Exploring Interprofessional and Self-Compassion Competencies for Applied Behavior Analysis Professionals: A Qualitative Study

Interprofessional collaboration, or effective, emotionally responsive teaming between professionals, consists of several skill sets including strong communication skills, compassion and shared knowledge, and can enhance client goal attainment. The field of applied behavior analysis has recently focused on improving capacities of interprofessional collaboration and compassion among its professional workforce. Few studies have reported on perceptions of behavior analytic professionals vis a vis these skill sets in clinical settings. The purpose of this study was to describe participant perceptions of interprofessional collaboration and compassion in the context of applied behavior analytic practice. Following IRB approval, a total of 24 applied behavior analysis practitioner participants were recruited in two cohorts, all of whom participated in a 4-month long training-and-coaching intervention on interprofessional, compassion and self-compassion competencies. Qualitative data consisted of 13 recorded transcripts, including a needs-assessment focus group, as well as each training and coaching session, collected to gain understanding in how participants perceived these competencies. Transcripts were independently coded and analyzed via multistep reflexive thematic analysis by a pair of researchers. Ongoing qualitative analysis yielded the following themes: Historical Perspectives: How We Got Here, More Compassionate to Others Than to Self, Old me versus New me. This study revealed perceptions of barriers and supports embedded systemically in behavior analytic training and culture, affecting development of a collaborative and compassionate behavior analytic workforce. This work highlights the importance of qualitative methodology to enhance research in emerging practice areas through analysis of lived experiences.