Internal: Challenging Your Level of Cultural Responsiveness: The Importance of Integrating Cultural Values within Behavioral Service Delivery

As humans and professionals, the cultural values of BCBAs and how they act in alignment with those values may differ from those of the clients they serve. When working with culturally and linguistically diverse populations, BCBAs may observe families and clients engage in behaviors that seem to interfere with behavioral services and address such behaviors without examining all variables, including the cultural context. This approach can not only impact treatment adherence, but, more importantly, social validity, rapport, and collaboration. Therefore, this presentation will provide attendees with an opportunity to challenge their level of cultural responsiveness by self-examining their cultural understanding of diverse populations and shifting their perspectives from conceptualizing given cultural values as perceived barriers to practices that can enhance behavioral service delivery. Recommendations in the areas of assessment, treatment design, and behavioral service delivery when working with diverse populations will also be discussed.