Practice Resources & Professional Tools

No. Just like medical doctors (MD's), many psychologists have specialized training, but some do not. For example, all cardiologists (heart specialists) are medical doctors, but most medical doctors are not cardiologists. In the same way, all psychologists have graduate training in psychology, but many do not have training and supervised experience in applied behavior analysis, which is the specialization needed to be an effective behavioral consultant. Put another way, some psychologists are qualified to provide behavior analytic assessment and treatment services, but many are not. And as mentioned above, some people who are qualified to provide these services are not psychologists.

Although that may be helpful for a variety of practical reasons, a licensed psychologist is not always well qualified to provide behavioral consultation services for a person with mental retardation or a developmental disability. Most licensed psychologists have completed rigorous graduate training. The American Board of Professional Psychology, which is recognized by many state boards of psychology as a formal sign of psychological specialty expertise, also recognizes the specialty board of behavioral psychology. Psychologists who have this kind of psychological board certification are called "diplomates" and indicate this with the letters "abpp" after their name and highest degree. An even older form of external recognition for behavioral expertise is the status of "clinical fellow" by the behavior therapy and research society, a list of which is provided annually in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. But even these qualifications may not have included any specific training and supervised experience in behavioral analytic assessment and treatment methods for people with MR/DD. The same is true of many people with advanced degrees and superb qualifications in areas like school psychology and special education.

There is also great variability from state to state in the areas of competence required to practice psychology independently. Most often, the doctoral degree is the entry level for the independent practice of psychology, with legal supervision by licensed doctoral level psychologists required for those with lesser degrees to engage in psychological work. Further, some states ask or permit psychologists to specify their exact areas of competence (or specialization) when they are licensed, while other states require psychologists to choose from only a few broad categories. There may also be more opportunities for masters and doctoral students to acquire skills in behavior analysis in some states than in others, due to what is provided in university training programs.

This is a professional who has documented graduate training and supervised, hands-on experience in applied behavior analysis, and has passed a special examination in this area. This voluntary certification assures you that the professional has basic, general competence in applied behavior analysis. Right now, however, a national certification program has just begun. The national program is managed by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc. (see "www.bacb.com" on the internet for more information about this organization). Professionals with master’s or doctoral degrees who are certified under this program are called Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA). Over time, the number of board certified behavior analysts is expected to increase, and it should become easier for consumers to find qualified behavioral consultants. But for now, some consumers may have difficulty locating board certified behavior analysts in their local area (however, the BACB Certificant Registry is available at www.bacb.com). One more caution is that many board certified behavior analysts, like psychologists and other practitioners, are specialists. Some do not have expertise in working with people with MR/DD. People seeking services from consultants who are board certified behavior analysts should ask the consultant if they have specific training and experience in the area of MR/DD.

Here are some things you should expect from a behavioral consultant working in MR/DD:

• They have a master’s or doctoral degree in applied behavior analysis, or in a closely related discipline (e.g., psychology, special education, human development) with an emphasis in applied behavior analysis.
• They have supervised experience implementing behavior analysis interventions for people with MR/DD.
• They follow the ethical principles of the American Psychological Association (APA), whether or not they are licensed psychologists or members of APA, and/or the ethical codes of their respective affiliated chapters of the Association for Behavior Analysis. Among other things, these ethical guidelines require professionals to provide only those services for which they have the appropriate training and experience. (See "http://www.apa.org/ethics/code. html" on the internet.)
• They adhere to the Right to Effective Treatment position statement of the Association for Behavior Analysis.
• Other qualifications are shown at "www.bacb.com" (on the internet).
• Recommended qualifications for professionals who direct and supervise applied behavior analysis programming for children with autism spectrum disorders are shown in the autism section of "www.behavior.org" (on the internet), under Guidelines for Selecting Behavior Analysts.
• Other standards and requirements may be applicable for third party reimbursement of behavioral consultation services by private insurers or government agencies, which could include supervision or direct provision of all services by a licensed psychologist, membership of the professional on a panel of approved providers, and/or recognition by a state agency as a Medicaid or other specific program provider. Well qualified providers may not be eligible for third party payment of fees by particular agencies because of closed provider panels or because they have not enrolled in the required government program. These financial factors should be discussed when arranging for services with a behavioral consultant