Behaviour Bits

Max MacKenzie, founder of Resilience Enterprises, discusses the unwritten rules, conflicts, survival strategies, and personal growth necessary to build resilience and help shape a long career in behaviour support.

Max introduces the concept of ‘invisible rules’, the unspoken assumptions within a culture or service that can lead to someone’s behaviour being labelled as concerning when it is really just unfamiliarity with a local norm. Drawing on examples from remote and First Nations communities, this idea extends to behaviour support practitioners, who often carry hidden expectations from their own training, including the assumption that doing accurate, ethical work will always be rewarded by the systems they work within.

The conversation turns to what happens when practitioners are sidelined, investigated or dismissed for raising uncomfortable truths, and why this is often a system’s survival strategy rather than a personal failing. Being let go as the allocated practitioner, complained about, or investigated for raising accurate, uncomfortable findings is often more a reflection of that system rather than a reflection of poor practice.

Their discussion takes on the metaphor of walking through fire: how to recognise smoke signals, what elements are essential to surviving it, and how to adapt and grow from it.

For those managing complex, high stakes support within services under funding pressure, this conversation offers language for recognising organisational dynamics that can otherwise feel personal, and practical ways to build growth, nurture resilience, and build a long, sustainable career in behaviour support.

About the Guest:

Max MacKenzie is the founder, director and clinical lead of Resilience Enterprises in Cairns, Queensland, a service specialising in behaviour support and education for people who do not fit neatly into service systems. Max is an accredited mental health, disability and clinical social worker, a specialist behaviour support practitioner and a family therapist, and speaks openly about his lived experience as a neurodivergent and transgender man.

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at [email protected]

Zac Demopoulos, a specialist behaviour support practitioner and Chief Operating Officer at Step 2 Allied Health, joins the podcast to discuss what new positive behaviour support practitioners need to know when starting out in the NDIS.

The conversation explores the steep learning curve facing new practitioners, from managing uncertainty and imposter syndrome to understanding that positive behaviour support within the NDIS operates under a specific legislative and regulatory context. Zac reflects on how even highly experienced professionals can feel like beginners again, and why psychological safety within a team is essential for people to raise concerns before they reach crisis point.

Zac and Jenn discuss what good practice looks like in action, including genuine informed consent, biopsychosocial assessment beyond only ABC data, and working from principled processes. The episode includes advice on maintaining a regular cadence of support, keeping caseloads balanced, and assigning each recommendation to one accountable person.

For those new to the profession of behaviour support practitioner or considering a change, this episode offers a grounded look at what sustains good practice over time: clear frameworks, honest communication, realistic expectations of uncertainty, and systems of support that prevent burnout and protect the quality of the work being delivered.

00:00 Introduction
00:39 Zac's Path into Behaviour Support
09:46 PBS Within an NDIS Context
12:51 Imposter Syndrome and Self-Doubt
21:59 The Power of Informed Consent
30:34 Building a Clinical Framework
50:50 Principle Over Prescription
1:00:24 Cadence of Support and Sustainable Practice
1:07:05 Closing Thoughts

About the Guest

Zac Demopoulos is a social worker and specialist behaviour support practitioner who has spent his career building and leading behaviour support teams across the disability sector. He entered the field via out-of-home care before moving into NDIS behaviour support roughly seven years ago, and is currently Chief Operating Officer at Step 2 Allied Health in Geelong.

Key Takeaways

• New practitioners need to become comfortable with uncertainty and not having all the answers, since human behaviour and the systems around it involve too many moving parts for certainty.
• Imposter syndrome is common even among experienced practitioners, and often shows up as self-doubt that persists despite clear evidence of good work.
• Genuine informed consent, explaining plainly why someone has been referred, builds trust more effectively than dancing around a difficult topic.
• Good assessment needs to be biopsychosocial rather than a narrow episodic ABC focus, taking in health, history and broader context.
• Working from principles rather than a rigid prescriptive process leads to simpler solutions, illustrated by an example where simply asking a person what they wanted resolved a supposed behaviour of concern.
• A regular cadence of support, consistent touchpoints with every person on a caseload, prevents people falling through the gaps and protects practitioners from becoming purely reactive to crises.

Resources Mentioned

• Right Direction
• Spectrum of Participation
• PBSP model by Dr Alinka Fisher
• Ross Greene's collaborative and proactive solutions approach
• Google Scholar
• NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission practice guides

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at [email protected]

Clinical psychologist and specialist behaviour support practitioner Dr Zoe Perry unpacks the often murky distinction between psychology and positive behaviour support, and what genuine interdisciplinary collaboration looks like in practice.
The conversation covers the concept of “the missing middle”- people who are too complex for mainstream services, yet not eligible for public mental health or disability supports, and how this gap influences and shapes service delivery.
The discussion moves into practical territory, examining where scope of practice and scope of role diverge, whether positive behaviour support should be considered therapy, and how formulation skills can sharpen rather than blur professional boundaries. Real world examples illustrate how psychologists and behaviour support practitioners can work in a genuinely interdisciplinary way, including practical tools like shared formulation and simple memoranda of understanding, and strategies for advocating to the NDIS when clients need both disciplines working together rather than one substituting for the other.
Anyone working alongside psychologists and behaviour support practitioners in disability and mental health settings will recognise the tension between staying within scope and responding to genuine unmet need. This conversation offers concrete language and tools for navigating that tension while keeping the person at the centre of a coordinated, evidence-informed interdisciplinary support team.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
01:03 A Career in Complex Behaviour
06:16 The Missing Middle
10:36 Psychology vs Behaviour Support
15:21 Is PBS Therapy?
22:33 Psychologically Informed PBS
36:52 Multidisciplinary vs Interdisciplinary Teams
43:06 Practical Strategies for Collaboration
53:55 Advocating for NDIS Funding
1:01:19 Closing Thoughts

About the Guest

Dr Zoe Perry is a clinical psychologist and advanced specialist behaviour support practitioner. She is the founder and director of Journey Health Solutions, a multidisciplinary practice of behaviour support practitioners, psychologists and occupational therapists based in Melbourne.

Key Takeaways

• The missing middle describes clients too complex for public mental health or mainstream disability services yet not eligible for adequate private support, a gap that predates the NDIS
• Positive behaviour support is not therapy, but practitioners can sometimes do short, contained, person led work if they have relevant training, supervision and a clear rationale
• Around 30 percent of behaviour support practitioners are psychologists, which further complicates any attempt to draw a hard line between the two disciplines
• Learning formulation skills does not expand a practitioner's scope, it clarifies it by helping identify which parts of a presentation belong to behaviour support and which need another discipline
• The NDIS previously suggested clients could only access psychology or behaviour support, not both, which created confusion and led some services to swap one for the other inappropriately
• Simple tools such as a shared table outlining each team member's role, or a brief memorandum of understanding, can prevent duplication and scope creep in interdisciplinary teams

Resources Mentioned

• NDIS
• Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme
• Journey Health Solutions
• British Psychological Society formulation guidance
• Zones of Regulation

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at [email protected]

This episode explores positive behaviour support (PBS) principles in dementia contexts with Dr Alinka Fisher, Senior Lecturer in Disability and Community Inclusion at Flinders University. Drawing on her research across disability, acquired brain injury and dementia, Alinka discusses why behaviour should be understood as communication rather than a symptom of diagnosis, and how PBS frameworks apply flexibly to support people living with dementia and their families. The conversation unpacks the critical distinction between managing behaviours and understanding the complex interactions, neurological changes, personal history and environmental factors that influence how people communicate their needs. Alinka shares insights from education programmes delivered to families and residential aged care staff, highlighting what foundations of good support actually look like in practice.

