u/Straight_Chicken_692

Hi! I’ve been going back and forth on something and would love to hear from behaviour analysts or anyone who’s completed (or is completing) their master’s in ABA.
I’m in Ontario (just mentioning that because of the recent regulatory changes with the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts), and I’ll be starting my master’s this September. Since the new pathway requires post-graduate supervised practice, I know I won’t be completing my registration hours while I’m in school anyway.
Before my current job, I worked as an ABA therapist for about six months. Right now, though, I’m working as an ECE (early childhood educator) in a community-based program that’s a little different from a typical childcare role. I work with children, but I also spend a lot of time supporting parents, families, and the community. It’s a position I worked really hard to get after graduating, and I genuinely enjoy it because of how much I’m learning.
I know ABA is a science and that there’s a lot to learn beyond the coursework, especially when it comes to terminology, clinical thinking, and practical experience. That’s why I’ve been wondering if I’d be putting myself behind by staying in my current role for my first year instead of trying to get back into ABA right away. My program also has a placement in second year, so part of me wonders if that would be a better time to transition back into an ABA role.
Has anyone else taken a similar path? If you worked in a related role with children or families instead of directly in ABA during your master’s, did you feel behind afterward? Or did you find the experience in an adjacent field was still valuable?

I just saw the s’mores drinks that Starbucks brought back and it just reminded me of how it would make sense for this to be the season Tim’s maybe brings back their marshmallow cold foam hopefully 😭🤞🏾

I’ve been working in my first ECE position for about two months, and I’m still struggling with confidence and feeling like I’m constantly making mistakes.

Most of my coworkers have been at the centre for years, so I often feel like I’m behind on routines and expectations that everyone else seems to know automatically. One thing I especially struggle with is our end-of-week cleanup and reset process. Even after two months, I still forget steps or get corrected, and it makes me feel like I’m slowing things down.

What’s been sticking with me is that one of the more experienced ECEs mentioned that a specific coworker had commented on something I was doing, and they added, “I don’t want anyone to say anything behind your back.” Since then, I’ve felt a lot more self-conscious at work and started overthinking whether I’m doing things wrong or being judged more than I realize.

I’m trying to learn and improve, but I often leave shifts feeling like I’m not doing enough or that I’m falling behind everyone else.

For those who’ve been in the field longer, is it normal to still feel this unsure and make frequent mistakes at the two-month mark? When did you start feeling confident in your role, and how do you stop overthinking how coworkers perceive you?

I started a new part-time job about a month ago, and there is a specific multi-step cleanup and reset routine I have only done about four times. This process is only done once a week. The job rents out the space, so at the end of the week we have to move everything back into storage in a very specific way.

I feel like I am improving each time, but I still do not fully remember all the steps yet, and it is starting to make me feel discouraged and a bit anxious going into it. I almost dread that part of the job because I feel like I am being watched closely and not picking it up fast enough, even though I am trying.

I have a coworker who has been there for about 7 years, and she sometimes makes comments like “come on guys,” “take a picture so you remember,” or “you don’t know where this goes?” I understand she may be trying to help, especially with the “take a picture” comment, but it feels like she is getting frustrated with how long it is taking me to learn, and it is starting to affect my confidence.

I am almost at the one month mark, and I do feel like I am getting a better grasp on the job overall. It is mainly this cleanup process that I am struggling to fully remember.

Is this normal? If you have worked somewhere with a specific physical setup or routine, how long did it take you to fully get used to it? Since I work with this coworker regularly during this process, are there specific things I could ask her or do to learn it faster?

Also, any tips for remembering multi-step routines would really help.

Thanks!