BCBA Burnout, Scope Creep, and Operational Issues Being Reframed as “Interpersonal Problems”?
I’m a BCBA (~2 years experience) who recently resigned after severe burnout from what started as a flexible clinical role and gradually turned into heavy operational support: staffing, scheduling, coverage issues, constant responsiveness, and increased “clinic presence” expectations.
I suspect some of this shift happened after operational leadership accommodations were requested, resulting in essential operational tasks being redistributed onto me without formal restructuring or discussion.
I repeatedly asked for clarification on: • operational vs. clinical responsibilities • scheduling ownership • after-hours expectations • leadership boundaries
Most important conversations happened verbally, while written communication often became vague or inconsistent once concerns were documented.
I eventually resigned because the role no longer resembled the position I accepted. After resigning, leadership suddenly became much more concrete about scheduling expectations than they had been for months beforehand.
Another concern: burnout seemed normalized. When I raised concern that an RBT appeared severely burned out, leadership immediately discussed moving them back to part-time — even though the RBT had requested accommodations.
Once I started pulling back to strictly clinical duties, concerns suddenly surfaced about “interpersonal strain” and communication issues.
Is this common ABA dysfunction, or does this sound like operational failures being reframed as employee performance/interpersonal problems?