Supervision in ABA: Implementing a Structured Supervision Tool

Abstract

There are numerous recommended practices in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for effective supervision of behavior analytic trainees. Recommended practices include identifying clear roles and responsibilities for supervisors and supervisees, evaluating the effects of supervision, incorporating ethics and professionalism into supervision, and taking a competency-based approach (Sellers et al., 2016a). Due to a lack of empirical research on supervision of ABA trainees, however, these recommended practices are typically based on the clinical experience of the authors or a compilation of research from other fields. It is unclear if and how frequently these supervision practices are being used because there is little empirical work in ABA regarding supervision practices for BCBAs in training. The purpose of this study was to address this research gap by analyzing the effects of implementing a structured supervision tool on the recommended practices used in online supervision meetings. Using a multiple baseline design across participants, four ABA supervisors were trained to implement a structured supervision tool during meetings with their supervisees. Overall, recommended practices during supervision meetings increased with the implementation of the supervision tool and a training booster session. Implications of the results and social validity are also discussed.