Trauma-responsive care represents a critical frontier for behavior analysts that the field has been slow to address comprehensively. The statistics are stark: an estimated 70 percent of the global population has experienced at least one traumatic event, and approximately 30 percent have experienced four or more traumatic events.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via Illinois Association of Behavior Analysis
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Join Free →Although less than one percent of behavior analysts work in the child welfare system (BCBA, n.d.), behavior analysts are very likely to work with people impacted by trauma. It is estimated that 70% of the world population have experienced at least one traumatic event and that 30.5% have experienced four or more traumatic events (Benjet et al., 2016). Nearly 72% of behavior analysts work with Autistic clients (BACB, n.d.) who are more likely both to experience stressful events and develop post-traumatic stress symptoms (Kerns et al., 2015). Overlooking the impact of trauma may result in clients receiving inadequate support or being harmed by the use of contraindicated procedures (Kolu, 2020). Trauma-responsive behavior analysis is more than a set of procedures– it requires a deep understanding of behavior, including language and cognition, in the context of current and historical variables. Through an increased understanding of the client's unique history and perspective, behavior analysts can design robust, trauma-responsive interventions that uphold their ethical obligation to maximize benefits, mitigate risks, and treat those impacted by trauma with compassion, dignity and respect. In this workshop participants will 1) conceptualize traumatic events from a contextual behavioral science perspective, 2) explore the impact of trauma on client, caregiver, and practitioner behavior, 3) explore conceptually systematic, trauma-responsive interventions based on the contextual variables, and 4) identify a committed action that behavior analysts can take toward building proficiency in trauma-responsive care.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 3 | Ethics |
| COA | 3 | — |
Dr. Jamine Dettmering is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with over 20 years of experienceworking in human services. Before earning her Master of Arts in Psychology from The Chicago School(TCS) in 2014, Jamine worked as treatment coordinator and behavior and training specialist for ahuman service provider in Eastern Iowa that served individuals with intellectual disabilities, mentalillness, and traumatic brain injury. Jamine relocated to Chicago to pursue her PhD in AppliedBehavior Analysis. Since earning her BCBA certification in 2016 she has provided services in a variety ofsettings in the Chicagoland area, including home, school, community integrated living arrangements(CILA), community day services programs, hospitals, and in child welfare.Jamine is dedicated to providing trauma-responsive, neurodiversity-affirming care to adolescents infoster care. She believes in taking a harm-reduction approach to intervention that prioritizes clientautonomy. In addition to working as a consultant in the Comprehensive Assessment and ResponseTraining System Program at UIC, Jamine works as a BCBA consultant with BIOS ABA Consultants anddisseminates compassionate and responsive practices through mentoring other BCBAs, providingtraining to organizations, and presenting at conferences. She has also taught Applied Behavior Analysiscourses as an adjunct instructor at both TCS and National Louis University and serves as the LegislativeAffairs committee chair for the Illinois Association for Behavior Analysis.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
280 research articles with practitioner takeaways
279 research articles with practitioner takeaways
256 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.