Episode Description
In this episode of In the Field: The ABA Podcast, I talk with Rose Griffin, founder of ABA Speech and one of fewer than 500 professionals dually certified as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). Rose shares how her interdisciplinary experience has shaped her approach to supporting autistic learners and building more collaborative teams across clinical and educational settings.

We discuss the misconceptions that often divide SLPs and BCBAs, explore overlapping scopes of practice, and offer concrete strategies to promote ethical, respectful, and effective collaboration. Drawing from research, including Brodhead’s (2015) seminal article on interdisciplinary relationships, we dig into what it means to be a partner, not just a provider.

Key Topics

• Rose’s path to dual certification and the founding of ABA Speech
• Scope of practice vs. scope of competence and why that nuance matters
• Misconceptions and mistrust between SLPs and BCBAs, and where they come from
• Brodhead’s framework for navigating non-behavioral recommendations
• Practical phrases and strategies to support collaborative, non-combative dialogue
• How clinic culture and training structures can foster true interdisciplinary partnership

Key Takeaways

• Interdisciplinary collaboration isn’t optional. It’s essential to learner outcomes.
• BCBAs and SLPs both bring unique expertise to communication interventions, and understanding scope is key to ethical practice.
• Curious, nonjudgmental dialogue (“Tell me more about that”) opens the door to collaboration, even in tense situations.
• Building collaborative systems starts with culture: onboarding, supervision, and team dynamics all matter.
• We don’t have to know everything, but we do have to know when to ask.

Referenced Resource
Brodhead, M. T. (2015). Maintaining professional relationships in an interdisciplinary setting: Strategies for navigating nonbehavioral treatment recommendations for individuals with autism. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 8(1), 70–78. Read here

Keywords
BCBA and SLP Collaboration, AAC, Gestalt Language Processing, Functional Communication Training, Scope of Practice, Interdisciplinary Teams, Behavior Analysis, Rose Griffin, ABA Speech

Connect with Rose and ABA Speech
🌐 Website: www.abaspeech.org
📸 Instagram: @abaspeechbyrose
📧 Email: rose@abaspeech.org
🔗 LinkedIn: Rose Griffin

Subscribe to the Podcast
For more conversations about evidence-based practice, ethical supervision, and leadership in behavior analysis, subscribe to In the Field: The ABA Podcast. Visit Sidekick Learning for free tools, CEUs, and supervision resources.

Disclaimer:

BCBA®, BACB® [or any other BACB® trademark used] is/are registered to the Behavior Analytic Certification Board® BACB®. This website and products are not in any way sponsored by the BACB®.

All information and products are for educational purposes only.

🎙️ In This Episode of Supervision Stories

In the kickoff episode of our Supervision Stories series, I chat with Lindsay Milnes, a newly certified BCBA who took a creative, values-driven approach to her fieldwork experience. Lindsay shares how she turned challenges—like low client hours and limited access to unrestricted activities—into opportunities to apply ABA to her own life and build confidence along the way.

We talk about how she found the right-fit supervisor, used self-management and ACT strategies during her training, and eventually launched a mentorship group to support other trainees exploring health and wellness within behavior analysis.

If you're a trainee feeling stuck or a supervisor looking to better support your students’ growth, this conversation offers insight, inspiration, and actionable strategies.

🔑 Key Topics:

• Finding a supervisor aligned with your values and interests
• Using self-management skills
• Creative ways to gain unrestricted hours
• Applying ABA to personal goals like water intake and exercise
• Filling supervision gaps with community and collaboration
• Launching a mentorship group for health-focused trainees

💡 Key Takeaways:

• You don’t have to wait for ideal conditions—create your own opportunities within supervision.
• Self-management isn’t just for clients; using ABA tools on yourself builds both skills and confidence.
• Finding a supervisor you genuinely connect with can change the trajectory of your training experience.
• Embedding your passions into supervision can lead to meaningful, career-shaping work.

