Ethics Reading

Sellers, Alai-Rosales & MacDonald (2016)

This research article is recommended reading by the BACB and provides analysis and application examples for each of the seven supervision ethics codes.

Read the article with special focus on applications to your situation and anticipated supervision contexts.

Summary of Recommendations

Below is a summary of applied examples and recommendations provided in Sellers, Alai-Rosales and MacDonald (2016).

Supervision Code	Applied Demonstration	Suggestions for Avoiding Violation
5.01 Supervisory Competence	Supervisor never conducted an FA, steers the trainee to use a descriptive assessment, gets function wrong and problem behaviors escalate	A referral to a different supervisor may be made for this case activity Behavior analysts can access mentorship, supervision, and experience in new areas and with new populations.
5.02 Supervisory Volume	Supervisor does well with supervision and gradually takes on more trainess/supervisees to a point where she can no longer manage and provide effective supervision	Organizational structures: A clear schedule that includes supervision responsibilities Evaluation feedback: Implementing a system to monitor supervision effectiveness Community of practice: Identifying other professional who can provide support and feedback with supervision problems
5.03 Supervisory Delegation	An RBT trained others in a program before being trained in training others	Make a list of both responsibilities and things the trainee/supervisee is not qualified to do
5.04 Designing Effective Supervision and Training	A supervisor is intimidated by a trainee/supervisee's age or confidence and does not implement all training components, such as modeling and rehearsal to mastery A supervisor allowing trainee to bill as behavior analysts	Procedures for supervision have professional, ethical, and legal mandates that must be followed Supervision is evidence based and supervisors have a responsibility to keep up with advances in training
5.05 Communication of Supervision Conditions	An RBT does not make progress and the supervisor refuses to sign off on the hours - the RBT is confused because he was not aware that he was being evaluated or that a signature could be withheld	Be familiar with research that outlines practice guidelines for structuring supervision for success Clearly outline in writing and discuss the performance expectations and conditions under which the supervisor will not sign off on hours
5.06 Providing Feedback to Supervisees	Feedback is not provided immediately following the observation and at the supervision meeting it is mentioned in a minimized way so the trainee never takes it seriously	Careful not to over-do praise Provide timely and specific performance feedback
5.07 Evaluating the Effects of Supervision	A supervisor misses that the staff are not finding the supervision training useful because she is only measuring their performance and does not ask for feedback (their performance improves because they sought help outside of supervision)	Use all three methods to measure effectiveness of supervision: supervisee/trainee performance, client performance, and supervisee/trainee feedback

Ethics to-do

Sellers, Alai-Rosales and MacDonald (2013) provide analysis, application examples, and strategies for avoiding violations for each of the seven supervision ethics codes. Consider the many ways the article applies to your future practice of supervision and share an answer to the question below.

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5.6 Providing Feedback to Supervisees/Trainees

use feedback forms suggested

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Michael

5.2: Supervisory Volume

Work with my employer to ensure that proper time is allotted between casework and supervision prior to taking on supervisees

____________________

5.4 Designing Effective Supervision and Training

Utilized a checklist for particular interventions using BST to be used for all supervisees.

____________________

5.6 Providing Feedback to Supervisees/Trainees

Use an in person and written system for providing feedback. Schedule regular times for feedback

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Emma

5.1: Supervisory Competence

Consult with more experienced supervisors

____________________

5.6 Providing Feedback to Supervisees/Trainees

Provide timely and specific feedback in writing and verbally with a balance of praise and areas for improvement.

____________________

Stephanie

5.2: Supervisory Volume

making sure I’m using enough communication with supervisors

____________________

Jonica

5.4 Designing Effective Supervision and Training

keeping up on research and methods of supervision

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Gaby

5.2: Supervisory Volume

Make sure my schedule and caseload can uphold with all of my supervision requirements

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Brooke

5.2: Supervisory Volume

Plan my supervision thoroughly so that I am seeing my supervisees.

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Stephanie

5.2: Supervisory Volume

Make sure my schedule can uphold all of the supervision requirements

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Linzie

5.2: Supervisory Volume

Use caution to ensure I stay organized and self-aware of my limitations.

____________________

Amanda

5.2: Supervisory Volume

Ensure that my supervisory volume is acceptable to my schedule and that I can provide effective supervision to all supervisees

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Fang

5.2: Supervisory Volume

Organize the structures and get feedback

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Danielle

5.2: Supervisory Volume

Keep an organized schedule, assess how many hours I can delegate to supervision before taking on supervisees

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Lauren

5.2: Supervisory Volume

Working to keep and organized schedule and not taking on more than 3 trainee’s at a time to keep up with the caseload requirements

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Meghan

5.2: Supervisory Volume

Determine the number of supervisees or trainees I can effectively supervise and keep the number of trainees i take on at or below that number

____________________

Brandi

5.1: Supervisory Competence

5.1 supervisory competence making sure I am staying within my areas of competence

____________________

Grace

5.2: Supervisory Volume

I will slowly take on trainees and keep track of how much time a trainee takes up to ensure as I take on more, I am able to deliver effective supervision.

____________________

Karyn

5.7: Evaluating the Effects of Supervision

Design frequent surveys on survey monkey or a related survey creation site and ask trainees to fill it out in regular intervals

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