One of the requirements for earning board certification in behavior analysis is the successful completion of fieldwork hours. For most, this means 2,000 hours of experience, 5% of which are supervised. See Pathways Toward BCBA for more information about each pathway.
High quality fieldwork supervision is arguably the biggest piece to ensuring that we are thoroughly preparing our trainees for a behavior analyst role. However, behavior analysts and trainees alike report significant barriers to supervision. Supervisees commonly report concerns related to the quality of supervision and accessing unrestricted hours. Supervisors often report barriers in accessing resources, progressing supervision, and finding opportunities for trainees to accrue hours.
This article will provide supervision resources for both the BCBA who is providing supervision and the supervisee who is receiving or seeking supervision. Please note that this is in no way an all encompassing list of resources.
Start with the basics
For both supervising BCBAs and those who are pursuing fieldwork supervision, I highly recommend thoroughly reviewing the following BACB resources.
BCBA Handbook: This goes over all aspects of pursuing BCBA certification from eligibility pathways to fieldwork requirements, fieldwork activities, exam information and more. Keep this bookmarked for easy access as you'll likely need to reference it on numerous occasions (I can't tell you how many times I have!).
Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts: BCBA applicants and certificants are required to know and abide by this code. Trainees should expect fieldwork supervision to consist of ongoing ethical discussions. As such, before taking on supervisees, BCBAs are recommended to brush up on the code.
Remote supervision
Those pursuing fieldwork hours may not have access to a BCBA in their current place of employment. Or they may struggle to accrue hours with only one supervisor-particularly unrestricted hours. There is rarely a shortage in restricted hours. As such, many hopeful behavior analysts turn to remote supervision to accrue more hours.
If you're searching for a remote BCBA supervisor, check out this database of BCBA Supervisors who offer remote supervision!
Are you a new BCBA providing supervision? Don't forget the new requirement for consulting supervision! All BCBAs who provide supervision within their 1st year as a BCBA must have a consulting supervisor with 5+ years of experience as a BCBA.
BCBA-specific supervision resources
The following books, articles, and continuing education courses may be of benefit in your supervision practices.
Books
Supervision CEUs
Expand your competencies in supervision practices by taking continued education courses. 3 supervision CEUs per two-year period are required for BCBAs providing supervision.
Self-care & Burnout Prevention-Addresses practices to use on ourselves and our supervisees
Supervision-related articles
The behavior analytic literature on supervision has increased in the last few years. Here are several article suggestions.
Resources for both BCBAs and Trainees
BCBA Task List Competency Tracker : Track your OR your supervisee's progress toward the items on the 5th edition task list. The task list consists of skills and concepts that are expected of a behavior analyst, and therefore, monitoring one's competencies through the task list is beneficial. Check out this video on how the competency tracker is used.
Ethics for Behavior Analysts: An excellent read for both current and aspiring BCBAs. This book may be used to guide the ethical discussions in supervision meetings.
The Practical ABA Practitioner: Another great read for both current and aspiring analysts.
Resources for Trainees
Ripley Fieldwork Tracker: Free online resource for tracking your hours!
An overview of the documentation required for fieldwork hours.
An overview of the eligibility criteria for becoming a BCBA
Note: Some of the links above contain affiliate links. Rest assured, this does not change the cost to you for any of the recommended resources.
