STEAM: A Values-Aligned Approach to Implementing Boundaries

1.5 General CEUs

Course Abstract:

Learning Objectives:

• Identify what a boundary is and be able to define the steps to setting a boundary compassionately
• Identify the necessary clinical and developmental supports to include boundaries in a treatment package.
• Assess the social validity and acceptability of implementing boundaries from a staff perspective, including its impact on staff-client relationships and alignment with trauma-informed care principles

Presenter Bio:
Hillary Laney, MA, BCBA, LBA has worked in the field of applied behavior analysis since 2009, building a career centered on clinical practices that protect client dignity, autonomy, and emotional safety. Her focus on boundaries — how they are taught, honored, and embedded into everyday treatment — has shaped both her own clinical work and the organizations she has helped lead.

Hillary developed the STEAM protocol, a structured approach to implementing boundaries within ABA care, during her time at Centria Autism. Since then, she and her team have coached clinicians on STEAM across a nationwide organization, embedding it so thoroughly into the company’s culture and treatment model that it has become common clinical language. What began as a protocol is now a shared framework for how boundaries show up in clinical practice.