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Licensure vs. Certification to Work as a Non-BCBA Clinician: Implications for BA Training Programs and Students |
Sunday, May 26, 2013 |
9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
Ballroom B (Convention Center) |
Area: CBM/AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
Chair: Patrick C. Friman (Boys Town) |
CE Instructor: Michelle Ennis Soreth, Ph.D. |
Panelists: STEPHANIE M. PETERSON (Western Michigan University), MARICEL CIGALES (Florida International University), MICHELLE SORETH (Rowan University), W. LARRY WILLIAMS (University of Nevada, Reno) |
Abstract: Clinical behavior analysts have been working as licensed psychologists and certified mental health professionals for decades. Applied behavior analysis training programs outside of clinical and counseling psychology are currently facing pressures to produce students who are credentialed, and eligible for third-party payment. While training leading to eligibility for BCBA certification is one path that a program can take, there are other credentialing options that have existing training infrastructures and credentialing bodies. Members of this panel will discuss their experiences exploring these other credentialing options: the challenges, opportunities, and potential long-term implications for their programs, staff, and students. |
Instruction Level: Basic |
Target Audience: This event specifically targets doctoral level academics who serve as administrators or instructional faculty for behavioral analysis training programs. |
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the event, participants will be able to: 1. Enumerate the costs and benefits of supplementing BCBA credentials with credentials as licensed behavior analysts, certified mental health counselors and as licensed psychologists. 2. Describe the impact credentialing and reimbursement forces have on academic program design. 3. Describe the impact the different credentialing options have on the scope of practice. |
STEPHANIE M. PETERSON (Western Michigan University) |
Stephanie M. Peterson, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is a professor of psychology at Western Michigan University. She also serves as the director of the Graduate Training Program in Behavior Analysis there. Recently, the state of Michigan enacted insurance billing laws requiring insurance companies to pay for autism treatment. In addition, at the time of this writing, Medicaid changes are in the process of being enacted. As a result, Dr. Peterson has had the opportunity to work though certification and licensure issues with state and local agency personnel. Dr. Peterson has taught in a number of university programs that offer behavior analytic training, and specifically coursework geared toward the BCBA credential, as well as teacher-certification programs. In her current position, Dr. Peterson directs graduate training in behavior analysis in a program that offers the coursework and practicum experiences for the BCBA credential. |
MARICEL CIGALES (Florida International University) |
Maricel Cigales, Ph.D., BCBA-D, was named program director of the Behavior Analysis Program in Florida International University’s Department of Psychology in 2011. She also served as the department’s associate chair from 2008 to 2012. Dr. Cigales holds her Ph.D. and M.S. in psychology from FIU. She earned a B.S. in psychology from Louisiana State University. As a board-certified behavior analyst, she worked in the field of applied behavior analysis for more than 17 years, before returning to FIU. Her applied field experience included serving as senior behavior analyst while directing the Behavior Analysis Services Program in Miami-Dade County, a state of Florida program providing behavioral services to thousands of children and caregivers in Florida’s foster care system. She also was the program director for a state-funded program that provided behavioral services to individuals with developmental disabilities in Miami-Dade County, and was the president of Behavior Services Inc., which provided behavioral services to a broad population of families and individuals. Dr. Cigales is currently part of a team that is developing a combined Counseling Psychology–Applied Behavior Analysis Program at FIU that will train master’s-level students to become both licensed mental health counselors and board-certified behavior analysts.
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MICHELLE ENNIS (Rowan University) |
Michelle Ennis Soreth, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is an associate professor of psychology at Rowan University in southern New Jersey. After completing her BA under Maria Ruiz at Rollins College, she earned her Ph.D. in experimental psychology at Temple University under the mentorship of Philip Hineline. Her research interests span basic behavioral phenomena, wide-scale application and dissemination of behavior analysis, and the philosophy of behavior analytic theory. In 2006, she joined the faculty at Rowan University and within three years helped establish Rowan's Center for Behavior Analysis and three successful behavior analytic graduate programs. Rowan University recently has undergone rapid development, including the establishment of the first new medical school in New Jersey in more than 30 years and the first-ever M.D.-granting program in South Jersey. Initiatives to establish graduate programs in the health sciences have led to the development of a proposal for the second doctoral program at the university--a PsyD with concentrations in behavior analysis and health psychology. The proposed program is designed to train professionals for emerging trends in health care from a uniquely behavior analytic perspective and aims to meet the requirements for licensure as a psychologist and accreditation by the APA, ABAI, and the BACB. |
W. LARRY WILLIAMS (University of Nevada, Reno) |
W. Larry Williams, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is an associate professor of psychology and the past director of the Behavior Analysis Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. After earning his Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba, Canada, he helped establish and later directed the first graduate program in special education in Latin America at the Federal University at Sao Carlos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, teaching for an 8-year period. He subsequently directed several clinical programs for people with intellectual disabilities at Surry Place Center in Toronto, Canada, for 10 years. Having published several books and more than 60 journal articles and book chapters, he maintains a lab group with interests in conditional discrimination processes, relational responding, verbal behavior, clinical assessment and interventions, and staff training and management systems for human services delivery. Dr. Williams will discuss new developments in Nevada, where the state now licenses behavior analysts and this licensure is governed by the State of Nevada Board of Psychological Examiners. |
Keyword(s): accreditation, certification, licensure, scope of practice |
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