The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

In Session 18, Manny Rodriguez, Shannon Biagi, and Dan Sundberg join me to discuss their OBM Applied! book series. In this episode we cover the following topics: Why they wrote OBM Applied! Who the intended reader is What sort of outcome a reader can expect The Florida Institute of Technology OBM Certificate program In addition to these, we talk quite a bit about the process of writing itself, which can be applicable to not only writing books, but I would imagine finishing theses and dissertations as well. Shannon, Manny, and Dan were also generous enough to provide a cheat sheet on staying on-task and productive during the writing process. Show notes and the cheat sheet are at www.behavioralobservations.com/Session-18

What does risky sex, drug use, and even indoor tanning have in common? Fortunately Dr. Derek Reed, BCBA-D, joins me in Session 17 to provide a tutorial of sorts on behavioral economics, which helps to explain what these (and many other) "problems of consumption," are influenced by behavior-environment relationships. Derek runs the Applied Behavioral Economics Laboratory at the University of Kansas, and has extensive experience across a wide range of behavior analytic niches. For example, during the interview, he tells the story of how within the first semester of studying Behavior Analysis, he was doing everything from providing services to children in applied settings while also working in an animal laboratory. He also describes some of his research on how people choose to partake in indoor tanning, and explains some of the behavioral economic principles that influence such decisions. Although we get, "into the weeds," as it relates to discussing concepts from the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Derek expertly translates many of these ideas into language that is, in the end, quite accessible. Even if you have no interest in EAB, I believe that there are take-home messages for Behavior Analysts in all settings. To that end, I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Pat Friman returns to The Behavioral Observations Podcast in Session 16. In this episode, we talk about things that we as Behavior Analysts typically avoid, namely things like depression, anxiety, and stress. Specifically, he provides an overview of these concepts using, of course, a behavior-analytic lens. At the same time, Pat also notes that our particular professional jargon can be quite off-putting to some, and goes on to provide great advice for communicating effectively with lay-people. I could go on, but I'll simply say that I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I do. This session of the podcast is sponsored by bSci21.org's ABA Outside the Box CE series. Check it out at bSci21.org/ceus!

Rich Brooks has the distinctive honor of being the first non-Behavior Analyst to come on the show. Don't let that temper your enthusiasm for this episode though. In Session 15, Rich and I talk about the importance of marketing ABA services, mainly from the digital perspective. Specifically, we talk about the following: Options for setting up your own website Optimizing your site so people can find you more easily Considerations for social media use How to work with a website developer effectively Rich is in a good place to provide this advice. He is founder and president of flyte new media (http://www.takeflyte.com), a web design and marketing firm in Portland, Maine. He is a nationally recognized speaker on entrepreneurship, digital marketing and social media. He is a founder of The Agents of Change (http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/), an annual conference and weekly podcast that focuses on search, social & mobile marketing. He is also a regular contributor at SocialMediaExaminer.com, the world’s most popular social media marketing blog. He is the “tech guru” on WCSH Channel 6’s evening news show, 207, and teaches web marketing and social media courses for entrepreneurs at the University of Southern Maine's Center for Continuing Education.  Finally, special thanks to bSci21.org's ABA Outside the Box continuing education series for sponsoring this show (go to bSci21.org/ceus to learn more) as well as Dr.s Becca Tagg and Megan Miller for their invaluable assistance in preparing for this interview (www.delmarbehavioralhealth.com & www.navigationbehavioralconsulting.com, respectively).

Dr. Mark Dixon joins me in Session 14 of The Behavioral Observations Podcast. Mark is a prolific researcher who has published over 150 peer-reviewed studies. He has published articles on a wide array of topics, including gambling, relational frame theory, and educational interventions for children with Autism. In this episode, we talk about his book, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Children with Autism and Emotional Challenges. This book presents the reader with curriculum of 180 lessons to teach students the various ACT processes in order to foster psychological flexibility. We also talk about how he got into Behavior Analysis, he extends our primer on ACT that began in Session 6 with D.J. Moran’s interview, and then discuses how to use the curriculum in his book. He closes the conversation with some sage advice for students and practitioners. If you want to get the book, Amazon is frequently out of stock. However, Behavior Development Solutions generally has them in stock. Mark also mentions the journal, The Psychological Record, which you can check out here. I should also note that this session of the podcast is sponsored by the ABA Outside the Box CE series, so if you are in need of continuing education, check out bSci21.org/ceus. Finally, if you get value out of this show, please consider taking a few minutes to go on over to iTunes to leave a rating and review.