📬 Connect with Lindsay:

• Instagram: @behavioral_inspirations
• Website: https://www.lindsaybehaviourconsulting.com/resourcesforabaprofessionals
• Free Resource: Healthy Habits Tracker

Disclaimer:

BCBA®, BACB® [or any other BACB® trademark used] is/are registered to the Behavior Analytic Certification Board® BACB®. This website and products are not in any way sponsored by the BACB®.

All information and products are for educational purposes only.

In this episode of In the Field: The ABA Podcast, I chat with Mellanie Page, CEO of The ABA Collective and Executive VP of Operations at ABS Kids. Mellanie brings a rare blend of clinical and operational insight to the world of Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), offering a practical and accessible approach to making meaningful change from within ABA organizations.

Key Topics:

From Clinical to Operational Leadership:
Mellanie shares how her unexpected transition into operations led her to pursue an MBA and, ultimately, build learning programs that bridge the gap between business strategy and clinical excellence.

What is OBM, Really?
We break down the broad umbrella of OBM—what it is, how it differs from traditional ABA, and the subspecialties within it, such as performance management, safety, and instructional design.

Practical OBM in Action:
Mellanie walks us through her “Practical OBM” framework, designed to help everyday BCBAs apply OBM in their current roles. Learn how pinpointing high-impact behaviors and aligning systems can lead to powerful organizational change.

Job Crafting and Burnout Recovery:
Discover how OBM skills can help you reshape your current role to align better with your values, reduce burnout, and increase job satisfaction—without needing a new job title.

Bridging the Science with Systems Thinking:
From motivational interviewing to change management, Mellanie shares how she integrates soft skills with hard data to build sustainable, values-aligned systems of improvement.

Getting Buy-In as a Practitioner:
Learn how to communicate your ideas in a way that resonates with leadership, by framing them around organizational values, ROI, and layered system alignment.

Key Takeaways:

• You don’t need to wait for permission to start using OBM—change can start within your own caseload or team.
• OBM isn’t about titles or certifications; it’s about building skills that create meaningful, scalable impact.
• The most effective organizational change starts with small, clearly defined, high-impact behaviors.
• Understanding stakeholder values and system alignment is critical to making sustainable improvements.
• OBM and instructional design are deeply aligned in their focus on performance, outcomes, and practical implementation.

Connect with Mellanie and The ABA Collective:

• Website: https://www.theabacollective.com/
• LinkedIn: Mellanie Page
• Instagram: @theabacollective
• Upcoming Events:
  • OBM Practitioner Program: 12-week cohort-based experience for designing and implementing real OBM projects with group coaching and support.
  • Digital Clinician: A program for clinicians interested in creating digital products and leveraging online business models to scale their impact.
  • Business of ABA Conference: A virtual event happening in September focused on operations, strategy, and growing with quality in mind.
  • Free CEUs: Monthly workshops on practical applications of OBM and ABA in real-world settings.

Disclaimer:

BCBA®, BACB® [or any other BACB® trademark used] is/are registered to the Behavior Analytic Certification Board® BACB®. This website and products are not in any way sponsored by the BACB®.

All information and products are for educational purposes only.

In this episode of In the Field: The ABA Podcast, host Allyson Wharam continues her conversation with Liz Matthews, CEO of EMG Consulting. After exploring burnout and personal evolution in Part 1, this episode dives into what that evolution looks like in practice—through hiring, supervision, equity, and organizational design.

Liz shares how she’s built a workplace that prioritizes flexibility without sacrificing quality, and how leadership grounded in values, boundaries, and honest conversations has helped EMG become one of Virginia’s Best Employers.

