Learn to Deal Behaviorally With Stress

1. Learn to Deal Behaviorally With Stress Presenter: Briana Tingler

2. Agenda • Why we get stressed • The effects of stress • The behavioral approach to dealing with stress • Pinpoint behaviors • Functional Analysis • Short term plan • Long term plan

3. Why do we get stressed out?

5. The Nature of Our Work Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

6. Reasons #1, #2, and #3 Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

7. Has anyone been… • Bit? • Scratched? • Kicked? • Punched? • Had your hair pulled? Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

8. Reason #4 • We typically work in the public eye and are subject to criticism. • Critics may be not well versed in our methodology, poorly trained, or lacking in any similar background. Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

9. Reason #5 • External factors that contribute to stress may be: • Traffic • Urgent phone calls • Clients that live in remote areas or in a less appealing environment • Getting lost while commuting • Parents expectations • Supervisor expectations Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

11. Common Symptoms and Effects Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

12. Standard Solutions Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

13. Standard Solutions Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

14. The Big Three Factors Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

15. Organizational Change to Handle Stress • Behavioral Perspective • Review the tips from Chapter 17 on time management. • Employ new methods that may be time savers. • Downloading new software, using the Premack Principle, better training methods using videos rather than in vivo models. Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

16. The Behavioral Approach: Step 1 • Pinpoint the stressful emotions, feelings, and behaviors. • Are your symptoms medical? Get a check-up. • Have you developed symptoms that could later interfere? Make data sheets. • Analyze data using standard ABC analysis with the addition of “Setting Event.” Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

17. Behavior Analysis of Stress Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

18. The Behavioral Approach: Step 2 • Perform a Functional Analysis • Record instances of problematic behavior and troublesome emotional states  Scatter plots • Once you think you have found the controlling variable, test your hypothesis  Change it up! • “Apply what you know to solve your own personal problems.” Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

19. The Behavioral Approach: Step 3 • Develop a short term intervention • Depending on the results of your functional analysis, it may be possible to develop a short term plan that results in relief. • Better time management  record TV shows, schedule phone calls • Be assertive  Say no to increasing work load, consult with a supervisor about dissatisfied parents. Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

20. Step #4 Step #1 Step #2 & #3

21. The Behavioral Approach: Step 4 • Develop and adopt a long-term plan. • This could involve major life changes that involve short term stress but long term relief. • Moving out of a noisy apartment. • Breaking up with an argumentative partner. • Setting up your own practice. Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

22. In Conclusion • “Being a behavior analyst can be both a blessing and a curse.” • We have a deep understanding of human behavior and everyone around you expects you to solve your own behavior problems. • We should be able to analyze our own behavior and create positive changes by implementing appropriate interventions. Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

23. References Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2010). 25 essential skills and strategies for the professional behavior analyst. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.