The field of Applied Behavior Analysis presents a delicate balance of clinical judgement, ethical considerations, and effectiveness of behavioral treatment. Clinicians have been taught to prioritize implementation of evidence-based interventions to provide meaningful services to clients to support acquisition of appropriate communication skills while reducing more challenging or inappropriate behaviors.

While an ABA Master’s program teaches the importance of selecting the most relevant assessment, analyzing data points, and determining an appropriate schedule of reinforcement, compassion in ABA is generally not a required course. Lack of sufficient interpersonal and relationship-building skills can result in detrimental results across ABA practices (Taylor et al., 2018, p.665). This article will introduce the Four Pillars of Compassion in ABA: Compassion for the Client, Compassion for Caregivers, Compassion for Coworkers, and Compassion for Yourself, and how they can be applied by clinicians in the interest of all involved parties.

Compassion for the Client

It would be a challenge to find an ABA professional who would not agree that the client is the most important person to consider when providing behavioral therapy. Regardless of the age and ability of the individual receiving services, progress will be minimal if compassion is not a priority.

The distinction between consent and assent is critical to consider when approaching the idea of compassion towards a client. There are multiple reasons why a client may not be able to legally consent to ABA services on their own, however, every individual can demonstrate assent in some form. Taking the moment to consider the client’s experience is crucial. Even if the client cannot directly communicate their feelings about their services, ABA professionals are communication experts who should ensure that they are understanding the needs of their clients to the best of their abilities.

Compassion for Caregivers

Much of an ABA professional’s job involves direct interactions with clients’ caregivers. Caregiver trainings, regular progress meetings, and session overlaps all provide clinicians with opportunities to provide support and recommendations that align with treatment outcomes for the client. Eventual generalization of a client’s skills and behaviors to caregivers in the absence of a clinical team is the ultimate desirable outcome of ABA services.

Caregiver involvement can vary greatly across different clients, due to a variety of factors including work, caring for additional family members, or, unfortunately, lack of buy-in of ABA in general. Regardless of the family’s situation, caregiver-centric services should be fine-tuned and tailored to caregivers, as much as they are to the client.

One of the most important considerations that a clinician can make is to identify the capacity of individual caregivers, and to acknowledge the work that the caregivers are doing. Each family functions differently than any other; a family with two caregivers present, with the flexibility to have one caregiver stay home with their child, may have a higher capacity to implement ABA recommendations than a family with one caregiver who works out of the home. In a study conducted by Taylor et al, 95 surveys completed by caregivers showed that while the majority of those surveyed agreed that ABA clinicians demonstrated enthusiasm when their children showed progress in their goals, significantly fewer caregivers felt that their clinicians cared about members of the family outside of the client, and did not feel that their clinicians were open to collaboration with caregivers during meetings (Taylor et al. 2018, p.657-658). While caregiver involvement is crucial to the success of a client’s ABA program, that program is more likely to be successful if the caregivers involved feel heard.

Compassion for Coworkers

ABA is a world of its own, a profession that is unlike so many others. Many clinicians find their line of work difficult to talk about with people outside of this world, due to the personal nature of the work, clinical jargon, and client confidentiality. Because of this, clinicians often find support and guidance by leaning on their fellow ABA professionals.

There is something comforting about being able to complain to someone about an intervention that just doesn’t seem to be working. We can find relief in a fresh pair of eyes providing a suggestion that hasn’t yet been thought of or finding the evidence to support a recommendation that a caregiver isn’t sure about. Embracing different points of view can influence the treatment recommendations and services clinicians provide to clients and caregivers and allow clinicians the opportunity to grow as professionals to continually provide the best services possible.

“Compassion is…reported within ABA literature as foundational to teamwork across disciplines, which… overlaps on several key capacities, such as listening, respect, and shared decisions…” (Friedman El Roy, 2024, p.2). Demonstrating compassion to the coworkers that you interact with every day can be beneficial for everyone. Remember that being in this field is not always easy, but working as a team and valuing what others bring to the table can lessen the load.

Compassion for Yourself

Burnout in ABA is real. Scheduling, meetings, session overlaps, treatment plans, data analysis, reports, engaging with a client showing high levels of behaviors, and everything else that comes with being a clinician, can feel overwhelming. ABA professionals may feel that their compassion towards others must be stronger than compassion towards themselves (Friedman El Roy, 2024, p.8). Feeling overwhelmed sometimes is normal, and it can also be a reminder to take a break.

Many ABA organizations encourage self-care and provide resources to support clinicians in this manner. However, sometimes we may feel guilty for taking the time needed for a reset. Simply put, these breaks are necessary to ensure that we as clinicians can provide our clients with our best selves. As the cliché saying goes, you cannot help others without helping yourself.

So, make the coffee run in between your afternoon sessions. Sing your heart out to your favorite song in the car on your way home from the clinic. If you have a day off, don’t check your email. Take a deep breath and know that you’re doing great; your work will be there when you’re ready.

While the ABA essentials of assessments, treatment plans, and progress reports should absolutely remain as priorities, interweaving compassion can affect greater results in ultimate client progress, while allowing those in each Pillar of Compassion to have a more enjoyable and meaningful experience.

Works Cited

Taylor, B. A., LeBlanc, L. A., & Nosik, M. R. (2019). Compassionate Care in Behavior Analytic Treatment: Can Outcomes be Enhanced by Attending to Relationships with Caregivers? Behavior Analysis in Practice, 12(3), 654–666. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-018-00289-3

Friedman, Z. L., & El-Roy, D. (2024). Exploring Interprofessional and Self-Compassion Competencies for Applied Behavior Analysis Professionals: A Qualitative Study. Behavior Analysis in Practice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-024-  00991-5