Is There an Alternative to Escape Extinction and Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO): The promise of Constructional Exposure Therapy belongs in serious BCBA study because it shapes whether behavior-analytic decisions stay useful once they leave a clean training example and enter clinic sessions and day-to-day service delivery. In Is There an Alternative to Escape Extinction and Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO): The promise of Constructional Exposure Therapy, 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 BABAT
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Join Free →When working with learners who demonstrate phobic or fear-related behaviors, it is important to utilize procedures that result in effective and efficient outcomes while minimizing distress. This symposium consists of four presentations. The first will present a systematic review of the literature on exposure therapies, including systematic desensitization, applied to a wide range of medical procedures. Several findings from reviewing 62 articles across 715 participants and 11 medical procedures will be shared. Following the review, a recent approach to addressing phobias and highly reactive patterns, Constructional Exposure Therapy, will be introduced and contrasted with traditional methods. The second presentation will introduce two case studies where Constructional Exposure Therapy (CET) was implemented to treat fear responses related to nail clipping and a blood draw procedure with a 9-year-old and 12-year-old male diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The third presentation will review three case studies on using CET in the pediatric healthcare setting including, helping a child with a history of contingent restraint successfully take oral medication for the first time; supporting a child with severe trauma in accessing routine medical examinations without distress; and teaching a child with cancer to tolerate vital sign assessments and life-saving chemo and surgical interventions. The fourth presentation will introduce one case study where CET was implemented with a young child with ASD to complete temperature checks in a center setting. All presentations will detail the procedures, and present the associated data. These cases demonstrate an alternative to escape extinction, DRO, and related decelerating procedures. A discussion will follow on how clinicians can begin to incorporate CET into programming with learners when addressing phobia or fear-related behaviors.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1.5 | General |
| COA | 1.5 | — |
Angela Fuhrmann-Knowles, PhD, is a BCBA-D from Los Angeles, California. She received her Master’s degree in Special Education and Applied Behavior Analysis from Arizona State University and received her Doctoral degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Endicott College. Angela has worked with children and adolescents, primarily serving those with autism, since 2018. Her research interests include incorporating genuine assent into programming, concept teaching, and decision trees.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
256 research articles with practitioner takeaways
225 research articles with practitioner takeaways
225 research articles with practitioner takeaways
Side-by-side comparison with a clinical decision framework
Research-backed educational guide for behavior analysts
Research-backed answers to common clinical questions
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.