If you meet the academic requirements of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board and you are needing supervised clinical training, Best Behaviour Consulting can help! We are available to provide BACB-approved Mentoring and Supervision for applicants wishing to attain their Board Certified Behavior Analyst or Board Certified Associate Behavior Analyst designation. Our Clinical Director, Nicholas Watkins, has extensive experience in the fields of autism, developmental disabilities and applied behaviour analysis having supervised graduate-level trained Behaviour Consultants in the field for four years. Nicholas is able to provide face-to-face supervision as well as distance mentoring (via telephone or email) for those who can not meet face-to-face.

Applicants should visit the BACB’s website at www.bacb.com to obtain the most up-to-date standards.

Applicants should note that on April 1, 2005, the BACB, uploaded new experiential requirements to their webpage. “There are now three categories of experience: Supervised Independent Fieldwork, Practicum, and Intensive Practicum.” The latter two are completed as part of a university course for credit. The first option, however, Supervised Independent Fieldwork can be completed through Best Behaviour Consulting.

As noted on the BACB’s web site, to assist in the supervision of applicant’s wishing to become a BCBA, the supervisor must be :

• “A Board Certified Behavior Analyst in good standing, or
• An individual who has applied to and been approved by the BACB to take the Board Certified Behavior Analyst examination. The individual must apply and be approved through the standard BACB examination application process.”

The BACB goes on to add, “The supervisor may not be the applicant's subordinate or employee during the experience period. The supervisor will not be considered an employee of the applicant if the only compensation received by the supervisor from the applicant consists of payment for supervision.”

The BACB recommends that the supervision between the supervisor and the applicant be conducted within the structure of a contract. That BACB states, “The supervisor and applicant should execute a contract prior to the onset of the experience that states the responsibilities of both parties, delineates the consequences should the parties not adhere to their responsibilities (including proper termination of the relationship), and includes an attestation that both parties will adhere to the BACB Guidelines for Responsible Conduct. The parties should pay particular attention to Sections 1, 2, and three of the Guidelines and consider the supervisor to be the client of the applicant except as noted above.”

The BACB has further articulated, “The supervisor must observe the applicant engaging in behavior analytic activities with a client in the natural environment during each required supervisory period (i.e., 1 or 2 weeks, depending on the type of experience being obtained). This observation may be conducted via web-cameras, videotape, videoconferencing, or similar means in lieu of the supervisor being physically present.”

Applicants must work a minimum of 1500 hours in their Supervised Independent Fieldwork. The BACB also expects, “The distribution requirement for Supervised Independent Fieldwork hours is not less than 10 hours but not more than 30 hours per week for a minimum of 3 weeks per month… Applicants must be supervised at least every 2 weeks for 5% of the total hours they spend in Supervised Independent Field Experience. (Total supervision must be at least 75 hours, distributed appropriately within each 2 week interval.)"

The BACB further requires that “Applicants may not start accumulating Supervised Independent Fieldwork, Practicum, or Intensive Practicum hours until they have begun the coursework required to meet the BACB coursework requirements.”

Applicants must also collect “Documentation for each two week period on a form provided by the BACB. The form will require documentation of number of hours of experience, number of supervised hours, and the supervisor for each two week period and will require signatures of the applicant and supervisor. The BACB reserves the right to request this documentation at any time following an individual’s application to take the certification exam."

Additionally, “Supervisors are responsible for collecting documentation for each two week period on a form provided by the BACB. The BACB reserves the right to request this documentation at any time following an individual’s application to take the certification exam."

While we have quoted the key requirements related to Supervised Independent Fieldwork directly from the BACB’s web page, applicants are strongly encouraged to read the full text available from the BACB.