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Written by: Sindy Victor, MS, BCBA, LBA
Behavioral health is a discipline that refers to a person’s physical and mental health as a result of behaviors they perform on a routine basis. This is how we describe the connections between our behaviors and the well-being of the body, mind, and spirit. The term behavioral health is often used interchangeably with mental health. Different types of behavioral health treatment services are beneficial for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of childhood disorders these include:
ABA Therapy
Mental health counseling
Substance abuse counseling
Marriage and Family Therapy
Psychotherapy
Behavioral Health is also important to increasing job satisfaction and improving overall quality of life (AMA, 2023).
For autistics and non-autistics
To address mental health and associated symptoms in a child or adult with autism please request a counseling referral from your Behavior Analyst. At SLBHW, we offer direct ABA Therapy services for individuals diagnosed with autism between the ages of 24 months and 25 years old. Click here to learn more about ABA and register for an initial consultation or call us at 470) 829-1333. When individuals and families do not have an autism diagnosis but wish to receive direct therapy services, a plan of care will be created based on out-pocket service rates. With ongoing treatment the Behavior Analyst is expected to collaborate with multidisciplinary professionals to coordinate the client's plan of care across allied health disciplines (speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, etc.). When a client or caregiver is referred to our organization, I will provide guidance within my scope of practice, as well as, make a recommendation for consultation with the appropriate multidisciplinary/allied health professionals (when needed). This process is called cohesive treatment. When an adult is receiving behavioral health consultation services, and can independently authorize/facilitate ongoing meetings this process is referred to as Behavior Counseling.
Benefits of cohesive treatment/provider collaborations
The benefits of coordinating autism care services across the allied health professionals include:
Allows therapists to create treatment plans that address both discipline’s in a shorter amount of time.
Aids in generalization of skills to different people, settings, and situations.
Creates opportunities for problem-solving to occur in the natural environment setting.
Benefits of Behavior Counseling
The benefits of receiving ongoing behavioral health consultation for independent living and non-autistics include:
1 on 1 trainings
remote meetings (Telehealth)
Goal setting
Job training
For ABA Therapists/Registered Behavior Technicians (RBT)/Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) / Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts (BCaBA)
Sindy Victor, MS, BCBA, LBA provides in-person and remote supervision training opportunities in accordance with the Behavior Analyst Certification Board's (BACB) standards. Click here to learn more about BCBA Supervision & RBT Training opportunities.
