What is Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics? Session 266 with Chris McGinnis
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Release Date: 06/12/2024
Comportamiento, espacio y algoritmos: Análisis de la conducta recargado, BOP en Español 17 con Alejandro León
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Comportamiento, espacio y algoritmos: Análisis de la conducta recargado En este episodio de Espacio y Comportamiento, conversa con sobre una dimensión del comportamiento que históricamente ha sido poco explorada en nuestro campo: el espacio. Más allá de medir cuándo ocurre una conducta o cuántas veces se presenta, esta conversación propone mirar dónde ocurre, cómo nos movemos en el ambiente y cómo los patrones de acercamiento, alejamiento y trayectoria espacial organizan el comportamiento. Alejandro comparte su recorrido poco convencional desde la ingeniería y las...
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The 2025 Verbal Behavior Conference Panel Discussion: Session 326
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Thanks for joining me for Session 326 of The Behavioral Observations Podcast. This episode was recorded live at the 2025 Verbal Behavior Conference, where I had the honor of moderating the annual panel discussion. If you haven't attended a previous Verbal Behavior Conference, you're in luck, because the next one is coming up in just a few short weeks. The will be held on March 26th and 27th, and it will be preceded by a full day workshop. If you've listened to the show for any length of time, you've heard my go on about how unique this conference is. If not, please indulge me for a...
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Developing Rapport and Sustaining Motivation in Autism Treatment: Session 325 with Alice Shillingsburg
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Alice Shillingsburg about her work on rapport building and pairing procedures in applied behavior analysis for children with autism. We explore how building therapeutic rapport goes beyond simply “liking someone,” emphasizing the importance of establishing trust and engagement to facilitate learning, especially when tasks are challenging. Alice explains the nine-stage pairing protocol she developed and highlights how careful timing, observation, and reinforcement choices can make pairing effective. We discuss the significance of observing children’s...
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Resilience Is a Skill — Raising Capable Kids in a Fragile World: Session 324 with Paulie Gavoni and Steve Ward
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In Session 324, Dr. Paulie Gavoni and Steve Ward join me to discuss what resilience actually looks like from a behavior science perspective — and why many well-intentioned adult responses can unintentionally teach avoidance instead of persistence. We center our conversation around their book, , which reframes resilience not as a personality trait or motivational slogan, but as a set of learnable repertoires shaped by the environments adults design We talk about: Why resilience is a behavioral repertoire, not a mindset or personality trait The hidden ways adult anxiety shapes...
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Building Clinical Excellence in Autism Services: How Apollo Trains and Supports RBTs and BCBAs - Session 322
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In this episode of the Behavioral Observations Podcast, I’m joined by , founder of , and , Vice President of Clinical Operations, to talk about what it really takes to build and sustain clinical excellence in autism services. We discuss Apollo’s decision to launch in Georgia, their highly selective hiring process, and how values alignment plays a central role in building their culture. Kim and Kristen share how Apollo approaches training differently — including a four-week RBT onboarding program that exceeds certification requirements and a structured mentorship model for BCBAs. The...
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Entrenamiento de Habilidades Conductuales: BOP en Español 16 con Maria Sanchez
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
En este episodio, Miguel conversa con , una profesional con un impacto notable en la formación de analistas de conducta en España y Latinoamérica. La charla gira en torno al Behavioral Skills Training (BST) o Entrenamiento de Habilidades Conductuales: qué es, cómo se aplica en la práctica y por qué sigue siendo una de las herramientas más efectivas para entrenar tanto a profesionales como a familias. María comparte su recorrido profesional, que comienza en Inglaterra en un centro para niños con autismo y evoluciona hacia su trabajo en PECS, donde encontró su...
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The Four Leadership Hats: Applying Behavioral Science to Leadership and Supervision — Session 321 with John Guercio
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In this episode, I’m joined by John Guercio for a wide-ranging and practical conversation about leadership through a behavioral lens. John and I dig into what it actually means to lead in applied behavior analysis, especially when so much of the existing leadership literature is vague, mentalistic, or disconnected from observable behavior. We start by talking about the need to operationalize leadership in behavioral terms and explore the four leadership hats developed by : leading, training, coaching, and managing. We break down what each of these roles looks like behaviorally, how they...
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The Importance of Hard and Soft Skills in ABA Practice: Session 320 with Tiffany Kodak and Landon Cowan
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In Session 320, I sit down with Landon Cowan and Tiffany Kodak to talk about an area of behavior analysis that doesn’t get nearly enough attention: professional (or “soft”) skills. We spend a lot of time in our field teaching and refining technical, clinical, or “hard” skills—and for good reason. But far less time is devoted to the interpersonal, communication, and problem-solving skills that ultimately determine how effective we are as clinicians, supervisors, and collaborators. In this conversation, Landon and Tiffany share their research aimed at identifying, defining, and...
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2025 Year in Review: Session 319 with ABA Inside Track
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Don’t adjust your podcast player folks, you have the right show. Welcome to Session 319 of the Behavioral Observations Podcast. If you’ve been listening for a bit, you know what’s coming. If you’re new to the show however, first, welcome and thanks for listening. Every year, I team up with my friends from the ABA Inside Track Podcast to do a Year In Review episode. We’ve tinkered with the format over time, but for this one, we talk briefly about the trends and issues that we thought were important in 2025. From there, we discussed some of the most downloaded shows from our podcasts...
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Smarter Study Strategies Using Cover, Copy, and Compare: Session 318 with Sarah Frampton
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In this episode, I sit down with , who conducts research on, amongst other things, improving how we teach, learn, and organize information using behavior-analytic strategies. We explore her career journey, her research on graphic organizers and the Cover, Copy, Compare (CCC) strategy, and the broader implications for stimulus equivalence, educational technology, and effective teaching. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: How Sarah’s unconventional path led her from economics and psychology into Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Why note-taking and structured...
info_outlineDr. Chris McGinnis joins me in Session 266 to talk about his work in Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics. If you're not sure what that is, don't worry. We go over that right away and learn that this area of work sits in an important and underserved niche: The niche between the general behavioral advice dispensed by pediatricians, and intensive treatment for serious mental health challenges.
In a way, this conversation expands on something that Pat Friman brought up in our most recent interview: The idea that BCBAs are uniquely suited to provide families with this type of care. In order to provide direction to those who are interested in doing just this, Chris recently published Introduction to Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics: A Guide for Behavior Analysts.
In our conversation, we covered:
· His background in Behavioral Pediatrics, including his work at BoysTown (and meeting Pat Friman for the first time).
· The motivation for writing his book.
· The reification of psychological terms (see Skinner '45).
· The myth of the Chemical Imbalance Hypothesis.
· The range of behavior challenges he sees in his practice.
· Thoughts on caregiver adherence.
· The pros and cons of reimbursement practices, including the concierge model he has currently adopted.
· Chris' study of Trauma-Informed Care.
· Permissive vs. Authoritative, and how those related to adolescent mental health.... In other words, why parenting is like The Marshmallow Test.
· Advice for the newly-minted BCBA.
This podcast is brought to you by the following:
- Please welcome our newest sponsor, The New England Center for Children! I am beyond thrilled to partner with one of the oldest and well-respected ABA institutions to help them find staff to continue their mission of supporting individuals with Autism. Learn more about careers at NECC over at necc.org/jobs.
- ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests!
- HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.
- The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms.