The Importance of the Supervision of Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs)
“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” What does this famous quote have to do with supervision? Simple: as a clinician for a little over two years I owe what I know to the supervisors I have had. Their dedication to ensuring that I am confident in implementing behavioral interventions effectively and the empirical training they have provided is invaluable and will last forever. This has created a high standard for me, not only as a therapist but as a future behavior analyst and has enlightened my path to the supervisor I want to be. Is theory different from practice? Not so much in the field of Behavior Analysis however, there are things that you learn in practice that have never been taught in school.
I learned the principles of behavior analysis in my university studies, but what completed the puzzle for me, was the “hands-on training”. Learning how to use these scientific strategies through the guidance of supervisors is not only imperative when working with vulnerable populations, such as Autism (ASD), but also what has reinforced me to become the best that I can be in this field. Registered Behavior Technicians (RBT’s) such as myself, may be supervised by BCBA’s or BcaBA’s. There is also a certain number of hours a month that must be fulfilled in order for the supervision to count. I feel that although quantity is necessary, the quality of the supervision is what makes all of the difference.
One advice I have for RBT’s who are acquiring their hours towards becoming BCaBA’s or BCBA’s, is to keep track of all your supervision hours from the onset of supervision. Having all of this organized from the beginning sets you up for a successful transition to tracking all your direct/ indirect hours and supervision data. This should come fairly easy to us since in the field of ABA we all love to take data!
By: Victoria Kremer, RBT at Crystal Minds New Beginning