r/BehaviorAnalysis

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Hello, I'm currently writing a book and I have some questions about the behavior of my character I'd like to get a second opinion on and which I am not so sure about the plausibility of from a psychological standpoint. I'll give a small summary of the important context. He is currently in his late 20's. Throughout his teenage years he has been raped a lot by his father. He ran away and for a while he constantly carried this fear of his father finding him again, ever since the father broke into her mother's boyfriend's home he was staying in and won custody over him, but also after moving out and bumping into him on the street one day, almost being dragged back. After moving out and entering college he got a drug addiction and was admitted into a rehab after being found fainted on the street, place where it is clear that he was not able to let go of his fear of his father. From then on, he has gotten a girlfriend, and starting here is where I'm questioning whether this is realistic or even possible scientifically. He gets a girlfriend, and his bedroom life is pretty much a dissociation. (Also questioning possibility since he is the man.) He gets raped by a friend he had just reunited with and, from what that friend had been telling and doing to him, he starts to believe playing into the abusers wants will free him of the situation he is in. This paired with the paranoia he still holds but which is now amplified or renowned, will create his hypersexuality. The drugs he relapses to will allow him to actually act on it. I'm trying to explore the way this has affected his life, I'm sorry for the long summary but I needed to give context for anybody else to be able to understand. My question is if it is possible for him to have been in his dissociative state for so long, but after the new encounter for him to develop a hypersexuality from the belief the abuser has been telling him, also the paranoia that motivates it, etc. If anybody knows any better let me know.

How could I meet the 25hour a week billable hours Monday-Friday if I need to take Thursday and Friday off without using PTO?

I'm always looking for ways to get better at trade shows.

What's one thing you started doing that made a much bigger difference than you expected?

It could be something before the event, during the show, or even in your follow-up afterward.

I'd love to hear the lessons people learned through experience.

Would you take a job like this? Why or why not?

I need honest feedback

Would you take this job? Why or why not?

I was just offered a BCBA position and I’m curious what others think because it’s very different from the typical BCBA role I’m used to seeing.

It’s a direct BCBA model, so I would be working directly with clients instead of supervising RBTs. No RBTs, no giant supervision caseload, and the company said the recent Medicaid changes in SC don’t impact their model or company as a whole- zero changes.

The position is set up as:
Direct work as a BCBA with a consistent schedule
27 billable hours per week, with the option to work more hours if I want to earn more
Around $91,000 annualized at 27 billable hours
Around $100,000 annualized if I work closer to 30 billable hours
Hourly pay structure rather than traditional salary
401k with a 3.5% match
40 hours of sick time per year
Small caseload, around 2–3 clients
Some school-based work, so I could start as early as 7:30 and be done earlier in the day- kind of love the idea of working in schools
Coffee Fridays with staff, typivqlly with breakfast
Every third Friday, the usual meeting time can be used how I want
The caseload part is what stands out to me the most. It is not a 10+ client caseload with RBT supervision, treatment plan updates for a huge caseload, constant staff issues, and trying to squeeze in billable hours. It sounds like I would actually be with the clients for longer blocks of time and would know the cases really well.
Example schedule options they gave me looked something like:
Monday:
8:00–11:00 client
12:00–3:00 client
or
7:30–10:30 client
11:00–2:00 client
Tuesday:
8:00–11:30 client
1:00–4:00 client
or
7:30–10:30 client
11:00–2:00 client
3:00–4:00 parent training
Wednesday:
8:00–11:30 client
1:00–4:00 client
or
7:30–10:30 client
11:00–2:00 client
3:00–5:00 client or parent training
Thursday:
8:00–11:30 client
1:00–4:00 client
or
7:30–10:30 client
11:00–2:00 client
Friday:
8:00–9:00 staff meeting
10:00–1:00 client
or makeups only depending on the week

I’m used to seeing BCBA jobs where the salary sounds good, but then the caseload, supervision expectations, documentation, and after-hours work are a lot. This one seems different because the billable expectation is higher, but the caseload is much smaller and it’s direct work instead of managing a huge team. She also said BCBAs share cases so if someone’s out it’s not a big deal.
Would you take a direct BCBA role like this? What questions would you ask before accepting?

