Date: 2/7/18
Topic: Career Panel
Powerpoint: Career Panel
Speakers:
- Jonathan Lein – Grace Medical Home (Behavioral health/social services director)
- Colin Byard – higher education/student affairs (area coordinator)
- Dr. Lara Davis – Counseling Corner Inc. (psychologist)
- Kristyn Mckenney/Adriana Rodriguez – OCA (ABA)
Brief Presentation on Behavior Analysis
OCA: music therapy, art therapy, speech therapy, applied behavioral analysis
What is Behavioral Analysis? Focus on understanding and improving observable behavior
Experimental BA vs Applied BA
- Applied works within homes, schools, clinics, etc.
- Experimental works within a controlled environment
ABC’s of Behavior: antecedent → behavior → consequence
Panel Questions
Explain what you do within your office?
Lara: use of talk therapy by first getting a full background in the first session, then setting goals and working to meet them through multiple sessions. Focus on learning more coping skills (for huge stressors). After coping skills, dig deeper into the underlying source of the stress.
Jonathan: patients are more inclined to be compliant with medication when not burdened by mental illness or stressors, provide social service needs and resources for disadvantaged population. Have social workers, psychiatric practitioner, etc. working in the clinic to address all issues.
Colin: in charge of manipulating the environment of student dorms to give the best experience and guidance, supervising RA’s and OA’s that work directly with the student residents. How well are students able to interact with those that are different than them? Learning to manage conflict better?
How did you guys fall into the profession?
Jonathan: started undergrad in Anthropology, PE coaching minor. Took a sociology course that was required and professor made the class interesting, ended up taking other classes with the professor (social work, sociology courses). Started working as a social worker in education and was approached about getting a graduate degree to continue with sociology and got his MSW. Love studying people and why they do the things they do. Am a sociologist at heart.
Lara: Just knew from the start that psychology was what she wanted to do, always been curious about people and their reasons for things. Took a peer relation class and enjoyed the philosophy of getting behind their barriers and walls, connecting on a human level. Led to psychology, went to UCF for undergraduate degree and interned at Counseling Corner as a student. Went straight for doctorate at Nova Southeastern and knew she wanted a Psy.D. Worked a variety of jobs (CAPS) and recently moved into private practice.
Colin: happy accident. Freshman year of college not so great; struggled with depression. Gave himself a reset after that year, started to get involved in the university and realized what was setting him back. Discovered that he loved helping students come to their own realizations. Through continuation in education, fell in love with sociology and a wide variety of topics. Decided he wanted to run a residence hall, students need someone who cares. There’s a lot of power in empowering others to be successful and discover their own values/belief systems.
Krysten: have been interested in psychology from the start and had to go to class with mother when she was getting her degree, was enthralled by it. Was sitting in abnormal psych class, watching videos on what it is to be a psychologist, and realized that she wanted to do something else within psychology. Went to advisor to discuss it and was referred to a behavioral analyst that worked in faculty, was able to do some work within the analyst’s practice and experience what it was like. Something clicked when sitting in on a session with a child, and knew it was what she wanted to do and is doing now.
Adrianna: knew she wanted to do psychology to better understand herself and went to UCF for undergraduate in psychology for mental health counseling. Someone reached out to the group she was involved in on campus to speak about behavioral analysis, something she never heard of. Remembers learning more about it and decided to work in the field for one year, has now been four years. Worked with a variety of children, doing summer camps, and was more involved than other internships/jobs. Passion for training parents and child. Working on becoming a certified behavioral analyst.
What theoretical model do you utilize?
Krysten: focused on observable and measurable behavior, identify the why of behavior. Break it down into the functions: attention, escape, access, automatic reinforcement. The goal is to get those functions in an appropriate way, decrease maladaptive behaviors. Teach them to communicate, tolerate being told no, etc.
