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
Release Date: 02/13/2026
What is Facilitated Communication? BOP Rewind | Session 199/336 | Jason Travers
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Welcome to Session 336 The Behavioral Observations Podcast. Well technically, this is actually Session 199, and I wanted to take a minute to explain why you're hearing a rebroadcast. This conversation with Dr. Jason Travers originally aired back in September of 2022, but I've decided it's worth bringing back because, unfortunately, the issues surrounding Facilitated Communication haven't gone away. In fact, if anything, they've become more relevant. Over the past several years, we've continued to see heartwarming news stories and viral social media posts featuring non-speaking autistic...
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Conducta Verbal: Cultura, Contexto y Comunicación Funcional | BOP en ESP 18 con Janet Enriquez
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
En este episodio, Miguel conversa con Janet sobre la conducta verbal desde una perspectiva práctica y cultural. A lo largo de la conversación, exploran por qué la conducta verbal sigue siendo una de las áreas más importantes —y a veces más incomprendidas— dentro del análisis de conducta y la educación. Janet comparte su trayectoria como latina, educadora, investigadora y líder en múltiples iniciativas dentro del campo, así como su experiencia trabajando con comunidades bilingües y culturalmente diversas. Juntos discuten conceptos fundamentales de la conducta verbal,...
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Essential for Living in Action: Building Meaningful Skills Through Everyday Events | Session 334 with Kristina Montgomery and Emily Beal Wilkinson
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Many behavior analysts have experienced the frustration of teaching a skill successfully in one setting only to discover that it doesn't transfer to the situations where it actually matters. In this episode, I sit down with and of Victory Academy to discuss how Essential for Living (EFL) and event-based teaching can help bridge that gap. Kristina and Emily share their professional journeys into behavior analysis and describe how discovering Dr. Patrick McGreevy's Essential for Living framework reshaped their approach to supporting learners with limited skill repertoires....
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Beyond 80% Correct: Rethinking Mastery Criteria in ABA: Session 333 with Sarah Richling & Dan Fienup
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
How do we determine when a learner has truly mastered a skill? In behavior analysis, performance criteria such as "80% correct across two sessions" have become nearly ubiquitous. Yet despite their widespread use, many practitioners may be surprised to learn that these criteria have relatively little direct empirical support. In this episode, I'm joined by Drs. Sarah Richling and Dr. Daniel Fienup to discuss the history, research, and practical implications of mastery criteria in applied behavior analysis. Drawing on their independent lines of research, Sarah and Dan examine how different...
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Helping Complex Kids Thrive Through Practical Behavioral Parenting Strategies: Jenny Demark, Linda Reinstein and Conrad Leung | Session 332
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In this episode, I’m joined by , , and to talk about their new book, . These are clinicians who’ve spent years working directly with families dealing with everything from emotion regulation challenges, to childhood anxiety, to severe behavioral challenges, and what I liked about this conversation is that it stayed extremely practical throughout. We spent a lot of time talking about their “Prepare, Teach, Motivate” framework, and how parents and professionals can think more systematically about helping kids build resilience and coping skills rather than just reacting to challenging...
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Supporting Individuals With Severe Problem Behavior Through Collaboration: Session 331 with Ben Seifert
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In Session 331, I sat down with to talk about some of the most challenging — and important — work happening in applied behavior analysis today: supporting individuals with severe problem behavior. Ben shared his journey into the field, beginning with his early experiences at Lindamood-Bell and later at under the mentorship of Carl Sundberg and others who helped shape his clinical perspective. Along the way, we discussed what originally drew him toward working with clients who many providers often avoid, and why he remains deeply committed to ensuring that all...
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Supporting Health and Wellness in Developmental Disabilities: Session 330: Brandon May, Maggie Pavone, and Kate Heersink
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In this episode, I’m joined by Drs. and , and to talk about how we can better support healthier lifestyles for individuals with developmental disabilities. We start by digging into how each of them came to this work. Maggie shares some early experiences working as a direct support professional, where she began to notice patterns between food-related variables and challenging behavior. Brandon talks about coming into behavior analysis through the health and fitness world, and seeing firsthand how difficult it was to support individuals in building healthier routines...
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Train Smarter, Not Harder: Heart Rate Zones, VO2 Max, and Better Fitness: Session 329 with Nick Green
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In Session 329, I’m joined once again by , Ph.D., BCBA-D, who’s been doing some really interesting work at the intersection of fitness and behavior science. In this episode, Nick walks us through the basics of heart rate training zones and why simply “working out” isn’t always enough. We talk about the general recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week, but more importantly, how to make sure that time is actually spent in the right zones—particularly Zones 2 through 4—where you’re going to see real cardiovascular benefits. From there, we get...
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Conditioning Books as Reinforcers: How to Increase Reading Engagement in Young Children: Inside JABA 26
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Episode Summary In this episode, I'm joined by , , and Lilian Morales to discuss their recent paper in JABA, . In this episode, we explore how books can function as powerful reinforcers for young children, especially in early learning and ABA contexts. We discuss how to identify when books are actually reinforcing, how to condition books as reinforcers if they’re not already, and practical strategies for incorporating them into teaching and behavior support. Key Topics Covered 1. What Makes Something a Reinforcer? Reinforcers are defined by their effect on behavior—not by intention A...
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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...
info_outlineIn 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, S.H.I.T. Happens: Building Resilient Children in a Fragile World, 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 children’s learning environments
- How overprotection and pressure both undermine skill development
- Designing “successful struggle” so kids contact reinforcement for effort
- Everyday moments — homework, sports, emotional setbacks — as resilience practice
- The adult’s role as guide, not rescuer or drill sergeant
- Teaching recovery instead of avoidance
- Scaling challenges to build confidence and persistence
- Why discomfort is information, not danger
This discussion emphasizes practical decision-making: how small changes in adult behavior can create conditions where children learn to try again, persist longer, and experience the satisfaction of overcoming something difficult.
Whether you’re a practitioner, educator, or parent, this episode highlights how resilience is built through repeated opportunities to struggle safely — and why those opportunities matter more than we often realize.
Resources mentioned:
- Paulie and Steve's book
- Assent & Trauma Informed Care: A Call for Nuance in Behavior Analysis
- Motivational Interviewing: Getting Educator Buy-In (course)
- Adaptive Intelligence: The Evolution of Emotional Intelligence Through the Proven Power of Behavior Science
- Paulie's other books
- Kind Extinction: A Procedural Variation on Traditional Extinction
- The Four Leadership Hats: Applying Behavioral Science to Leadership and Supervision (Session 321 with John Guercio)
- The ACT Matrix: A New Approach to Building Psychological Flexibility Across Settings and Population
- Session 313: Client Assent in Behavior Analysis: Balancing Autonomy and Clinical Progress (Ethics CE available)
Sponsor shoutouts
- The School Behavioral Solutions for Special Educators & Behavior Analysts. The Behavior Toolbox Conference is a one-day, high-impact professional convening that brings together experienced practitioners and leaders from across education and behavior science to share what actually works in schools. It’s taking place virtually through BehaviorLive on March 5th, 2026, and will be available on-demand for those who can’t make it on the day of the event.
- Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. Don't forget to use the coupon code, PODCAST to save at checkout!
- CEUs from Behavioral Observations. Learn from your favorite podcast guests while you're commuting, walking the dog, or whatever else you do while listening to podcasts. New events are being added all the time, so check them out here.
- HRIC Recruting. Cut out the middleman and speak directly with Barbara Voss, who's been placing BCBAs in great jobs all across the US for 15 years.