Practitioner Issues
In Behavior Analysis SIG
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 01/05/2008 12:32:46 PM -0600 The Association for Behavior Analysis-International: Special Interest Group on Practitioner Issues in Behavior Analysis To whom it may concern I am writing to you in strong support of Licensure for Behavior Analysts I am the Chair of the Practitioners Issues in Behavior Analysis Special Interest Group (PIBA) of the Association for Behavior Analysis - International. Currently, our group represents over 200 behavior analysts throughout the United States. In December of 2007, we formally voted to endorse the licensing of behavior analysts. PIBA was originally started because many behavior analysts around the United States were experiencing restriction of their practice because local licensing laws failed to include them as a licensed profession. In addition for over 30 years, ethical concerns have been raised about the practice of modifying the behavior of individuals in a free society. These behavior analysts have sought to upgrade their standards beyond mere certification for behavior analyst technicians to being a fully recognized profession. They have done this in an interest to protect the public and to provide for the most effective treatment that they could render. The present bill will do this by placing behavior analysts who choose to license within the direct standards outlined for other master level behavioral health professionals. The present bill does achieve this, by first and foremost increasing the level of training from 5 master level courses to after a brief grandfathering period a sixty credit master program. In addition, the bill provides for 700 hours of direct mentoring through a highly structured internship program. Finally, the bill calls for 2000 hours post masters experience in the field of behavior analysis before eligibility for licensing as an independent professional. To allow for greater public protection the bill allows for the creation of a five person licensing board. This board will be charged with investigating ethical violations of behavior analysts and provides a source to consumers to during over potential legal violations to the state. This will ensure that behavior analysis is always functioning to enhance functioning of individuals and thus increase personal freedoms. I have personally taught behavior analysts since 1995, first through Temple University and then through St. Joseph’s University. Our program continues to thrive and prosper, not only because of its academic excellence, but because it fills a large gap in the core education of behavior analysts to serve consumers in both the public and private arena. Our students’ skills have been greatly enhanced by the increased educational focus. As I am sure you are aware, there has been an exponential rise in the public's choice of evidenced based psychological treatments in recent years. Treatments based on behavior analytic interventions have shown success with a diverse array of populations including, but not limited to addictions (community reinforcement approach) and autism (e.g., discrete trial programs and verbal behavior programs), the treatment of combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (exposure therapy programs) and sex offenders (behavior modification programs), as well as schizophrenia (behavioral family training). Such treatments provide for a level of accountability formerly missing from behavioral health treatments and social services. In addition, as a profession, behavior analysis is highly focused on the sole use of evidenced based practices. Their training is almost exclusively in these techniques. As is pointed out in the bill, behavior analysts believe in the Association for Behavior Analysis’ position statement on the clients’ Right to Effective Treatment. The profession of behavior analysis is now at a crossroads It either regresses backward to remove itself as an independent profession and behavior analysts become mere technicians, which would lower the standards in the profession and greatly dilute the amount of effective treatments available in your state; or moves forward by raising the standards of education, enhancing behavior analysts’ assessment skills, and improving interprofessional communication levels through greater amounts of continuing education, thus improving public safety. I strongly recommend the latter, and I applaud your state’s efforts toward this end. I urge you to listen to the voice of behavior analytic practitioners in your state. I believe that they have great insight about their education levels and the level of care they wish to deliver to their patients. They often feel frustrated and inadequate when seeking compensation for their services. They are completing the path to licensure through their own volition because they feel the need to comply with their own state laws and they wish to deliver the highest standard of care possible. I applaud your efforts in raising the bar of behavior analysts’ education to the same level as licensed clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists and licensed professional counselors in the state. Such a bill will support the survival of the profession of behavior analysis. It is high time. Sincerely, Joseph Cautilli, Ph.D., LPC, BCBA Chair
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