💬 Key Topics:

• Intentional Hiring and Interview Design: How Liz’s team uses structured, values-driven interviews to identify candidates who align with the culture—and why she’s willing to say no, even to highly qualified applicants.
• Flexible Systems with Accountability: How EMG balances autonomy and support, and why quality and flexibility aren’t mutually exclusive.
• Rethinking Pay and Progression: The challenges of building equitable compensation in a field where negotiation advantages are uneven.
• The Role of Supervision: Why EMG’s approach is rooted in shared values, honest feedback, and slowing down the process to focus on long-term fit and clinical integrity.
• Knowing When It’s Not a Fit: Candid stories about supporting trainees, setting boundaries, and recognizing when behavior analysis may not be the right path for someone.
• Practice Drives Policy: How EMG constantly evolves internal systems based on reflection, feedback, and real-world application—not just what looks good on paper.

✨ Key Takeaways:

• Flexibility without clarity leads to confusion. Clarity without flexibility leads to burnout. EMG’s model tries to avoid both.
• Trainees and staff are selected with care, not just credentials. Culture fit and internal motivation matter.
• You don’t need to scale fast to be successful. You need to scale intentionally.
• Real leadership means making hard calls—including downsizing when growth isn’t values-aligned.
• “Practice drives policy” is more than a phrase—it’s a guiding principle that allows the organization to evolve without losing its foundation.

📣 Connect with Liz:

• Instagram: @emg_consulting
• Facebook: EMG Consulting
• LinkedIn: Elizabeth Matthews

📚 Book Mentioned: Inclusion on Purpose by Ruchika Tulshyan

👂 Listen to Part 1:

Didn’t catch the first half of this conversation? Be sure to listen to Part 1, where Liz shares her story of burnout, evolution, and reconnecting with purpose.

🎧 Subscribe to In the Field: The ABA Podcast and explore more resources at SidekickLearning.net.

#BCBA #ABA #LeadershipInABA #Supervision #ABABusiness #InTheFieldPodcast #SidekickLearning #WomenInLeadership #ValuesDrivenWork #OrganizationalCulture

Disclaimer:

BCBA®, BACB® [or any other BACB® trademark used] is/are registered to the Behavior Analytic Certification Board® BACB®. This website and products are not in any way sponsored by the BACB®.

All information and products are for educational purposes only.

In this episode of In the Field: The ABA Podcast, host Allyson Wharam sits down with Liz Matthews, CEO and founder of EMG Consulting, for a raw, honest conversation about burnout, identity, and what it really means to do values-driven work in behavior analysis. From being one of the first dozen BCBAs® in Virginia to navigating insurance reform, motherhood, and personal evolution, Liz shares how reconnecting with her values—and a supportive community—helped her reshape not just her mindset, but her entire business model.

This is Part 1 of a two-part series that offers a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to stay in this field and stay well.

💬 Key Topics:

• The Early Days of ABA in Virginia: What it was like to be one of the first BCBAs® in the state, and how the field exploded post-insurance reform
• Burnout and Identity: Liz’s personal story of burnout while navigating motherhood, military spouse life, and professional overwhelm
• The Power of Community: How connecting with values-aligned behavior analysts helped her rediscover meaning in her work
• Business Redesign from the Ground Up: The evolution of EMG Consulting—why Liz moved away from traditional models and toward individualized, flexible, equity-informed systems
• Doing Better, Even When It’s Hard: Liz reflects on past practices, the importance of consent and compassionate care, and the vulnerability of realizing "we didn’t always get it right"
• Equity, Flexibility, and Women in Leadership: A candid conversation about parenting, caregiving, and what it means to lead from a place of reflection and purpose

✨ Key Takeaways:

• Burnout doesn’t always look like collapse—it can look like autopilot. And it often demands a deeper look at your values.
• Systems can be built using the science of behavior—Liz shares how she uses assessment, feedback, and qualitative data to design a flexible, individualized workplace.
• Compassionate, affirming care isn’t a departure from ABA—it’s an evolved application of it.
• Women make up the majority of the field but are still underrepresented in leadership. That gap matters.

