Newsletter
Volume 29 | 2006 | Number 2
ABA España/ABA Spain: Present and Future
By Javier Virués-Ortega
ABA Spain was created during the summer of 2004 under the name Association for the Advancement of the Science of Behavior. Currently, the main goal of our association is to train students interested in clinical and applied behavior analysis using a two-year training program. This program enrolls graduate students who want to get involved in clinical practice and are seeking advanced education in behavior analysis. We have some 26 students from the first and second editions of this program and we are looking forward to increase this number each year. Although training and education are our main duties right now, our institution plans to expand by creating a network of behavior analysis clinics and developing collaborative research projects.
Psychology graduate students in Spain need to pass a highly demanding exam (only 4% pass it) in order to be licensed. Those who pass the exam are accepted in a three-year clinical program in the public mental health network run by the Health Ministry. Only psychologists licensed through this process are allowed to work in clinical settings as clinical psychologists, particularly in public mental health settings. Our program offers training in behavior analysis with a clear concentration on clinical behavior analysis and intensive preparation for this exam. In doing so, we are trying to make applied and clinical behavior analysis services available through the public mental health system.
The students in our two-year training program have the chance to try their skills with real patients under supervised conditions during their second year. A range of 15 to 20 patients are attended in our clinic in Granada (Southern Spain) at any given time. In future editions, we plan to give our students the opportunity to spend some time off campus through international visits. We also plan to involve international scholars in different parts of the program. ABA Spain has renowned national behavior analysts currently teaching in the program, among them, Esteve Freixa (University Jules Verne), Maria X. Froján (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) and Rafael Moreno (Universidad de Sevilla).
In addition to our main program, our association manages an annual workshop on topics of special interest in the behavior analysis field. This year we had an International Workshop on Functional Analysis in Developmental Disabilities, which took place in April and was taught by Dr. Brian A. Iwata (University of Florida). The event was granted credits by the University of Granada (Spain) and was certified as a workshop with “scientific interest” by the Andalusian Health Administration. We had some 150 attendants from all over Spain, in addition to international attendants from Ireland, England, and Italy. This workshop was a great opportunity for networking of professionals and students interested on ABA-based services in patients with developmental disabilities as they are so few and are scattered throughout the country. It also gave us the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Iwata, who is now an honorary member of ABA Spain. The topic of next year’s workshop is currently under discussion; if you are interested in upcoming events please visit www.cienciaconducta.com.
Our institution has started to get involved in various minor research projects. We are currently supporting clinicians at the Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga (Spain) in the cross-cultural validation of the Motivation Assessment Scale in a sample of autistic Spanish children. In addition, some members of our association are interested in the functional analysis of psychotic topographies. We are developing a review article that explores empirical and methodological aspects of the functional analysis of psychotic behavior.
ABA Spain has a short history and a promising future. We are in need of a larger number of supporting members. Our main lines of expansion in the near future are:
- International networking with other institutions to improve the excellence of our program,
- Increase the number of students enrolled in our program,
- Develop a behavior analysis clinics network to support those of our students in the applied world who have completed their education, and
- Develop long-term collaborative research projects on behavior analysis with concentration on functional analysis and functional intervention in complex disorders.