Colin: Taught a lot of theoretical perspectives, based on college student development but lots of crossover with psychology. Current interest in identity development theories, coming to conclusions about oneself. How to help people better understand components/aspects of themselves. Overall philosophy: theory of self-authorship, how to define one’s own experience (self-defining reasoning for decisions, processing information, etc.)
Lara: describe it as integrative, nothing is one size fits all. Different things will click with different people. Existentialism: you have freedom and it can be exhilarating but also terrifying (many choices and decisions to make). Being authentic and responsible for one’s choices. Technique-wise, use a lot of third wave behaviors (focus on here and now, mindfulness, values work). Relating to thoughts and feelings instead of pushing them away or letting them take control.
Jonathan: meeting each person where they are, want to hear their story before deciding on an approach. Want the person to feel trust with him because he’s willing to walk with them through their journey and work with them. Need to keep a whole bag of tools, not just one. Cognitive-behavioral (helps with trauma), listening skills.
Open Questions:
How did you choose between Psy.D./ Ph.D.?
Lara: chose Psy.D. because it’s more clinically based, not so much interest in research work. Love talking to people and being hands on.
What does an average day at work look like?
Adrianna: creating behavior plans, what to specifically work on. Meet with parents to discuss strategies and what is needed. Bouncing from client to client and helping throughout the office.
Kristyn: dual clinical/administrative function in the administration. Putting systems in place as well as a clinical caseload, but working more toward staff training. Provide feedback and shaping behavior, with ABA’s shaping their supervisory behavior. The day is always changing, even when it is planned out.
Colin: Building curriculum, conduct meetings, interviewing employees. Day is always dramatically different: training staff, coaching sessions, disciplinary conversations, answering emails, contacting parents, conflict mediation, etc. Not much consistency day-to-day, but will always be fresh.
Lara: structured in sense of the session lengths, but everyone’s story is different (may be a crisis or have an event during the week). Need to adjust sessions according to what is going on, whether immediate or the main focus.
Jonathan: supervise five social work interns (and have had psychology interns as well). Clinical supervision involving discussing cases, need to assess situations when they happen within the facility, have counselors available, consulting on medication choices, administrative work, etc.
How do you deal with the feeling of not being able to help someone because they don’t want it?
Jonathan: It’s not that you’re not doing good, it’s that the person is making a choice. Just asking the patient “do you want to get well? Are you committed to it?”
Lara: if they’re coming into the office, even if they may be difficult, they are still coming in for something even if it’s just to explore. “What is it that you’re wanting?” If it’s not their time, then it’s not their time and they have to come into it on their own time. Can’t convince someone to do the work, and end up working harder than them.
Colin: Not taking other people’s issues into yourself, how you emotionally handle it. Have to work at it and rethink what helping the person means (being a hero or not). Noting the progress that happens, even if it’s not a full turn around.
Kristyn: Have a bigger problem with parents not being compliant to help the child, and it can be difficult. Shaping one step at a time, even when it seems insignificant in the scheme of things. Have to be able to take care of yourself, have a support system as well.
Adriana: still learning, especially when progress is happening, but it’s just taking care of yourself and knowing that you may have to just let them go.
Any internships or volunteer opportunities?
Jonathan: accept applications from undergraduate students (intake department, front desk, resident assistant, etc.)
Can email or call if interested in opportunities.
Lara: internship involving administrative work (taking calls, learning how to do insurance, etc.) and have weekly clinical meetings to go over caseloads. Always looking for new applicants and can email if interested.
Colin: can apply as an RA (one to one contact) and practice communication skills. Open in August each year. Has a side project list that can use the help of others input as a volunteer. Can email if interested.
Kristyn: volunteer opportunities year long, as well as summer camp each year (paid). Behavior assistant positions, part time or full time available. Lots of opportunities; can email if interested.
Last Minute Announcements
Blaze partial proceeds on Feb 15th!
March 21st: officer election day!
April 4th: destress event at Menchie’s!