📌 Don’t Miss:

➡ Liz’s perspective on why “doing better” starts with acknowledging harm
➡ Her innovative approach to individualized job roles and benefits
➡ A heartfelt story of crying on stage at APBA—and the healing power of shared experience

👀 What’s Next:

In Part 2, we go even deeper: what supervision looks like at EMG, how Liz hires and retains high-quality team members, and the concrete systems she’s built that earned her company a Best Employer title in Virginia.

📣 Connect with Liz:

• EMG Consulting: https://www.emgaba.com/
• LinkedIn: Elizabeth Matthews https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethmmatthews/

💡 Enjoyed this episode?

Share it with a colleague, follow the show, or leave a review—this is how we keep real conversations like this going.

Disclaimer:

BCBA®, BACB® [or any other BACB® trademark used] is/are registered to the Behavior Analytic Certification Board® BACB®. This website and products are not in any way sponsored by the BACB®.

All information and products are for educational purposes only.

Episode Title: Expanding BCBA® Careers: Supporting Diverse Practice Paths in ABA with Nicole Parks

Host: Allyson Wharam, Creator of Sidekick Learning

Guest: Nicole Parks, Chief Visionary Officer at Rooted Consultation

In this episode of In the Field: The ABA Podcast, host Allyson Wharam sits down with Nicole Parks, Chief Visionary Officer at Rooted Consultation, to challenge the status quo of applied behavior analysis. Together, they explore how BCBA®s can move beyond traditional autism therapy roles and pursue fulfilling careers in subspecialty areas of ABA. Nicole shares her journey across forensic systems, adult mental health, and consulting—offering a roadmap for behavior analysts ready to carve their own path.

🔑 Key Topics:

• Breaking the Mold: Nicole shares her early career in forensics and mental health, and what drew her back to non-traditional ABA work after time in autism therapy.
• The Subspecialty Framework: A 3-part plan for diversifying ABA practice—centered around supervision, learning opportunities, and advocating for job creation.
• Funding vs. Fulfillment: A candid discussion about compensation, burnout, and why many BCBA®s stay in autism therapy even when their heart lies elsewhere.
• Real-World Scope: Why understanding your scope of competence—and how to expand it—is essential in navigating subspecialty roles.
• The Undercurrent: Nicole’s membership program designed to support and inspire ABA professionals exploring diverse practice areas.

💡 Key Takeaways:

• BCBA®s are not limited to autism therapy—our science has far-reaching applications across healthcare, education, justice, animal behavior, and more.
• Exposure to diverse practice areas, ethical supervision, and ongoing mentorship are critical for growing the next generation of well-rounded behavior analysts.
• A major barrier to practice diversification is visibility—both in job listings and in the way we teach and talk about ABA.
• When one behavior analyst breaks into a new space, we all benefit—especially when we bring others along with us.

Connect with Nicole Parks and Rooted Consultation:

• Website: Rooted Consultation
• The Undercurrent: Continuing Education Membership for Subspecialty Areas
• Ignis Path: Remote Supervision in Subspecialty Areas
• LinkedIn: Nicole Parks
• Instagram: thembabcba | @RootedConsultation

Subscribe to In the Field: The ABA Podcast:

Don’t miss future episodes exploring innovation in supervision, training, and practice. Subscribe to In the Field: The ABA Podcast and explore more resources for BCBA®s and ABA businesses at Sidekick Learning.

Disclaimer:

BCBA®, BACB® [or any other BACB® trademark used] is/are registered to the Behavior Analytic Certification Board® BACB®. This website and products are not in any way sponsored by the BACB®.

All information and products are for educational purposes only.

Episode Summary

In this episode, we dive into the significant updates from the 5th Edition Task List to the 6th Edition Test Content Outline (TCO) for the BCBA exam. We discuss what’s changed, what’s stayed the same, and how these updates impact both trainees and supervisors in the field of ABA.

Whether you're preparing for the exam or supporting trainees, this episode will help clarify key shifts, including new terminology, changes in task weighting, and the growing emphasis on cultural responsiveness, ethical considerations, and applied assessment practices.

