Maximizing Your BCBA Fieldwork Experience

Previous articles have discussed full- and part- time job roles that can count for supervision hours towards the Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s (BACB) supervised fieldwork hours. This article aims to outline the benefits of working in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) before becoming a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). While working on supervised fieldwork, trainees will have the opportunity to learn more about the field of ABA by working with clients under the close supervision of a BCBA in a variety of settings.
This supervision journey can assist trainees in a multitude of ways by exposing them to:

Experiences with Clients

Supervised fieldwork experience toward a BCBA credential requires that a trainee obtain a client contact per supervisory period. This means that a supervisee must be observed by their supervisor providing behavior-analytic services to a client or stakeholders. A benefit of this is working directly with clients and implementing behavior plans allows you to apply the basic knowledge learned in school to real-world settings. Trainees may encounter maladaptive behaviors and learn how to decrease, redirect, or replace these behaviors over time to encourage more functional skills for their clients. Not only is this a rewarding experience for both clients and trainees- but it is also essential practice for becoming a BCBA. In my own experience as an RBT before becoming a BCBA, engaging with clients fostered empathy, patience, and problem-solving abilities that I still utilize daily in my practice. 

Supervision Opportunities

In the BACB handbook for BCBAs, trainees are encouraged to pursue supervision from multiple supervisors with a variety of clients. As a trainee, supervised fieldwork hours are a chance to seek diverse experiences. It would be useful for trainees to aim to work with clients across different age groups with a multitude of treatment goals. Exposure to a variety of cases can broaden a trainee’s scope of practice and will arm them with the skills needed to work in different professional scenarios they may encounter. 

Supervised hours should also be used by the trainee as a chance to network and build relationships with experienced BCBAs, behavior technicians, educators, and their families. Also, trainees can usually go to behavior analytic conferences at a lower price than a BCBA ticket- and some conferences offer scholarships to pay for trainees to attend. These are amazing learning opportunities where trainees can meet presenters from all over the world. These connections can offer mentorship, career opportunities, and valuable insights into different aspects of the field.

Finally, the supervision experience can be used by trainees to work in a variety of settings such as in schools, homes, and ABA clinics. It is important for trainees to experience working in these settings, especially if they are going to provide quality supervision in the future to others who are working in the same settings. For example, as an RBT who sometimes had to work in less-than-ideal home environments during my supervised fieldwork, I grew into a BCBA who found it important to enforce healthy environment policies for my own trainees. Without this hands-on experience I would not have realized the important differences between establishing policies for working in-home vs. clinic providing ABA services. Trainees should work in several settings to gain this understanding and to figure out their own individual preferences before becoming a BCBA. 

Skill Development

When working under the supervision of a BCBA, countless skills can be practiced and mastered by trainees. For example, trainees can use their supervised fieldwork hours to create documentation and data collection systems to be used with their individual clients. When I was a trainee, I was able to practice designing data sheets to capture the best picture of the behaviors that my clients were engaging in- and I had a BCBA supervisor to collaborate with to ensure that my work was correct. Trainees should take this time to ask questions about data collection methods and individualize their data sheets and monitoring systems to their clients. 

Fieldwork helps you refine essential skills such as behavior assessment. As a trainee, I was allowed to sit in on my supervisor giving assessments to new incoming clients. At the client’s reauthorization period, I was able to help graph progress monitoring and charting. These skills are crucial not only for passing the BCBA exam but also for providing effective behavior analytic services as a BCBA. Watching assessments in action can often make them easier to understand when learning about them, or later answering test questions about them on the BCBA exam. 

Another invaluable skill trainees can practice while gaining supervised fieldwork hours is communicating with stakeholders in their clients lives such as parents, teachers, and other professionals. This is excellent practice for trainees' future careers as BCBAs- where they will work to gain buy-in from stakeholders who will be implementing behavior change plans. Interactions with parents, siblings, and teachers is crucial for understanding the broader context of the clients' situations and can help assist in goal selection. Finally, establishing rapport with the other professionals working with a client can ensure comprehensive support and coordination of care for the best possible outcomes for the client.

Ethical Practices (and Dilemmas) 

Supervised fieldwork experiences should emphasize adherence to the BACB’s Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts. A BCBA supervisor should take time to discuss the ethical code and common dilemmas that a trainee might encounter in their career. More importantly, trainees might encounter situations where their ethical skills are put to the test. It’s important that trainees lean on their supervisors to make the best decisions for their clients. Having an ethical introduction to the field can foster a long career of sound decision-making that ensures that trainees practice within ethical guidelines set forth by the BACB. 

Conclusion

As a trainee, maximizing your fieldwork experience is crucial for becoming a competent and effective BCBA. During supervised fieldwork hours- it is important for trainees to seek out diverse experiences with clients in multiple settings as each client interaction and learning opportunity contributes to your growth and prepares you for the challenges and rewards of being a BCBA. Moreover, the opportunity to network with experienced professionals enhances learning and can open doors to mentorship and future career opportunities. Ultimately, supervised fieldwork not only fulfills certification requirements but also equips trainees with the practical skills and ethical foundation necessary for providing effective behavior analytic services and positively impacting their clients' lives.

REFERENCE

Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2023). Board Certified Behavior Analyst® Handbook. bacb.com. https://www.bacb.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/BCBAHandbook_231227-a.pdf