When I talk about my work, I know I light up. I love what I do. Every day is devoted to helping people take back control through intentional daily actions and behavior change.

I’ve helped women decrease smoking.
One client radically changed her relationship with the gym and now works out religiously.
Working 1:1 with healthcare professionals has helped their clients achieve longer-lasting results in pain management and adherence to prescribed plans.
An entire leadership team hired me to address stress management as their company went through a major growth period.

And people curiously ask, “So, what are you? A teacher? A therapist? A health coach?”

“I’m a BCBA, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.” I get that familiar smile-and-nod, the one that says, I don’t want to look confused, but I have no idea what you just said.

It makes sense. “BCBA” isn’t exactly self-explanatory. So let me take you behind the letters.

**The Incredible Science Behind the Acronym**

At our core, a BCBA is trained in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) — the science of understanding how behavior works in real life, not just in theory. We look at the three-term contingency — antecedent, behavior, consequence. That’s jargon for:

What happens before the behavior (the trigger, the cue).
The behavior itself (what a person does).
What happens after (the reward, the reaction, the result).

By mapping this out, we can figure out why someone engages in a behavior and what might help them build a more useful skill in its place.

What I Actually Do

My day rarely looks the same twice. As a BCBA, I:

Conduct functional behavior assessments (FBAs) — structured deep dive to identify the “why” behind specific behaviors.
Design individualized Behavior Change Plans (BCPs) — strategies tailored to the person’s goals, current patterns and desired long-term outcomes. I never use a premade template for a BCP because there are millions of possible approaches based on learning history and already established contingencies.
Train and coach caregivers/parents, healthcare providers, teachers, and leadership - few people in healthcare or education professions are formally trained on managing or changing the behaviors of their clients or students. They’re often telling their clients, children, students, or employees what to do, but they’re unable to implement evidence-based strategies that increase the likelihood of follow-through.
Use data-based decision making — I don’t just guess what’s working. I work with clients to collect data, graph it, analyze it, and pivot based on evidence. One of the bedrock skills for my clients is learning to accept pivoting as a part of the process.

The benefit of Applied Behavior Analysis shows up in classrooms, clinics, hospitals, businesses, sports teams, even wellness coaching. Human behavior is everywhere, so this science applies everywhere too.

Confusing Jargon, Made Simple

Sometimes the words we use sound intimidating, so let me decode a few:

Functional communication training (FCT): Helping someone replace ineffective communication strategies with skills that actually work to get your message heard.
Reinforcement: Anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior occurring again. Think of a sticker chart for a preschooler or the likes you get on your IG pic at the beach.
Generalization: When a skill works outside of practice. Like when a client learns to meal plan at home, but can also do it on vacation, work trips, and when eating out at a restaurant.
Shaping: Breaking a big skill into smaller steps and celebrating progress along the way.

It’s jargon, yes, but these are pieces and parts of the toolkit I use to help people move toward the lives they want.

The Human Side

The part of being a BCBA that never gets old is watching those tools transform real lives.

The parent who texts me after dinner: “Holy shit. Bedtime took 11 minutes instead of an hour!”

The PT who sees her client making progress because he’s actually doing his home exercise plan.

The preschool teacher who hugs me and says “He’s saying so many more words and participating in class because we noticed and rewarded his attempts!”

The executive who starts sticking to a training routine and is able to better enjoy his luxury hiking vacations and feels a renewed excitement for life outside of the office.

The leadership team who realizes they’re not “lazy” — they’re just working in an environment where effort isn’t reinforced.

That’s the quiet magic of the role.

Why It Matters

As a BCBA I am here to build socially significant change. This is the term our science uses for goals that actually matter in the real world: safer homes, more independence, stronger communication, less stress, more joy.

So, I could always give the short answer — “I’m a behavior analyst.”

But the truth is, being a BCBA is embedded into the way I see the world. It’s about delivering hope stitched together with science. It’s helped me with believing that change is possible, never by willpower alone, but through small, intentional steps repeated with support.

That’s what those four letters mean.