Key Topics Discussed

✅ Task List → Test Content Outline (TCO): Understanding the name change and its implications
✅ Structural Updates: Sections are now called Domains (A-I) with minor category refinements
✅ Exam Weighting Adjustments: Changes in emphasis on key areas, including ethics, behavior assessment, and supervision
✅ New & Expanded Content Areas:

• Ethical & Professional Issues: More focus on cultural humility, bias, and professional risks
• Concepts & Principles: Additions like behavioral momentum, multiple control in verbal behavior, and matching law
• Assessment & Measurement: Emphasizing environmental constraints and procedural integrity
• Supervision & Management: Explicit focus on promoting equity and effective supervision

✅ How These Changes Affect Supervisors & Trainees: Practical strategies for integrating these updates into training and study plans

Resources Mentioned

📌 Sidekick Learning’s 6th Edition Crosswalk – Download the breakdown of changes at www.sidekicklearning.net
📌 February 2022 BACB Newsletter – Official source announcing these updates
📌 Sidekick Learning’s Supervision Curriculum & Mock Exams – Designed to align with the new TCO

Disclaimer:

BCBA®, BACB® [or any other BACB® trademark used] is/are registered to the Behavior Analytic Certification Board® BACB®. This website and products are not in any way sponsored by the BACB®.

All information and products are for educational purposes only.

In this episode of In the Field: The ABA Podcast, I chat with Patrick Faga, behavior scientist and co-founder of FirstWork, about how technology is transforming discrete trial training (DTT) and behavior analysis. Patrick shares how his experiences as a behavior technician inspired the creation of FirstWork, a direct lesson delivery platform designed to simplify DTT while maintaining its core flexibility and personalization.

Key Topics:

• What is FirstWork? Patrick explains how FirstWork streamlines DTT by digitizing lesson delivery, eliminating the need for physical flashcards, and integrating reinforcement systems within a tablet-based platform.
• Balancing Tech and Human Connection: Patrick discusses how technology like FirstWork enhances the teacher or technician’s ability to connect with learners by removing time-consuming manual tasks.
• Affordances and Constraints of Technology: Learn about the unique advantages FirstWork offers, such as real-time feedback and customizable programs, as well as thoughtful consideration of its limitations and learner fit.
• Improving DTT Outcomes: How FirstWork leverages concept formation, critical and variable features, and automated data collection to promote generalization and support goal achievement.
• Impact on Teams and Organizations: Patrick dives into how FirstWork benefits ABA teams by saving time, reducing costs, and improving the consistency of lesson delivery, making it a game-changer for both practitioners and learners.

Key Takeaways:

• Technology doesn’t replace teachers or technicians—it enhances their ability to focus on the learner by automating repetitive tasks.
• DTT, often misunderstood as overly rigid, becomes more dynamic and engaging when integrated with tools like FirstWork.
• FirstWork’s customizable features ensure lessons are tailored to each learner, while the platform's reinforcement system motivates participation and strengthens autonomy.

Keywords: Discrete Trial Training, ABA, Behavior Analysis, Technology in ABA, DTT Platforms, Reinforcement Systems, Behavior Technician Tools, Concept Formation, Generalization, Patrick Faga, FirstWork

Connect with Patrick and FirstWork:

• Website: FirstWork
• Email: info@firstworkapp.com
• FirstWork LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/firstworkapp/
• Patrick Faga LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickfaga
• Instagram: @firstworkapp

Subscribe to the Podcast: Don’t miss more inspiring conversations about innovation in ABA. Subscribe to In the Field: The ABA Podcast for insights, tools, and strategies to elevate your practice. Visit Sidekick Learning for more resources on fieldwork supervision and professional development.

Disclaimer:

BCBA®, BACB® [or any other BACB® trademark used] is/are registered to the Behavior Analytic Certification Board® BACB®. This website and products are not in any way sponsored by the BACB®.

All information and products are for educational purposes only.