Reimagining Relational Leadership in Behavior Analysis: Cultivating Connection, Equity, and Mutuality becomes clinically important the moment a team has to turn good intentions into reliable action inside supervision meetings, staff training, clinic systems, and performance review. In Reimagining Relational Leadership in Behavior Analysis: Cultivating Connection, Equity, and Mutuality, for this course, the practical stakes show up in better performance, lower drift, and more sustainable team development, not in abstract discussion alone.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via BABAT
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Join Free →Relational-cultural theory (Jordan, 2017) emphasizes that humans are interdependent beings who grow through and toward relationships across the lifespan. This framework highlights the importance of mutual empathy, shared growth, and critical awareness of power, privilege, and unearned advantage. Such relational processes align with behavior analytic principles that shape social behavior and promote authenticity, vulnerability, and prosocial responding. Ratcliff and Ratcliff (2015) assert that leadership is fundamentally relational, requiring not only a leader and followers but also a shared endeavor—paralleling culturo-behavioral scientific (CBS) concepts of interlocked behavioral contingencies and metacontingencies that sustain cultural practices. However, within behavior analysis, there has been a tendency to focus on external change strategies while insufficiently addressing the relational repertoires within leaders and organizations themselves. Meeting 21st-century sociocultural challenges requires reimagining leadership as a dynamic process that establishes, shapes, and sustains compassionate, equitable, and socially reinforcing cultural systems (Houmanfar & Mattaini, 2016). A relational, future-oriented leadership model calls for anticipating and shaping behavior change, discriminating multiple possible contingencies and outcomes, embracing social justice as a core value, and engaging in self-reflective practices to strengthen interpersonal repertoires (Fazal, 2023; Holland, 1976; Jordan, 2023; O'Connell-Sussman et al., 2023; Pesut, 2019). By integrating relational-cultural insights with the science of behavior, leaders can more effectively co-design and reinforce inclusive cultural practices that promote collective wellbeing, dispel the myth of separation, and dismantle systems of oppression.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1 | General |
| COA | 1 | — |
Paula Danquah-Brobby (she/they), PhD, BCBA, LBA, IBA is the Associate Dean of Access, Belonging, and Community Engagement for the College of Science at George Mason University. They have dedicated their career to social justice and advocating for historically minoritized and marginalized populations, both in the US and internationally. As a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), licensed behavior analyst in the state of Maryland, Culturo-Behavioral Scientist, and International Psychologist, Dr. Danquah-Brobby has worked with children and adults diagnosed with [neuro]developmental delays (in various environmental and cultural contexts) for over 20 years, which includes 13 years providing sustainable and capacity building consultative services to families, professionals, and organizations in low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs).Prior to joining Mason’s College of Science, she was the department chair of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) at a minority serving institution (MSI). In this role, she created and embedded access, justice, equity, diversity, & inclusion (AJEDI) strategic planning initiatives throughout departmental policies, procedures, and systems; this included cultivating culturally responsive teaching/pedagogic approaches and practicum training for ABA students.Their areas of interest include (but not limited to): ABA capacity-building and sustainability in LAMICs, international psychology, culturo-behavioral science (CBS), access, justice, equity, diversity, & inclusion, othering behaviors (e.g., racism, homophobia, misogynoir), intersectionality, eco-social determinants of physical and mental health, verbal behavior, naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI), social validity, cultural competency (comprises cultural awareness, sensitivity, humility, & responsiveness), and mixed methodology research designs.Dr. Danquah-Brobby has given numerous keynotes, presentations, interviews, and educational workshops throughout her career, and she's the author of the chapter Spiritual Activism, in the book Women in Behavior Science: Observations on Life Inside and Outside the Academy. Moreover, she is an Advisor for the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies; serves on the editorial board for Behavior and Social Issues (BSI); a member of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) and the Virginia Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (VADOHE); and participated on the Council of Autism Service Providers (CASP) Accreditation DEI workgroup.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
258 research articles with practitioner takeaways
239 research articles with practitioner takeaways
224 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.