Association for Behavior Analysis International

This symposium brings together several important and interrelated topics in the field of behavior analysis. The first talk will discuss how supervision and organizational behavior management (OBM) overlap and address some common misunderstandings in the field. The next presentations will discuss best practice in both leadership behavior and applying supervision principles to the development of behavior analysts. The final presentation will discuss in detail how the principles of supervision, leadership, and OBM generalize outside of clinical training.

At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) explain how they can work smarter, not harder, as supervisors; (2) state at least three skills an effective leader must gain; (3) state exactly the steps they need to take to improve at least three skills.

This presentation will discuss best practices for training behavior analysts. Specifically, we will examine a mentorship model, where aspiring behavior analysts are trained as junior colleagues. During the formal accumulation of hours, we will discuss how to gain both the skills necessary to practice as a behavior analyst in general, but also to function in the specific role for an organization. Then, after certification we will discuss how behavior analysts can continue with the mentorship model and grow based upon their individualized goals.

This presentation and discussion will examine all information presented and relate information to health, fitness, and sports performance. We will examine how supervision competencies can be trained and generalized to applications that may be considered atypical to our science. Consideration will be given to our ethical obligations in this type of supervision, and how our trainees and our science may benefit if we embrace these competencies and opportunities.

Supervision in applied behavior analysis (ABA) has become more and more important to the field. This is reflected in several ways, including an increasing number of published articles on Supervision and changes to the coursework, training, and continuing education requirements for Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA). However, there may be some issues with respect to conflating Supervision with Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), a commonly recognized subfield of ABA. The primary objective of this talk will be to help clarify where the two areas overlap and where they are distinct. We will begin by defining both OBM and Supervision. We will then discuss how specific elements of OBM are present in Supervision, but also how Supervision when utilized in ABA encompasses several additional components. Several examples of how this looks across different supervision roles will be presented. Why this distinction is important and how it informs course curriculum, training, and continuing education in both Supervision and OBM will then be discussed.

Supervisors, as individuals in positions of leadership, need to be decisive, productive, dependable, and efficient at the same time of being caring and understanding. Great leaders are not born with such skills, but they do have common characteristics that are a set of skills they have gained in their lifetime. In this talk, I will discuss the core skills every great leader possesses and offer practical tips for supervisors looking to become strong leaders.

Dr. Kazemi is the Chief Science Officer at Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (BHCOE), where she oversees standard development, evaluation methodology, and measurement science. She is also a professor at CSUN, where she has developed and teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework in behavior analysis. She founded the M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis program in 2010 and has collaborated with the CSUN community to provide graduate students high quality supervision experiences. Her research interests involve identification of efficient, effective strategies for practical training, supervision, and leadership. She is also invested in leveraging technology (e.g., A.I., robotics, V.R) for efficient training and feedback using simulations. She has worked on several nationwide large projects (e.g., with FEMA and NASA) with a focus on effective training and behavioral outcomes. She has received several mentorship awards including the ABAI Best Mentor Award, the Outstanding Faculty Award, the Outstanding Teaching Award, and the Outstanding Service Award. She has published articles and book chapters on a variety of topics including training, staff turnover, and the use of technology in behavior analysis. She is the leading author of a handbook written for both supervisors and supervisees that is titled, Supervision and Practicum in Behavior Analysis: A Handbook for Supervisees.