Examples of Unrestricted BCBA Fieldwork Activities
- Ashleigh Evans (BCBA)
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
If you're on your journey toward BCBA certification, you'll need to gain experience completing unrestricted activities during your fieldwork. But what exactly counts as an unrestricted fieldwork activity? In this guide, we'll explain what these tasks are and provide examples to help you identify opportunities during your fieldwork experience.
What Are Unrestricted BCBA Fieldwork Activities?
Unrestricted activities are tasks that involve the types of responsibilities a BCBA performs. These activities involve skills such as behavior-analytic decision-making, assessment, treatment planning, supervision, data analysis, and clinical problem-solving.
Gaining experience in these areas helps trainees develop the skills they will need to practice as competent, well-rounded behavior analysts.
How Many Unrestricted Fieldwork Hours Are Needed?
According to the BCBA Handbook, trainees must complete at least 60% of their total fieldwork hours through unrestricted activities. The remaining hours can be spent on restricted activities, such as directly implementing treatment goals with clients (i.e., RBT-level tasks), or on additional unrestricted activities.
For trainees completing the Supervised Fieldwork pathway, this means at least 1,200 of the required 2,000 hours must be unrestricted. For trainees completing the Concentrated Supervised Fieldwork pathway, at least 900 of the required 1,500 hours must be unrestricted.
Unrestricted Hours: Supervised Vs Concentrated Path
Hour Category | Supervised Fieldwork | Concentrated Supervised Fieldwork |
Total Hours Required | 2,000 | 1,500 |
Unrestricted Hours | At least 1,200 hours (60% minimum) | At least 900 hours (60% minimum) |
Restricted Hours | No more than 800 hours (40% maximum) | No more than 600 hours (40% maximum) |
The 60% Requirement Still Applies If You Accrue Additional Hours
The minimum hour totals are not a substitute for the percentage requirement. If a trainee accrues more than 2,000 total hours, they still need to meet the 60% minimum unrestricted requirement.
Let's do the math to illustrate with an example. Suppose a trainee completes 2,030 total fieldwork hours. Because unrestricted activities must account for at least 60% of the trainee's total hours, the trainee would need at least 1,218 unrestricted hours:
2,030 × 60% = 1,218 hours
This means that trainees who accrue more than the minimum number of total hours should continue monitoring the percentage of unrestricted activities, not just whether they have reached the minimum unrestricted-hour threshold. The same principle applies to concentrated supervised fieldwork. If a trainee completes more than the required 1,500 hours, at least 60% of their total hours must still be unrestricted.
Bottom line: Think in percentages, not just minimum hour totals. Your fieldwork documentation should allow you and your supervisor to track both your total hours and your unrestricted-to-total-hour ratio.
Examples of Unrestricted Fieldwork Activities
Unrestricted activities generally involve the type of work a BCBA performs in their day-to-day activities. The specific opportunities available will vary based on the trainee’s placement, supervisor, organization, and the clients or students they're working with. However, the following are examples of activities that may qualify as unrestricted fieldwork activities:
Conducting Assessments
BCBAs are responsible for assessing behavior and identifying skill deficits. Trainees can earn unrestricted hours by participating in assessment-related activities, such as:
Assisting with functional behavior assessments (FBAs)
Conducting preference assessments
Completing skill assessments
Scoring and analyzing assessment results
Developing Programs, BIPs, and TPs
Treatment planning is a major responsibility of a BCBA. Unrestricted activities can include activities related to:
Drafting behavior intervention plans (BIPs)
Writing treatment plans (TP)—or portions of a TP
Selecting individualized interventions
Creating client-specific programming
Analyzing Data and Making Clinical Decisions
Trainees can earn unrestricted hours through activities such as:
Reviewing client data
Updating and analyzing graphs
Interpreting trends
Evaluating treatment effectiveness
Making data-informed clinical decisions
Updating treatment goals
Discussing treatment modifications with the supervisor or team
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Caregiver Training and Team Collaboration
Caregiver training is important for generalization and long-term maintenance of skills. BCBAs are responsible for supporting caregivers throughout their child's ABA journey.
Unrestricted activities can include activities related to caregiver training and team collaboration, such as:
Preparing caregiver training materials
Developing caregiver goals and planning sessions
Running caregiver treatment guidance sessions
Attending collaborative meetings
Training and Supervising Others
While not every BCBA is also a supervisor, many do provide supervision and training to behavior technicians and other team members. Therefore, developing supervisory competencies is essential. Trainees can earn unrestricted hours by:
Training staff
Overseeing staff implementation of treatment goals
Providing feedback
Evaluating implementation fidelity
Activities That Don't Count Toward Unrestricted Hours
The BACB specifies the following activities do not count toward fieldwork hours:
Attending professional conferences, workshops, or university courses
Completing didactic-course assignments (e.g., homework assignments, readings) and quizzes
Attending meetings with little or no behavior-analytic content
Providing interventions that are not based in behavior analysis;
Performing non-behavior-analytic administrative activities
Participating in non-behavior-analytic trainings related to service delivery (e.g., crisis management, CPR, billing systems);
Completing non-behavior-analytic assessments (e.g., diagnostic or intellectual assessments), paperwork, documentation, billing, or any other activities that are not directly related to behavior analysis;
Listening to podcasts;
Role-playing behavior-analytic procedures that are not client related.
Client Requirement
All fieldwork hours, including unrestricted tasks, must be related to actual clients. Supervisors cannot assign hypothetical clients with fictional situations as an unrestricted task.
What About Research?
Research can count toward unrestricted hours if the research is relevant to a specific client's programming. If you're doing general research for your own knowledge, unrelated to a client, that wouldn't count toward fieldwork hours.
Can I Count CEUs or PDUs?
No. The BACB specifies that attending professional conferences, workshops, and university courses doesn't count. While there are many continuing education courses that can provide valuable knowledge, they can't be tracked on your fieldwork log.
Well Over 100 Unrestricted Activity Ideas
If you want to take ownership of your fieldwork experience and need more unrestricted activity ideas, check out The Behavior Analyst Trainee Workbook. This book guides trainees through all of the aforementioned topics and many more to help you thoroughly prepare for your future career as a BCBA.
Looking for more ways to make the most of your fieldwork experience? The Behavior Analyst Trainee Workbook includes well over 100 ideas for unrestricted activities, along with guided exercises and practical resources to help you build the skills you’ll need as a future BCBA.
Ready to take ownership of your fieldwork experience? Explore The Behavior Analyst Trainee Workbook.
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