Compassion in the Assessment & Treatment of Problem Behavior

With Guest Speaker, Kelsey Ruppel, Ph.D, BCBA-D, LABA

Wednesday, January 29th, 2025, 1:00 pm -2:15 pm EST via ZOOM.

1.5 BACB ethics CEUs available for attendees.

Title: Compassion in the Assessment & Treatment of Problem Behavior

Abstract: Concern for others has been part of ABA since its inception (Baer et al., 1968; Wolf, 1978). Our field has been designed to address problems of social significance and to produce change that is socially significant. This historical focus on concern for others is perhaps why there might be some resistance to the recent call for compassionate care in ABA, as some behavior analysts view it as already a core value within our practice. After all, compassionate care centers on showing concern for others and acting to alleviate their suffering (Taylor et al., 2019). Dr. Ruppel will discuss the perspective that, despite the historical call for social validity, the practice of our science has not always made the subjective experience and the cultural perception of our procedures a central focus in the assessment and treatment of problem behavior. There seems to be continued reliance on procedures that (a) elicit negative emotional responding, (b) produce bursts of dangerous behavior, (c) are highly intrusive, (d) lack methods to obtain and allow for the withdrawal of assent, and (e) are not guided by client preference. She will discuss the meaning of compassion in the assessment and treatment of problem behavior and provide recommendations for how to move toward greater compassion in our procedures, their implementation, and our organizational cultures.

Learning Objectives:

1. The attendee will be able to define compassionate care. 

2. The attendee will be able to describe at least three considerations for compassionate care in the assessment and treatment of problem behavior.

Presented by: Kelsey Ruppel, Ph.D, BCBA-D, LABA

Dr. Kelsey Ruppel’s work focuses on the practical functional assessment and skill-based treatment of problem behavior, as well as preventing the development of severe problem behavior in young children with autism. She began her career as a teaching assistant in a specialized school for students with developmental disabilities and eventually served as a school-based special education teacher, BCBA, and curriculum supervisor. She has also implemented and supervised in-home ABA programming, taught courses as a faculty fellow at Western New England University, served as the Associate Director of Dr. Greg Hanley’s Life Skills Clinic at Western New England University, and served as a BCBA at an inpatient hospital program for children with severe problem behavior. She holds a master's degree in special education from Johns Hopkins University and a doctoral degree in Behavior Analysis from Western New England University, where her advisor was Dr. Greg Hanley. Kelsey serves as a consultant to a range of organizations, including schools, in-home and outpatient clinic providers, and residential programs. She has been an invited and keynote speaker at conferences nationally and internationally and has published research in peer-reviewed journals. She is currently the Chief Clinical Officer and Executive Director of FTF Behavioral Consulting.