Get more unrestricted BCBA fieldwork hours

One of the major challenges of board certified behavior analyst (BCBA) fieldwork is getting the requisite unrestricted hours, which must make up at least 60% of your total hours. This means you need to get 1200 unrestricted hours if you aren't doing concentrated fieldwork. Unrestricted hours are comprised of activities that are most similar to the day-to-day responsibilities of a BCBA, including activities such as developing programs, running assessments, and training others in behavior analytic procedures.

Most BCBA candidates find it difficult to accrue unrestricted hours since they are typically do not include the duties of a registered behavior technician (RBT). There are many things you can do to earn unrestricted hours, and you should do a variety of them to gain experience in many different areas. However, in this post, I'm going to cover one way to get additional unrestricted hours: doing research related to client programming.

Client Research for Unrestricted Hours

Generally speaking, to count research as unrestricted hours, it must be applied to clients that you are working on programming, assessments, or other BCBA tasks for. Notably, they don't need to be clients you are working with in a RBT capacity, but you do have to be assisting with the client's programming as a BCBA candidate. You cann watch lectures, listen to podcasts, or read journal articles, among other things.

Of course, always refer to the BACB Handbook for guidance and defer to your supervising BCBA's opinion on what counts as unrestricted hours. When you document your hours, make sure you include the name of the resource you used and how it relates to a client.

Here are a few resources you can use to do client research. This isn't an exhaustive list – there are many other great sources of information – but I have found all of these resources to be valuable.

Join the Association for Behavior Analysis International

$93 for students

The Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) provides a number of benefits and resources for student members. You get free access to the journal Perspectives on Behavior Science. You can also access hundreds of continuing education videos. These are free to watch and use as unrestricted hours. Note: these videos are accompanied by $1 tests, which allow them to be used for BCBA continuing education credits, but you don't need to purchase or take them to count them as unrestricted hours.

ABAI also provides discounts on events and additional journals. You get other benefits, such as network and training events, professional liability insurance, and a job board. As a student, you can get a one-year membership for $93.

Behavioral Observations podcast

Free

While there are many applied behavior analysis (ABA) related podcasts, I am partial to the Behavioral Observations podcast with Matt Cicoria. This show features over 250 "conversations with innovative scientists and practitioners in the field of Behavior Analysis." Every episode is organized with tags, which can help you look for specific topics related to your client.

You can find other ABA podcasts here.

Barbara Esch

Free

Barbara Esch is a Ph. D., BCBA-D, and speech pathologist with extensive experience in behavioral interventions for children and adults. She has published research and presented workshops and trainings. Her website contains a number of lectures, workshops, and articles you can use for research.

School resources

Free

If you are currently enrolled in school, many colleges provide free access to journal articles. You can use tools like Google Scholar to find articles on whatever your topic you need. If the article isn't free, try to search for it through your school's student portal or library. There are also sources of free articles, such as PubMed.

Finish your BCBA Fieldwork Hours on Time

Completing you BCBA fieldwork hours, including all of your unrestricted hours, can be quite challenging. It is important to plan appropriately so you don't screw up your hours. BCBA Hour Tracker is here to help you finish on time. It provides a month-by-month plan, including all the required unrestricted and supervised hours; generates monthly fieldwork verification forms; and stores all of the necessary documentation to remain compliant with the BACB.