Reflective Practice and SBT: An Intentional Way to Develop Your Skills

This course is worth 1 Supervision CEU

Course Abstract: Throughout education, medicine, social work, and other related fields, reflective practice is widely regarded as an essential characteristic of professional competence (Mann et al., 2009). Despite its support across these fields, reflective practice has only begun to be included in behavior analytic literature (Cirincione-Ulezi, 2020; Contreras et al., 2021;Coy et al., 2024; Gatsunis et al., 2022; Slim & Reuter-Yuill, 2022; Wright, 2019). This presentation addresses this disparity by examining how structured reflection serves as a critical component when implementing intricate behavioral interventions that require continuous clinical decision-making. Skill-Based Treatment (SBT), with its synthesis of behavioral principles and skill acquisition procedures, presents practitioners with moment-to-moment opportunities that may benefit substantially from systematic reflection. We analyze how reflective practice enables practitioners to evaluate antecedent conditions, behavioral responses, and treatment outcomes during SBT implementation. Additionally, reflective supervision practices enhance both clinicians’ conceptual understanding and technicians’ procedural integrity (Tobin et al., 2024). When implemented within supervisory structures, these reflective practices may produce measurable improvements in treatment fidelity, effectiveness, and independent decision-making. This presentation will provide live opportunities to engage in reflection on personal experiences and provided examples.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to identify at least three key components of reflective practice and explain their application within behavior analytic interventions.
• Participants will be able to analyze the relationship between reflective practice and skill-based treatment implementation.
• Participants will develop a structured framework for implementing reflective supervision practices that enhance both conceptual understanding and procedural integrity.

Presenter Bio:
Edward Sanabria, Ph.D holds a Doctoral degree in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) from The Chicago School and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with licensure in 7 states including Connecticut and Massachusetts. Edward’s research interests include interdisciplinary collaboration, large scale adoption of behavioral interventions, reflective practice and humility as well as the application of behavior analysis to adaptive aquatics.  

He is currently the Senior Director of Functional Analysis and Treatment Implementation at Centria Autism where he helps oversee company-wide training and implementation of clinical initiatives across the country including but not limited to the mentorship for training Practical Functional Assessment and Skill Based Treatment. Through consultation and training with the clinicians in his region, he guides clinical practices that prioritize safety, dignity, effectiveness, and rapport for clients with challenging and interfering behaviors.