Applied Behavior Analysis:
Applied Behavior Analysis is the systematic use of behavioral principles to understand and treat behavioral issues. The principles or “laws” of Applied Behavior Analysis are based on the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Applied Behavior Analysis, much like Medicine is built from the ground up on scientific investigation.
Where Psychology is a social science, Applied Behavior Analysis is more closely allied with the natural sciences. Psychology often relies on explanatory fictions to explain behavior. Someone is said to act the way they do because they have low self esteem or poor impulse control. Applied Behavior Analysts do not rely on explanatory fictions. We believe that human behavior, and why humans do what they do, can be understood without hypothetical internal constructs.
Applied Behavior Analyst’s use the research strategy of the single-subject-design to systematically understand and change behaviors. Each individual is used as his or her own control. Behavior is tracked and visually analyzed. Experimental manipulation is used to determine the function of behaviors. Once the function of a behavior is understood the controlling variables are also understood. Environmental variables can then be changed to change behavior. Applied Behavior Analysis derives its power from empirically founded basic research and ongoing clinical research. It is data driven and outcome focused so it is ideal for the forward looking outcome based medical community.
Applied Behavior Analysis can be used in many fields from business or coaching to healthcare. I use the term Behavioral Health Specialist (BHS) to denote a licensed health professional who uses the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis to treat behavioral health issues. A Behavioral Health Specialist has a masters or doctorate in a health service profession such as Medicine or Psychology, they are licensed by their state to practice a health care profession and in addition they are Board Certified in Applied Behavior Analysis by the Behavior Analysis Certification Board.
Behavioral Health Specialist Philosophy:
A Behavioral Health Specialist (BHS) evaluates and diagnoses an individual based on standard DSM-TR or ICD-10 practices. The BHS then takes the additional step of identifying observable behaviors that can be operationally defined and tracked. After targeted behaviors are identified, the BHS starts the baseline phase of the single-subject-design. Data is tracked before intervention is started. When a baseline has been established, treatment can be introduced.
The variables that trigger and maintain the behavior are determined through hypothesis or optimally through a formal, functional assessment. Treatment is started and the BHS continues to track the behaviors of interest. Data is charted on a line graph for visual inspection. Visual inspection of an AB single-subject-design graph leads the BHS to continue or modify the treatment as indicated by the data. Pharmacological and behavioral treatments are driven by the data over time. As behavioral issues are resolved, other behaviors can be addressed.
BHS Philosophy of working with Children:
Most child-related problems that are presented by parents and schools involve excessive, unwanted, or unproductive behaviors. Excessive behaviors are dealt with by teaching appropriate replacement behaviors. After a child has been taught appropriate replacement behaviors, inappropriate or nonfunctional behaviors are made no longer successful. In other words, they are placed on a schedule for extinction. If the problem is a deficit in behavior, such as a lack of socializing, the child would first be taught skills necessary to socialize.
The next step would be to make socializing productive for the child. Socializing would further a child's success at attaining their goals. In general, we believe that the most productive way to change a child’s behavior is through parent training. We often make sure rules are clear and consistent, boundaries are established and maintained, and limitations are presented within the overall environment of increasing reward and positive social contact with the parent. Setting priorities is a consistent focus. It is important to work on the most pressing concerns first before moving on to lesser concerns.
BHS Philosophy of working with Adults:
Adults have more freedom to control the rewards in their environment. Having control over rewards is a double-edge sword. Immediate rewards like alcohol, drugs, eating, or sex often compete with rewards that require a long-term focus. The Behavioral Health Specialist's (BHS) role in working with adults is to help them attain their self-defined goals. This often involves teaching self-monitoring and data-tracking skills. Research suggests that teaching these skills alone improves many behavioral health problems.
Once self-monitoring and tracking skills are taught and established in a client's behavior they can be taught to use those skills to move beyond most problems. These skills allow a person to recognize patterns in their own behavior and identify environmental triggers which interfere with their goals.
Most adult behavior is rule governed. Rule-governed behavior is an outgrowth of verbal behavior. Rules are shaped throughout a person's life by the verbal community. When behavior is rule governed, the rules interfere with learning from environmental contingencies and/or consequences. This fact results in the unusual behavior of trying to solve a problem in a way that is known by experience to be unsuccessful.
The BHS helps the client to identify the rules underlying their unproductive behavior. Identifying the rules that guide behavior often leads to an automatic change in behavior. Once the rules are identified, they are analyzed and shaped in session with the goal of establishing rules that will consistently lead to productive, functional outcomes.