Maintaining a Professional Relationship with Your Clinical Team

Maintaining a Professional Relationship with Your Clinical Team

The working relationships between the clinical team, your child and your family are unlike many in the typical working world, where professional relationships are established in offices, schools, etc. Our Behavior Technicians (BT) can be in your home for a significant part of your day-to-day life depending on the clinical recommendation made for your child. During this time together you will likely be working through challenging behaviors, teaching new skills, and celebrating your child’s successes. Considering these circumstances, it can sometimes prove difficult to maintain a professional relationship with the clinical team as they start to feel like they are part of the family. Below are a variety of tips to ensure that a professional relationship is maintained and that your child’s program continues to be the primary focus during sessions.

1. Expect Professionalism

   1. You can expect that your staff will arrive and leave on time for sessions, maintain low rates of cancellations, and always follow company policies. Your Behavior Technician should not be distracted on their cell phone (or any electronic device) outside of utilizing them to collect data on the programs they are implementing and to complete their notes at the end of session. They should be focused on your child and teaching throughout the scheduled session times. If you notice deviations from these expectations, it is important to talk to the Behavior Analyst as soon as possible so that feedback is provided in a timely manner.

2. Direct Clinical Questions to the Behavior Analyst

   1. The programs being targeted and the treatment plan for each program are determined by the Behavior Analyst working with your child. Should you have any questions about the teaching strategies, effectiveness of the program, rationale, etc. it is best to direct these to the Behavior Analyst, as your Behavior Technician may not be able to answer all your questions independently. We encourage you to communicate with your Behavior Analyst in between their visits when you have questions or concerns that require their immediate attention instead of waiting for their next visit.

3. Maximize Session Time by Having Focused Conversations

   1. The BT working with your child has a specific set of goals that need to be accomplished in each session. The progression of these goals is necessary to allowing your child to advance to more advanced goals. To help with this, it is best to use session times to discuss your child’s program, progress, strategies, and questions related to your child’s program.

4. Create a Learning Environment

   1. Since teaching is happening in your home environment, it is important to be aware of any distractions that might be impeding your child’s ability to learn. Loud television programs, phone calls, visitors, etc. could be competing with your child’s ability to focus on the programs at hand which, in turn, could affect their progress for the day. Set them up for success during sessions by creating a quiet and calm environment as much as possible.

Following these four simple rules allows everyone to stay focused on the shared goal of teaching your child new skills and creating opportunities for progress to be made every day!