of philosophical doubt with respect to the science. Just because something didn't "work" doesn't mean you're wrong! You just have to revisit the drawing board and re-evaluate your process.