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| "Why Won't They Listen to Me?" Improving Interactions With Consumers, Treatment Providers, and Other Professionals |
| Friday, May 25, 2012 |
| 8:00 AM–3:00 PM |
| 309 (Convention Center) |
| Area: PRA/CBM; Domain: Service Delivery |
| CE Instructor: W. Larry Williams, Ph.D. |
| WILLIAM C. FOLLETTE (University of Nevada, Reno), JORDAN T. BONOW (University of Nevada, Reno), SABRINA DARROW (University of California, San Francisco), CLAUDIA DROSSEL (Mental Illness Research, Education & Clinical Center), W. LARRY WILLIAMS (University of Nevada,Reno) |
| Description: Behavior analysts work in a variety of settings requiring regular interactions with treatment and care providers unfamiliar with behavior analysis (e.g., teachers, parents). Because even the most brilliant behavioral plans are futile when not implemented, overcoming barriers to implementation often takes center stage when working with these providers. Techniques developed in clinical research to address client "resistance" are aplenty but not widely known within the broad behavior analytic community. The primary goal of this workshop is the dissemination of clinical behavior analysis to improve behavior analysts' effectiveness in bridging the language and interpersonal barriers experienced with many providers. This workshop will teach participants to apply behavioral principles to their own behavior and to their relationships with providers. While there is no research directly testing the efficacy of the approach used in this workshop, the materials rely upon the theoretical extension of core behavioral principles with extensive empirical foundations. Moreover, the presented materials are in part adapted from a clinical behavior analytic modality with empirical support (functional analytic psychotherapy, or FAP). Thus, the content has obtained credibility, as demonstrated by the involvement of the broader practice, education, and science communities in studying or applying the findings, procedures, practices, and theoretical concepts. |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this workshop, participants should be able to:
Give a behavior analytic account of "resistance"
Give a behavior analytic account of interpersonal relationships
Analyze specific interpersonal interactions using behavior analytic terms and concepts
Preliminarily identify how their own stimulus properties may affect others in professional settings
Preliminarily identify the strengths and weaknesses in their interpersonal repertoires
Present a functional analytic account of private events in relation to their interactions with others
Begin to generate and test informal interventions aimed at improving their interactions in real professional settings |
| Activities: This workshop will consist of a number of different instructional methods including didactic presentations, small and large group discussions, and experiential application exercises. During the didactic portions, participants will listen to brief presentations of theoretical material and watch videos of illustrative examples. Active participation (e.g., asking questions) will be encouraged throughout the didactic portions of the workshop. Small group discussion will involve groups of approximately three to five participants engaging in personally relevant discussion (e.g., identification of interpersonal strengths and weaknesses, identification of interpersonal stimulus properties). Large group discussion among all participants and presenters will be used to summarize small group discussions and encourage contemplation of broad issues (e.g., types of interactions commonly difficult for behavior analysts, attributions behavior analysts often make regarding lay persons). Finally, experiential application exercises will encourage participants to practice the strategies encouraged during didactic instruction. This will allow participants to receive direct feedback regarding their interpersonal repertoires, shaping them to exert more effective social influence. Experiential application exercises will commonly begin with video vignettes of interpersonal situations regularly encountered by professional behavior analysts. Participants will identify how they would respond to the situation and their rationale for their stated response. |
| Audience: While any behavior analyst could potentially benefit from an improved repertoire for interpersonal interactions, the primary target audience of this workshop consists of behavior analysts who work in applied settings and have direct contact with persons unfamiliar with behavior analysis. In particular, this workshop is designed for those professional behavior analysts who often find themselves asking questions such as "Why won't they listen to me?" when their expert advice is not followed by those without formal behavior analytic training. Ideally, audience members will be BCBAs, though this workshop is also appropriate for BCaBAs, as they will have adequate knowledge of the foundational behavioral principles used to analyze interpersonal interactions. Although some of the material presented in the workshop is adapted from clinical behavior analytic applications, no preexisting knowledge of psychotherapy is assumed or required. As a whole, nonprofessionals (e.g., undergraduate students, parents) and those without a basic understanding of behavioral principles are discouraged from attending this workshop. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
| Keyword(s): Increasing Compliance, Overcoming Resistance, Rapport Building |