SPEAKER
Dr. Jonathan Tarbox is the Co-Founder and Program Director of the Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis program at the University of Southern California, as well as Director of Research at FirstSteps for Kids. Dr. Tarbox is the past Editor-in-Chief of the journal Behavior Analysis in Practice, a Board Member of the ABA Task Force to Eradicate Social Injustice, and was a founding member of the Advisory Board of the Women in Behavior Analysis (WIBA) conference. He has published five books on applied behavior analysis and autism treatment, is the Series Editor of the Elsevier book series Critical Specialties in Treating Autism and Other Behavioral Challenges, and an author of over 90 peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters in scientific texts. His research focuses on behavioral interventions for teaching complex skills, Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT), and applications of applied behavior analysis to issues of diversity and social justice. Dr. Tarbox is proud to have multiple neurodivergent family members and is working hard to become a more effective ally to the Autistic community.
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION & SCHEDULE
Substantial research supports traditional approaches within Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to support developmentally disabled clients. However, more contemporary approaches within ABA have developed, allowing our field to address the complex verbal behavior and private events of clients who struggle during ABA therapy. Substantial research supports ABA approaches to training and supporting parents but traditional approaches rarely address the distress that parents experience. Likewise, extensive research supports the effectiveness of ABA approaches for managing staff; however, staff still report high levels of distress and burnout. Put simply, traditional ABA procedures are effective but they sometimes fail to address human beings as whole people, who possess important private events beyond overt target behaviors. Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) is a contemporary behavior analytic strategy for developing skills that help people respond more flexibly to their own suffering by focusing greater attention and energy on behaviors that move them toward what matters most to them. Although ACT inside ABA is relatively new, research exists that shows that ACT can be an effective way to enhance ABA supports for developmentally disabled clients, their parents/caregivers, and the staff who support them. This one-day workshop will train practitioners in the fundamentals of ACT, including the topics of experiential avoidance, acceptance, defusion, present moment, self-as-context, values, and committed action. Most importantly, participants will learn a set of practical procedures for implementing ACT in the context of supporting clients, family members, and staff.
Learning objectives:
· Describe experiential avoidance as a behavioral repertoire
· Describe acceptance as a behavioral repertoire
· Describe defusion as a behavioral repertoire
· Describe present moment attention as a behavioral repertoire
· Describe committed action as a behavioral repertoire
· Describe self-as-context as a behavioral repertoire
· Describe how to implement at least one simple procedure that trains skills in the area of acceptance for clients, caregivers and staff
· Describe how to implement at least one simple procedure that trains skills in the area of defusion for clients, caregivers and staff
· Describe how to implement at least one simple procedure that trains skills in the area of acceptance for clients, caregivers and staff
· Describe how to implement at least one simple procedure that trains skills in the area of values for clients, caregivers and staff
· Describe how to implement at least one simple procedure that trains skills in the area of committed action for clients, caregivers and staff
· Describe how to implement the ACT Matrix with a client, caregivers, and staff
Schedule
Day 1 - June 17th 2024
· Setting the stage: Starting from a foundation of compassion, neurodiversity, and cultural humility
· Brief introduction to radical behaviorism, functional contextualism, private events
· Overview of the purpose of ACT and scope of practice for BCBAs doing ACT
· Overview of ACT skills
· Introduction to the ACT matrix
· Present moment across clients, family members, and staff
· Values and committed action across clients, family members, and staff
Day 2 - June 18th 2024
· Acceptance and committed action across clients, family members, and staff
· Defusion and committed action across clients, family members, and staff
· Self-as-context and committed action across clients, family members, and staff
· Putting it all together: Creating comprehensive support plans including ACT
· Committed action plans and farewells
