(REC) Beyond the ABCs: REFRAME for Today’s Learners

It has long been the standard of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to consider the Antecedent and the Consequence of the Behavior or the ABC data when determining the function of behavior (Cooper et al., 2013). However, there have been a multitude of studies that emphasize the need to look beyond those basic contingencies to evaluate all of the contingencies that shape behaviors (Goldimond, 1974) and the impact that they have on behavior. In addition, there’s plenty more resources that discuss the success of synthesized reinforcement contingencies as a consequence while creating an environment that fosters Happy Relaxed and Engaged (HRE) learning (Hanley et al., 2014). In a time where there’s an active call in our field to consider and provide a more trauma-informed approach to the application of ABA (Rajaraman et al., 2021), further evaluating contingencies surrounding the presentation of challenging behavior is imperative. Providing a trauma-informed or trauma-assumed approach to ABA does not necessarily have a current framework for its application. Much of what we’re reading is academic in nature and while valuable does not demonstrate how to implement these strategies in everyday practices. Consequently, many practitioners reportedly struggle to navigate the nuanced strategies that require one to consider trauma histories because many of the behaviors associated with adverse events are not currently observed or are considered private events. This puts the onus to practice radical behaviorism on individuals who may have never been given the tools to understand what that truly means to put into practice as per current tasklist requirements.

Learning to engage in self-reflective practices is the first step in making this shift (Beaulieu & Jimenez‐Gomez, 2022; Kristiansen, 2023). These tools are not new, though not yet thoroughly understood and utilized in our field. In previous workshops, we have brought participants through these activities. We would like to continue with that endeavor by continuing on with what to do after self-reflection. How you take the skills and deficits that you’ve identified in your own practice and make active change. This includes centering those pieces across all aspects of assessment, case conceptualization and treatment. In this workshop, our goal is to lead participants through the assessment process in a way that helps them to build their skills within themselves but also while continuing to center both trauma assumed care and the individual contingencies and lived experiences of their learners. Demonstrating how to conduct assessments utilizing tools that meet the individual needs of their learns and to assess to understand versus assess to program. This assessment process goes beyond the four functions of behavior to include Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or Training (ACT) and the concepts of the Core Yearnings (Hayes, 2020) and how they bridge the functions of behavior with trauma and learning histories (Kolu, 2017). Data analysis will be shared to better visually represent the incorporation of the core yearnings as they apply to both trauma and the functions of behavior as provided alone or via synthesis.

Participants will be able to:

• Create a task analysis for the assessment process that is compassionate and trauma-informed or trauma-assumed
• Define the four functions of behavior as they align with the framework of ACT’s core yearnings
• Demonstrate understanding of how to conduct assessments while also accounting for trauma histories
• Develop client-specific objectives that are trauma-informed and behavior analytic Analyze data from case studies

PRESENTERS: Meg Solomon, Dr. Mari-Luci Cerda and Jennifer Farris

REFRAME is a book that is designed to provide the tools in order to initiate and implement trauma-informed and compassionate behavior analytic methods as a teacher and behavior analyst. Dr. Mari-Luci Cerda, Jennifer Farris, and Meg Solomon developed the text from how they practice within their own agencies. They utilize evidence-based practices and present realistic scenarios that are often missed within the research to the application.