Constructing a Collaborative and Values-Based Supervisory Context While Maintaining Supervisory Responsibility
With guidance from the BACB (2019) and the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts (BACB, 2020), supervision tends to be focused on training and evaluating professional skills, often oriented towards specific client outcomes. Supervision may also overlap with mentorship, with mutual trust, emotional support, safety in self-exploration, and serving as intentional role models (Johnson, 2007). Research indicates that adhering to the BACB standards enables systematic skill-building of change agents, however, there is still room to grow. Supervisees have reported a need for communicating clear expectations and effective feedback with rationale (Sellers et al., 2019), check-ins on the health of the supervisory relationship (see Barnes-Holmes, 2018; Sellers et al., 2016), and a lack of mentorship from supervisors (see LeBlanc et al., 2020). Supervising BCBAs have reported not being trained or feeling competent in training others in interpersonal skills or other key “soft” skills (see LeBlanc et al., 2020; Valentino, 2021). Incorporating ACT-based values and committed action training to teach collaboration, planning, and tracking skills related to building a positive supervisory relationship has shown potential for decrease in their risk for burnout and an increase in self-compassion (Hess et al., 2022). This workshop will discuss how supervising BCBAs can organize a proactive, values-based, supervisory context in which collaborative relationships can be cultivated with supervisees. Through discussions and practice exercises, attendees will gain a deeper understanding of their own values as supervisors, distinguish between values, goals, rules, and boundaries in the supervisory context, discuss ways to navigate values-based conflicts in the supervisory context, and clarify the role of power, privilege, and cultural variables and their salience in the supervisory relationship.
By the end of this presentation, participants will:
1. Describe the role of social context in supervision and mentorship.
2. Identify types of oppressions.
3. Describe equitable and inequitable supervision practices.
Janani Vaidya,
MS, BCBA, IBA
Janani Vaidya (they/them) is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, researcher, writer, and editor. Currently, they are a faculty member of the Applied Behavior Analysis program at National Louis University. Janani also serves as an affiliate researcher with the Louisiana Contextual Science Research Group and the Assent Lab, and a co-chair for the Gender and Sexual Diversity Special Interest Group (GSD SIG) of the Association of Contextual Behavior Science (ACBS). Trained in behavior analysis and contextual behaviorism, Janani's work outside of higher education includes (1) skill-building and advocacy work with disabled and/or neurodivergent adults (2) facilitating related staff training, (3) conducting research that focuses on developing theoretical frameworks for gender and sexuality, implicit bias, harm reduction, assent-based skill building and practice, disability justice and access, and equity and (4) working for and conducting sensitivity training for a variety of media and publishing outlets. Besides their work, Janani is a voracious reader and frequently haunts local bookstores and coffee shops. You can find them on Twitter: @JananiVaidya and Instagram: @janani.vaidya, and learn more about their work at jananivaidya.com.
