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Online - Chicago - Dallas - Washington D.C.

Program Overview

The Graduate Certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis develops mastery of the principles of behavior analysis and their application in clinical work and everyday life. Applied Behavior Analysis is the ethical design, implementation, and evaluation of environmental changes to produce socially significant improvements in behavior.

Learning Outcomes 

Upon completion of this certificate program students will be able to:

1. Evaluate the impact of diversity issues on individuals and society and demonstrate sensitivity and competence while working with diverse populations.
2. Evaluate and resolve ethical dilemmas in accordance with behavior-analytic and psychological ethical guidelines.
3. Establish rapport and communicate effectively with clients, stakeholders, and other professionals.
4. Analyze behavior, design interventions, and evaluate interventions, by applying basic behavioral principles and assessment techniques to effect socially significant behavior change.
5. Conduct behavior-analytic research and evaluate behavior-analytic and other psychological research effectively and ethically.

Licensure

For information on where The Chicago School of Professional Psychology meets, does not meet, or has not determined if the program meets licensure eligibility requirements for the state in which you wish to be licensed, please visit: https://www.thechicagoschool.edu/admissions/licensure-disclosures/.

Admissions Requirements

For information on where The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is currently authorized, licensed, registered, exempt or not subject to approval, please visit https://www.thechicagoschool.edu/why-us/state-authorization/

Applicants to the Graduate Certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis must possess a master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution. Applicants must submit official transcripts from all schools where a degree was earned. It is recommended that transcripts are submitted from all schools where credit was received to enhance their applications. Applicants to this program should ensure their resume illustrates relevant work experience. A letter of reference, preferably from a supervisor or manager, is required.

Prior to January 1^st 2022, the Behavior Analysis Credentialing Board (BACB®) requires all exam applicants to possess a master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution that was conferred in behavior analysis, education, or psychology, or a related degree as defined by the BACB®. If you are uncertain whether your degree qualifies, you can request a preliminary degree evaluation online prior to submitting a BCBA® Certification Application.  

Applicant Notification 

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology reviews applications on a rolling basis. Once review begins, complete applications will be considered by the Admission Committee and applicants will be notified regarding the admission decision. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology does not share information or provide any feedback regarding admission decisions.

If a student is offered admission and in order to secure a place in the incoming class, a non-refundable tuition deposit of $250 will be required by the deposit deadline indicated in the offer of admission. The non-refundable deposit will be applied in full toward the student’s tuition upon enrollment.

Policies

The following policies are located under Academic Policies and Procedures : Academic Calendar, Admissions Requirements, Attendance, Satisfactory Academic Progress, Service Learning, and Transfer Credit/Course Waiver. Click the link above for detailed information.

Philosophy 

The mission of the ABA Department at TCSPP is to provide state-of-the-art education and training in Applied Behavior Analysis that prepares graduates to be successful, committed, engaged scientist-practitioner colleagues who make a positive difference in our communities.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) procedures and principles can facilitate remarkable progress and have improved quality of life for many people. In addition to being the foundational procedures for early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) in autism, ABA has been used to teach typically developing children to read, to improve safety, productivity, and employee satisfaction in organizations, to decrease problem behaviors such as tantrums, aggression or self-injury in a range of populations, to increase communication between people, to decrease symptoms in individuals with brain injuries and has reduced human misery and improved functioning and quality of life in many other areas. Behavior-analytic principles and procedures now address many diagnoses and are applicable to virtually any behavior. Because all ABA work is validated with data about its effectiveness, each clinician generates a data set, and tests what they do. As clinicians review their outcomes, they modify and test procedures to get the maximum beneficial results for their clients. 

The goal of the ABA department is to facilitate this progress for many more people by training students to understand and implement behavior-analytic principles and procedures. This goal requires that the faculty measure students’ performance and ensure that students implement procedures correctly and ethically, and forward competent students to the next steps in the profession.

Ethics and Professional Behavior 

Students are expected to learn and to follow the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association and the Behavior Analysis Certification Board during and after their work at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. A class in ethics is required, and student adherence to ethical codes is evaluated both formally and informally.

Practicum Criteria

Students may complete the BCBA® Supervised Fieldwork Experience required by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board® through TCSPP’s BACB® verified University Practicum option. This option requires fewer field experience hours than the Supervised Independent Fieldwork option, which students complete independent of TCSPP. Graduate Certificate students must meet the requirements of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board®.

Applicants in the Online and on-ground programs are encouraged to gain experience in multiple sites and with multiple supervisors. See www.bacb.com for appropriate experience activities and for more information about requirements. Students registered in practicum incur a one-time $195 Experiential Learning Technology Fee.

Technical Requirements for Online Supervised Practicum Students

Students completing virtual supervision through The Chicago School of Professional Psychology will enroll in individual supervision courses. To successfully participate, students must have these technical capabilities:  

• A computer made in the last three years
• Broadband Internet connection
• A webcam, digital camera, or digital recorder capable of:
  • Recording 24 frames per second (fps)
  • Recording for 60 consecutive minutes
  • Recording sound
  • Focusing appropriate to collect student-client interaction
• A cable that connects the camera to the computer
• Software that converts the raw footage to a smaller file - Windows MovieMaker (PC) or iMovie (Mac)

Online Practicum 

Online practicum courses are not required to earn the Certificate, so students can choose to either complete their experience independently, or to enroll in the university practicum courses to meet the experience requirements to sit for the certification exam. An applicant may start accumulating Supervised Independent Fieldwork hours after they have begun the coursework required to meet the BACB® requirements, but students of ABA Online at The Chicago School must have completed AB540 and have either completed or be concurrently enrolled in AB565 in order to enroll in the Practicum courses. Students wishing to complete the University Practicum option in the Online program must secure a practicum position at an approved site. Students must submit an application for site approval to the department for review and approval. Sites must meet BACB® criteria for approved activities and hours (see bacb.com). They then have two options. If the student has a supervisor holding the BCBA® credential on-site, and that supervisor is willing to provide individual BCBA® supervision to the student, the student must obtain and document that individual supervision and must also  If the student does not have a supervisor on-site holding the BCBA® credential, the student must enroll in one additional 0.5-credit online courses per term for eight terms (Individual Supervision). All students must complete a minimum of 10 hours per week (hours in excess of 30 hours per week will not count toward the practicum requirement) of documented work with clients plus individual and group supervision to meet the requirements of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board®. 

On-ground Practicum 

Students in the on-ground program who wish to complete the Approved University Practicum option apply for a practicum position at an approved practicum site through the department’s Applied Professional Practice (APP) office, following procedures detailed in a Practicum Manual. Students complete up to four semesters (three 2-credit courses and one 1-credit course) of Practicum Seminar while accruing hours of Supervised Experience at their site. Similar to the requirement for the online students, an applicant may not start accumulating Supervised Experience hours until they have begun the coursework required to meet the BACB® coursework requirements. All students must complete a minimum of 10 and maximum of 30 hours per week of documented work with clients plus individual and group supervision to meet the requirements of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board®. Hours in excess of 30 hours per week will not count toward the practicum requirement per BACB® regulations.