Supervision for Early Career BCBAs

Brown et al. (2025) sent a survey to early-career BCBAs. They asked how much supervision people get after they pass the exam and what gets in the way.

The survey only described current habits. It did not test any new supervision plan.

Most new BCBAs said supervision after certification is spotty or even missing. People listed busy schedules, cost, and not knowing who to ask as top barriers.

No numbers on improvement were reported. The paper simply maps the gap.

Hajiaghamohseni et al. (2021) saw the same mess on the supervisor side. That survey showed practices vary because clear rules are rare. Brown’s 2025 view from the supervisee seat matches those older data points.

Garza et al. (2018) and Sellers et al. (2016) already gave checklists and goal sheets to make supervision steady. Brown’s findings show those tools are still not in wide use, so the problem is uptake, not lack of know-how.

MSáez-Suanes et al. (2023) systematic review agrees: most BCBA supervision writings are opinion pieces. Brown’s descriptive survey keeps that streak alive; we still lack experimental tests of whether more supervision actually helps.

You can fix the gap today. Pick one supervisee and schedule a fixed one-hour meeting each month. Use the free goal sheet from Garza et al. (2018) and set one skill target per month. This tiny step moves the field from random chats toward real professional growth.