A Deeper Dive: Exploring Common SBT Questions

**This is a non-CEU course**

What do you do when a learner asks for something you can’t provide, when problem behavior shows up mid-trial or during reinforcement, or when you’re unsure whether extinction belongs in your plan? In this panel-style session, Hillary Laney and Ed Sidley work through some of the most frequently asked questions from the SBT community, each with a guest practitioner. They’re joined by Emily Kearney, Dr. Megan Miller, and Dithu Rajaraman for a candid conversation about clinical decision-making, safety, rapport, and staying flexible in the PFA and SBT process.

What is covered

• Keeping the “must-haves” (safety, rapport, trust, joy) at the center of every decision
• A decision flowchart for unreasonable or unavailable requests during synthesized reinforcement
• Teaching learners to tolerate “no,” from unavailability with a clear reason to unavailability with none
• Options when problem behavior occurs during a trial, including re-prompting the correct response, and how to analyze what made the trial too hot
• Whether and when to use extinction, why it should never be used alone, and building coping and emotional regulation skills
• Coaching learners through difficult moments instead of planned ignoring
• Troubleshooting problem behavior during reinforcement: undivided attention, setting events, and answering questions honestly
• Creative CAB design: time-based (time units of cooperation), response-based, within-SR, and leave-SR branches
• Examples including adult compliance with requests, “fixing” the environment, divided attention, and desensitization
• Using telehealth for SBT implementation and parent coaching

Meet the Hosts

Hillary Laney, BCBA, is a severe behavior consultant. A BCBA since 2015, she has implemented SBT since 2018 and now bases her practice entirely on it, overseeing implementations in schools, clinics, and homes with a focus on assent, dignity, and rapport. She is passionate about community-based learning and credits peer collaboration with shaping her own SBT practice.

Emily Kearney, BCBA, began learning the SBT process when it was still called denial and delay tolerance training. It gave her tools for learners whose behavior hadn’t responded to traditional interventions, which is what drives her interest in non-traditional applications.

Published July 2022