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Title: Utilizing Acceptance and Commitment Training Across Verbal Skill Levels

Speaker: Emily Arnold Fleming, BCBA, LBA

Speaker Info:

Emily is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who has been practicing since 2020, after earning BCaBA certification in 2016. She is also a Certified Applied Improvisation Instructor, blending over a decade of experience in performance and applied improvisation with behavior analytic practice.

Emily’s clinical work spans in-home and clinic-based ABA services for early intervention through school-age populations, as well as behavior consultation across the lifespan, from preschool through adulthood. In addition to direct services, Emily provides group staff training and supervision, with a focus on building practical, responsive clinical skills.

Since beginning her work in improvisation in 2012, Emily has explored the natural alignment between improvisational processes and Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT). Although first introduced to PEAK and AIM curricula in 2018, it was in 2020 that she began fully integrating behavioral flexibility and ACT-consistent strategies into her clinical approach. This integration has continued to evolve through ongoing professional development, including active membership in the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), completion of specialized coursework, and collaboration with like-minded professionals.

Since 2022, Emily has presented on the integration of ACT within ABA practice at professional conferences, including the Virginia Association for Behavior Analysis (VABA) and ACBS, with a focus on promoting flexibility, values-based action, and meaningful behavior change.

Description:

Acceptance and Commitment Training is an evidence-based branch of behavior analytic practice, rooted in the Relational Frame Theory of verbal behavior. The processes within Acceptance and Commitment Training often require advanced language skills to master: verbalizing values, communicating private events, imagining alternative outcomes. In this talk, however, we will examine the utility of Acceptance and Commitment Training and its processes with all clients, regardless of their verbal skill. Attendees will learn to broaden their perspectives on what it means to “do ACT” across settings, clients, and programs.

Learning Objectives: 

Participants will:

• Define psychological and behavioral flexibility and their implementation in behavioral practice
• Identify and define opportunities for flexibility for clients and their caregivers
• Practice ACT-based modifications that can be immediately applied to client programming

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