Session 13's guest on The Behavioral Observations Podcast is Dr. Megan Miller from Navigation Behavioral Consulting. In this episode we talk about a range of issues that are relevant to many practicing behavior analysts, such as providing services over long distances, determining what makes a practice "evidence based," and the practitioner's need for life-long-learning. All in all, it's a fun conversation that I hope you enjoy. I should also add that Megan is active on the various behavior-analytic Facebook groups, so feel free to give her a virtual high-five. I also want to thank all of you who attended the New Hampshire ABA conference on October 1st. I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion on practitioner self-care, and gave a brief introduction to one of my favorite topics, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. It was a humbling experience presenting in front of many prestigious names in our field, and it was gratifying to meet many listeners who made the trek to Manchester, NH to attend the conference. If you are in the New England area, keep your eyes peeled for the next NHABA conference. You will not be disappointed! This episode is sponsored by bSci21.org's ABA Outside the Box continuing education trainings. I recently participated in "Conversations That Drive Performance," which was excellent. Check it out at bSci21.org/ceus! Lastly, if you have a minute, I would be very grateful if you went to iTunes and provided a rating and review of the show. As of this writing, The Behavioral Observations Podcast has been downloaded almost 50K times. That said, there are currently 33 ratings in the United States' iTunes store. There are no direct tangible reinforcers for having lots of iTunes reviews, but it does help the show get more recognition/visibility, and by extension disseminating free behavior analytic content. If you're not sure how to leave a rating and review, YouTube has you covered. Just click here for a quick tutorial. Thanks for listening! PS: here are links to other resources we mentioned The funny ABA blog Megan mentioned Steve Ward's website Dr. Mary Sawyer's dissertation

Session 12 of The Behavioral Observations Podcast features an in-depth conversation with Mary Lynch Barbera, BCBA-D. In this episode, we talk about a wide range of topics including, but not limited to,   Her pre-ABA career as a nurse (which actually involved quite a bit of OBM work!). How she learned about behavior analysis, and how her advocacy for her son led her to becoming a BCBA. The motivation behind writing her best-selling book, The Verbal Behavior Approach, and creating her e-course, Autism ABA Help: Online Training for Professionals and Gung-Ho Parents. What her writing practices are, and how best to avoid, “the curse of knowledge,” when communicating behavioral principles with lay people. Her thoughts on some recent workshops from the recent National Autism Conference at Penn State University.   Mary shares tons of resources in this episode, so please check out www.behavioralobservations.com for the Session 12 show notes. She also has generously provided listeners with a $50 coupon for her course. Enter BEHAVIORPOD at checkout to redeem it. To learn more about Mary, be sure to visit her website at http://www.marybarbera.com.   This podcast is sponsored by bSci21.org. bSci21.org is your go-to ABA news site. The companion article for this episode is called, “I” is just a bit of Verbal Behavior, by Dr. Scott Herbst.

In Session 11 of The Behavioral Observations Podcast, I chat with a my good friend Dr. Erin Rasmussen from Idaho State University about her upcoming grant funded study on food insecurity and obesity. In our discussion we talk about animal models of obesity, behavioral economics and delay discounting, mindful eating, common sense practices for weight loss, and more! There are so many links that go along with this episode that I have decided to put them in a bullet list (apologies to the various teachers who have attempted to teach me how to write).   Erin’s Health Decision-Making Laboratory website, which discusses her research program The movie Harry that Erin referenced The iPromptU app The Morrison et al. (2014) study on ACT and delay discounting The bSci21.org article on Delay Discounting The evening news clip that discusses Erin’s project (Yay dissemination!)   This is not only a fascinating program of study, it's a great lesson in dissemination, where animal models of behavior lead to potential treatment applications. I can’t wait for this study’s results!

In Session 10 of The Behavioral Observations Podcast, I speak with none other than Dr. Pat Friman. Pat is the Vice President of Behavioral Health Services at Boys Town as well as a Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Nebraska School of Medicine.  In today's show, Pat tells the story of how he literally wandered into a career in Behavior Analysis as well as the remarkable story of how Boys Town was started and how it serves children and families today. We then talk about his point of view on functional assessment practices, how he interviews parents, his take on what we refer to as, "kids these days," and Behavior Analysts as parents. With regard to the latter, I accidentally broach some of my own parenting struggles, so you might have some fun at my expense (your welcome).  This session of the podcast is sponsored by bSci21.org. If you're interested in a good article about parenting, check out Zainab Fazal's piece called, "My Kids Won't Stop Fighting! How ABA Can Reduce Sibling Rivalry." If you enjoyed the show, please take a minute to leave a rating and review in iTunes. It makes the podcast more visible, which helps spread the word of Behavior Analysis.  

In this session of The Behavioral Observations Podcast, Manny Rodriguez joins us to give an insider's view into the field of Organizational Behavior Management. Manny is Vice President of ABA Technologies, responsible for Continuing Education, Consulting, and Product Development, with over a decade of experience both in OBM and ABA clinical practice. In our chat, we talk about how he first got into OBM, what a typical day-in-the-life is like for an OBM practitioner, the similarities and differences between clinical and OBM practice, and what the future of OBM holds. Towards the end of the episode, I encourage him to plug his forthcoming book that he has written with co-authors Dan Sundberg and Shannon Biagi, called OBM Applied!  To read an excerpt from OBM Applied!, head on over to our sponsor, bSci21.org, and read Manny's article, Engaging the Doers: A Menu for Employee Engagement.  If you enjoyed this episode, feel free to leave a rating and review on iTunes. Also, stay connected with the podcast by visiting the Facebook page (facebook.com/behavioralobservations), or by following me on Twitter (@behaviorpodcast).