A Constructional Approach and Nonlinear Contingency Analysis to Working with Complex Cases matters because it changes what a BCBA notices when decisions have to hold up in clinic sessions and day-to-day service delivery. In A Constructional Approach and Nonlinear Contingency Analysis to Working with Complex Cases, for this course, the practical stakes show up in stronger conceptual consistency and better translational decision making, not in abstract discussion alone.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via Tennessee Association for Behavior Analysis
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Join Free →Behavior analysts working with complex clinical cases, such as individuals with long treatment histories, repeated psychiatric hospitalizations, severe problem behavior, or limited response to traditional interventions, are increasingly seeking behavioral technologies that surpass traditional function-based reduction strategies. This presentation introduces practitioners to the constructional approach and nonlinear contingency analysis (Goldiamond, 1974; Layng, 2009) as powerful tools for enhancing case conceptualization, treatment planning, and meaningful behavior change. Rather than focusing solely on eliminating problem behavior, the constructional approach emphasizes identifying and building alternative, socially valid repertoires by examining current relative repertoires, alternative contingencies, and desired outcomes. Nonlinear contingency analysis further deepens clinical insight by revealing how multiple contingencies interact over time to maintain behavior, including interlocking responses and reinforcing consequences across family systems, environments, and complex learning histories. Through detailed case examples, attendees will learn how to identify current and terminal repertoires, analyze the maintaining contingencies, and develop individualized change procedures. The presentation will also illustrate how constructional logs can be used to monitor progress and organize clinical thinking in applied settings. These strategies provide behavior analysts with practical, assent based, and compassionate methods (Abdel-Jalil et al., 2024; Linnehan et al., 2024; Scallen & Rosales-Ruiz, 2023) for working with individuals whose needs extend beyond linear ABC analyses of behavior. Attendees will leave with clear and practical strategies to expand their clinical tools and enhance outcomes for the clients they serve.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1.5 | General |
Katie is a behavior analyst at Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital in Nashville, TN and TRIAD at Vanderbilt Kennedy Center where she is working to establish behavior analytic services to the hospital setting serving kids with complex behavioral and medical health needs access necessary health care. Katie previously worked at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, providing care for patients with severe problem behavior with a focus on intensive parent training. She earned her Master’s of Education in Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of Cincinnati and became a board-certified behavior analyst in 2019. Currently pursuing her doctorate at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Applied Behavior Analysis, Katie focuses her dissertation on incorporating Goldiamond’s constructional approach and non-linear contingency analysis in parent training for children with severe behavioral disorders. Katie has presented at local and international conferences on innovative data collection for parent training, using the constructional approach with children with severe problem behavior, PFA & SBT, the enhanced choice model, constructional exposure treatment (CET), assent based approaches to building successful treatment programs for autistic youth with OCD. Her interests include the constructional approach and non-linear contingency analysis, the treatment of autism and co-occurring OCD, suicidal and homicidal ideation and attempts in autistic youth, and developing best practices for working with children with severe problem behavior and their families.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
279 research articles with practitioner takeaways
252 research articles with practitioner takeaways
239 research articles with practitioner takeaways
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All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.