You’ve become certified as a behavior analyst! Now what?

The journey doesn’t stop here. You want to make confident clinical decisions and truly thrive in your role, but navigating the field can feel overwhelming.

Starting your career as a BCBA can feel daunting, but it doesn’t have to. Beginning Bravely is here to guide you along the way. Beginning Bravely is here to guide you every step of the way.

Led by Dr. Becky Eldridge, an experienced mentor and BCBA-D, this mentorship program offers monthly CEU events, live office hours, and an engaged community that’s ready to support you.

Step bravely into your career—start your mentorship today and lead with confidence.

Join this group if you are a newer behavior analyst (or even an experienced pro) looking for wholehearted mentorship so you can gain confidence in your clinical decision-making leading to meaningful impact for your clients, supervisees, and the field.

What is included:

  • Monthly CEU Events

  • Monthly Office Hours

  • Growing Library of Resources

  • Private Facebook Group for day-to-day support

Cost: $35 per month

If I was a fly on the wall of your office space, would I see you staring at a full unread inbox, seeing more than a week’s worth (or more) of incomplete session notes, looking at a Teams notification from an RBT that needed more supervision in the next 48 hours to meet her monthly requirement, hungry, thirsty, needing to use the restroom, and on the verge of tears?

Too much to do in too little time sucks.  I get it.  Nobody wants to feel overwhelmed in a career they worked so hard to get to.  When you can’t get your work done on time, it makes you question whether you belong in the field of ABA.  STOP.  You do belong. 

When I work with early career behavior analysts to help them feel confident in their ABA practice, one of the FIRST things we do together is get clear on values and boundaries.  I hear you, identifying values and setting boundaries are not why you got into the field of ABA.  That said, having clear values and boundaries allows you to take control of what activities each day are meaningful to your clients and your team, which means you will spend your time doing things that are important to you.  It means that you can be confident in saying “yes” or “no” to the opportunities presented to you.

If you want to stop feeling ineffective and overwhelmed in your ABA practice and start feeling confident and organized in your clinical work.  It’s time.

What are the components of Beginning Bravely?

  • Monthly CE Events

    These events are typically scheduled at noon EST on the second Wednesday of each month.  Calendar invites with zoom links are sent to members prior to each session. If you can’t make it to the live events, don’t worry!  All CEU events will be recorded, and you will be given access to the recordings and opportunities to earn CEUs asynchronously as well.

  • Monthly Office Hours

    Office hours are usually held at 3 pm EST on the fourth Thursday of each month.  This is your opportunity to bring questions, de-identified case notes, anything you want to brainstorm, or anything you need support with.  If our group gets too large, Dr. Becky Eldridge will increase the number of monthly office hours accordingly. 

  • Growing Library of Resources

    Members get exclusive access to the materials, slides, and recordings from all past events (with options to purchase certificates). In addition, members get access to Dr. Becky Eldridge’s personal templates and accumulated resources that she has used in her own practice of ABA. New content is added regularly, often at the request of members!

  • Private Facebook Community Page

    Between CEU events and office hours, members can communicate with Dr. Becky Eldridge and each other through this private group. Part of mentorship is building a community of like-minded individuals, and that process is iterative. As we grow, we learn to lean on each other in hard times and support our peers.

Who is Dr. Becky?

You might be asking yourself, who is Dr. Becky and how do I know that she would be a good mentor for me?  That's a great question.

Well, I will start with my values: integrity and compassion.  These two guide posts drive everything else I do and think about in our field.  In 2005, I was approached by my hairdresser to see if I would attend a week long ABA training program so I could work with her son.  As an open-minded young person who had just received my bachelor's degree in psychology and was applying to graduate school for social psychology, I thought, "Sure, why not? This opportunity fit my values and would be a great job during my gap year."  I didn't know that "yes" would change my life forever.  AND I AM SO GRATEFUL she asked me and let me be a part of her son's journey.  That year working with her son sparked my lifelong vocation and passion for the ethical and effective practice of ABA.  

Fast forward to 2024, I have been board certified for 15 years, I have a Ph.D. from Western Michigan University in Behavior Analysis, I have several published peer-reviewed articles, I am a contributing author in THE white book (IYKYK; see chapter 27 on Functional Behavior Assessment, pp. 632, 644, 645), I co-authored a book titled, Ethical Applied Behavior Analysis Models for Individuals Impacted by Autism, I serve on the editorial board for Behavior Analysis in Practice and on the board for the Behavior Analyst Leadership Council, I serve as an ethics subject matter expert for the BACB, and I am an award-winning researcher. 

Beyond my achievements though, I want to focus on the things that really matter to me: my values of compassion and integrity. 

As behavior analysts, we sometimes come off as rigid and may fail to see the value of things beyond our data. Unfortunately, I used to be one of those behavior analysts, and would struggle to see how my uncooperative behavior contributed to slower progression of positive outcomes for my clients. It wasn’t until my own mentor told me that I need to find the points of convergence with other professionals, and that a successful behavior plan was not just one that worked, but one that people could implement AND wanted to implement. Some of the most well written behavior plans are ineffective because no one implements them. It was that moment that changed my perspective … I needed to use our science to teach our science. In other words, I needed to motivate my collaborators if effective treatment was going to reach my clients. More often than not, this meant I needed to listen – really listen, consider other points of view, and come up with behavior plans that were based on science, data, and most importantly the context and values of my client and their community.

Once I started practicing this way of ABA, I became more effective as a clinician, collaborator, and mentor. In mentorship and consultation, I challenge those I am teaching to stay curious, consider the anecdotes and stories, and value others’ opinions, experiences, and preferences just as much as data and research.