The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

What is Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics? Session 266 with Chris McGinnis

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Jun 12, 2024

Dr. Chris McGinnis discusses Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics, debunking the Chemical Imbalance Hypothesis and addressing behavior challenges. He emphasizes caregiver adherence, trauma-informed care, and the shift towards evidence-based services in the field. The conversation also touches on parenting styles, educator involvement, and the importance of specialized training in pediatric care.

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ANECDOTE

Chris's Internship at Boys Town

Chris McGinnis discovered behavioral pediatrics during his internship at Boys Town, where he met Pat Fryman.
The internship involved a lot of discussion about behavior analytic philosophy and hands-on consultation with children and teachers.

INSIGHT

Defining Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics

Primary care behavioral pediatrics fills the gap between general pediatric advice and intensive mental health treatment.
It focuses on prevention and early intervention for mild to moderate behavioral concerns before they worsen.

INSIGHT

Diagnosis Describes, Behavior Analysis Solves

Psychological diagnoses describe behaviors but don't explain them, unlike behavior analysis which solves problems.
Diagnosis should be a starting point for analysis, not an endpoint, allowing individualized and scientific intervention.

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Dr. Chris McGinnis joins me in Session 266 to talk about his work in Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics. If you're not sure what that is, don't worry. We go over that right away and learn that this area of work sits in an important and underserved niche: The niche between the general behavioral advice dispensed by pediatricians, and intensive treatment for serious mental health challenges.

In a way, this conversation expands on something that Pat Friman brought up in our most recent interview: The idea that BCBAs are uniquely suited to provide families with this type of care. In order to provide direction to those who are interested in doing just this, Chris recently published Introduction to Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics: A Guide for Behavior Analysts.

In our conversation, we covered:

· His background in Behavioral Pediatrics, including his work at BoysTown (and meeting Pat Friman for the first time).

· The motivation for writing his book.

· The reification of psychological terms (see Skinner '45).

· The myth of the Chemical Imbalance Hypothesis.

· The range of behavior challenges he sees in his practice.

· Thoughts on caregiver adherence.

· The pros and cons of reimbursement practices, including the concierge model he has currently adopted.

· Chris' study of Trauma-Informed Care.

· Permissive vs. Authoritative, and how those related to adolescent mental health.... In other words, why parenting is like The Marshmallow Test.

· Advice for the newly-minted BCBA.

This podcast is brought to you by the following:

Please welcome our newest sponsor, The New England Center for Children! I am beyond thrilled to partner with one of the oldest and well-respected ABA institutions to help them find staff to continue their mission of supporting individuals with Autism. Learn more about careers at NECC over at necc.org/jobs.
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HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.
The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms.