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One of the things I have really enjoyed doing with this audience is to be honest about the ups and downs of my career in behavior analysis. I initially started talking about this because I felt like it was something nobody else would be honest about... It was always sunshine and rainbows, playing with kids, and changing people's lives!
For me, it has been all that and more, but also coupled with difficulties and struggles. One of the things that I have run into is motivation and novelty struggles. A reality of (for example) early intervention work is that you are going to be teaching, in most cases, a lot of manding, tacting, toleration, and intraverbals. Sometimes, after months of doing the same thing with different clients, it can feel like you are just going through the motions, not really motivated to do anything but what you have done in the past.
I personally have been there when working with severe problem behavior. My training was on a severe behavior unit, and as soon as the kiddo was identified to have behavior maintained by social variables, I could program with my eyes closed... FCT -> NCR + DRA ->Fade NCR-> Fade DRA-> Parent training and discharge. Was this an effective formula? YES! But I quickly found myself going through the motions with little motivation.
What I have found is, when I catch myself going through the motions, is to dive into a Totally different research topic! Are you working with early intervention learners? Go study ACT for trauma survivors. Working in behavioral feeding and been doing escape extinction for the last 2 years? Go read up on OBM and BST methods. Nothing gets me out of this rut like literally forcing my mind to think about something different.
Personally, the side effect of this strategy is some amazing inspiration and combination of methods. I am generally an early intervention analyst and reading about ACT and trauma informed care totally changed the way I sequence and program for verbal behavior. I have talked to behavioral feeding experts who were inspired by OBM literature to utilize slow fading via BST to teach acceptance without escape extinction.
So don't hesitate! Take some time and READ BROADLY, as it may be the only way out of the rut you are in, and maybe even the only way to make you a better and more well rounded analyst.
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