He’s definitely single, and we flirt a lot in private. He calls me beautiful, watches every single one of my Instagram stories almost instantly most of the time, as if he has a notification for when I post, and when we message he usually replies pretty quickly. He’s actually very good at replying most of the time. The conversations are fun and flirty, but they often just… stop mid-conversation, and he doesn’t always come back to them unless one of us starts a new conversation later. What’s confusing me is that in the beginning he liked my posts and stories all the time. Now he doesn’t like my posts or stories at all, but he still watches every story I post. Once in a while, he’ll reply to one of my stories, but that’s about it. At the same time, I can see him liking other women’s photos. So I’m getting mixed signals. His private behavior seems very interested, but his public interaction with my content has changed. Like I said he’s definitely single and it can’t be a matter of he’s trying to hide his likes from other women because he has liked multiple other women’s photos. I should also add that he’s not the type of guy that’s following list looks like a strip club. His following list to me actually looks very healthy and normal. There are a lot of women, but they are quite normal average women for the most part. He is an attractive guy I will say that.
Has anyone experienced this? Am I overthinking the Instagram likes, or would you see this as a genuine change in behavior that’s worth paying attention to? If he just stopped watching every single one of my Instagram storie****s and stopped flirting so heavily in public I would say he’s not interested, but he’s giving me contradicting behaviors.

I am currently a RBT and I am still in school for psychology with a ABA minor. At first I didn’t mind being a RBT and doing sessions and having my 15 to do my notes and such. Then the policy changed and we have to do our data and note as the session goes. This is a clinical setting so I could get 2/3 different kids a day so ultimately I don’t have time to do all my notes (because they don’t provide us iPads or anything to do as we go). So i usually have to sit unpaid to complete my notes, also I get annoyed working all day and not having any breaks for lunch. We get told to eat when they eat but then we are told to wait until every kids lunch is done to start ours so we don’t actually get that time to eat lunch unless it’s cold. Also I don’t really enjoy working full days at the clinic how they have been in the summer. I asked to do my BCaBA hours because both of my bosses are so in the company it is an actual position. But I haven’t heard back and it’s been a month, and I have followed up.

My question is does the breaks and such get better as a boss or possibly in a different setting or is ABA just not for me. I have been thinking about what I want to do for my masters and I’m debating with a school counselor, a therapist, ABA, or SLP. Since psychology is very broad I could easily go into all those fields. I just need advice from experienced BCBAs to see if this is something I should pursue more.

Coach seems so sincere in helping me recover from a recent illness that I feel I should return the courtesy. Sometimes I do, but then I remember that it probably doesn't care but who really knows?

It even knows when my bedtime is coming and it says Good Night. I'll really be freaked out if it starts sending xoxoxo and emogi kisses at night though!

I'm preparing for an upcoming trade show and I'd really like to make it a success.

If you could give just one piece of advice to someone preparing for a trade show, what would it be?

It could be about the booth, the team, visitor interactions, lead generation, follow-up, or anything else that made a real difference in your experience.

I passed on my first try and here is how I did it! (Super deep dive and probably overload)

I wanted to make sure I studied the best I could so that I know I tried my hardest and put in 110% effort.

Materials used:

• Personal study guide that I made: https://snowbehaviorco.etsy.com/listing/4405724394

• Pass the big ABA exam manual

• ABA wizard, the app

• Cooper

• Study ABA Mastery Modules

• Beat the best mock 1&2

• Other random mocks i found online

1. I started by making my own study guide that covered the entire TCO. I broke it down into super simple terms so that i could better understand it. I also have this listed on my etsy! https://snowbehaviorco.etsy.com/listing/4405724394

2. I separated sections up by spending 2-5 days on each section. For each section, I started with making the study guide.

3. While I made each section in the study guide, I completed the ABA wizard mini quizzes (all in the same 2-5 days). I also did not do these quizzes to mastery (at first). I wanted to get my initial baseline for each TCO.

4. After I did this for every section. I took my first mock. Before every mock I read my study guide front and back and then took it. (Initial baseline score)

5. After my first mock, I compared the scores of the mini mocks and the sections I did poorly in. (I have an excel self-management sheet I made — if anyone is interested i will list this on my etsy.)

6. Then I read each section of the Pass the big ABA exam manual and retook the ABA wizard mini quizzes for corresponding section.

7. After I finished reading this book, I took another mock (again reading my study guide front to back before taking it) I made a 81% (Study ABA Mock A) on this mock! I was feeling good but not comfortable.

8. After this, I continued with the study aba mastery modules. I also split this up and gave myself deadlines to stay on top of everything (this was in the excel sheet)

9. Once I finished all of those modules. I took the Study ABA Mock B (read my study guide before) I compared the sections to see which ones need improvement. I then began to study those sections and redo the ABA wizard mini quizzes until mastery.

10. Every saturday leading up to the exam, (about 4 weeks before the exam) I would reread my study guide, making sure to hit those areas that I was struggling in. & while taking the mock I wrote down terms on a blank page that I was getting stumped on, after the mock I would go back and add it into my study guide. For every mock I went through and reviewed each question on why it was right/wrong.

11. I took off work the day before the exam and of course exam day. On the day before the exam, I took BTB2 with the same routine I have been doing (i got a 78 or 79). I reviewed these questions thoroughly and STOPPED studying by 5-6pm.

12. I had a self care / relaxing afternoon and night. I took a long bath, did skin care, played some relaxing games on my ipad, got in bed early, wore my favorite pajamas.

13. The day of the exam: I woke up extra early (couldn’t sleep) and got ready.. full glam lol! I knew if I looked good I would feel good. I wore a comfy outfit and shoes I could slide off during the test. I arrived an hour before the suggested time to walk into the testing center. During this hour, i ate brain foods (protein / cheese / berries) and read my study guide over again. After I was done, I walked in to test.

14. During the test: My ADHD brain was everywhere and I kept having to reread the questions over and over again. The nerves were kicking in and I was starting to get anxious. At question 80, I decided to take a break. I went to the bathroom, did some self encouragement exercises in the mirror lol and went to the lobby. I sat there for about 10-15 minutes in my thoughts while drinking water and eating a dark chocolate kind bar (brain food :P) I went back into the room and continued with my test. I flagged around 50 questions and reviewed all of those at the end (I did end up changing some answers). Every question I dissected and determined what it was actually asking me. For every question that i was stumped on, i read the answer choices and gave myself reasons why it would NOT be A, why it would be B, etc.

15. I finished the exam knowing that I put 100% of my effort and time into this exam and I walked out shaking and then I saw my one piece of paper on the desk ready for me to grab. I couldn’t believe it. Seriously I had imposter syndrome for 2 months. but I DID IT! First try!

If you have any questions, I would love to help! My study guide has also helped several other people pass. I know that a lot of the wording (especially in copper) is hard to understand, so i did the best I could to really break it down into everyday terms. Good luck to everyone! YOU GOT THIS!

I work full time doing social work at a school. I would like to become a BCBA. I am looking for a 100% online program. I would like to take one class per semester because I am working and care giving for an ill family member. A largely asynchronous program is ok. I don't mind once a week meetings if necessary. I was looking into one program that sounded wonderful but then I found out I have to take 2 classes at a time and meet from 6:00-9:00 2x per week. It will just be too much. I do want a school that is quality and has a high pass rate. Do you have any suggestions?