Understanding behaviour as communication opens up fundamentally different possibilities for supporting people with dementia and their families. Whether you're a behaviour support practitioner, aged care worker or allied health professional, this episode offers practical perspective on how PBS principles translate into real-world practice, the importance of collaborative, family-centred approaches, and how to build workforce capability when time and resources feel stretched. Alinka's work demonstrates that person-centred, evidence-informed practice isn't reserved for ideal circumstances but can be flexibly applied in every situation.

Resources:

• Fisher et al. (2022). Positive behaviour support for people with dementia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.5844
• Fisher et al. (2023). The acceptability and usefulness of positive behaviour support education sessions for frontotemporal dementia families. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1177/08919887221090214
• Fisher et al. (2024). "It's opened my eyes to a whole new world": PBS training for staff and families in aged care. American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias. https://doi.org/10.1177/15333175241241168
• Fisher et al. (2024). PBS-P Framework for flexible, rights-based practice. Disability and Rehabilitation.https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2024.2402079

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at [email protected]

This episode explores cultural reflexivity in behaviour support practice with Anika Tabassum, a specialist behaviour support practitioner with over a decade of experience supporting culturally and linguistically diverse children and families.
Anika examines what cultural reflexivity is- including the critical distinction between cultural awareness and cultural reflexivity, and explains why many well-intentioned practitioners and teams recognise culture as an important factor in behaviour support, but may find challenges in integrating true culturally reflexive practice.

The conversation covers practical strategies for approaching cultural reflexivity by replacing assumptions with curiosity, and provides concrete examples of how practitioners can reframe goals and strategies to align with collectivist family values without compromising outcomes or NDIS accountability.

This episode offers essential insight into how practitioner’s and service system’s own cultural lenses shape the way behaviour is interpreted, priorities are set, and therapeutic relationships are established.
Cultural reflexivity isn’t an additional training box to tick- it’s an active, ongoing commitment to understanding the cultural context of the people and families receiving support, and recognises that the pathway to meaningful, positive outcomes requires humility and collaboration.

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at [email protected]

Co-design in behaviour support means working alongside people to develop plans and supports rather than creating them solely from the professional’s perspective and presenting them as finished products.
Tarnya Bruinier discusses how involving people in understanding their own triggers, strengths, and needs leads to greater buy-in, ownership, and sustainable outcomes.
Tarnya is a Specialist Behaviour Support Practitioner, AuDHD woman, mother of neurodivergent children and the Director of Wildfire Wellbeing. She shares practical examples, from a woman who created her own de-escalation plan to a young person who identified a safe space to regulate at school, demonstrating how curiosity and person-centred collaboration fundamentally reshape behaviour support practice. The conversation also explores how traditional assessments can incorporate co-design, how tools like Vista trigger cards build self-awareness, and the importance of shifting mindsets from managing behaviour to addressing unmet needs.
Co-design is particularly valuable when supporting people with behaviours of concern. It honours autonomy, builds agency, and recognises that people are the experts in their own lives. By slowing down, asking questions, and genuinely listening, practitioners create plans that reflect what actually matters to the person, often leading to better outcomes.

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Micaela Rafferty — Board-Certified Behaviour Analyst, special educator, and nationally recognised nutritionist — joins the podcast to explore the science of burnout and how behaviour analysts and allied health professionals can apply their own expertise to protect their health and wellbeing. Micaela unpacks the official definition of burnout as a predictable response to chronic, unresolved workplace stress and explains why those working in the NDIS space face a particularly layered set of stressors — from shifting government policy and funding constraints through to compassion fatigue and the emotional demands of caring work. The conversation covers practical, evidence-based self-care strategies grounded in behavioural science: designing supportive environments, reducing response effort, building in rest and recovery across physical, mental, emotional, and sensory dimensions, and creating systems of accountability and reinforcement to sustain behaviour change over time.

This episode reframes self-care not as an indulgence but as an ethical and professional responsibility. The very skills practitioners apply daily with clients and participants — functional assessment, environment design, shaping small consistent behaviours, and frequent reinforcement — are exactly the tools needed to protect clinical capacity and prevent burnout. Whether you’re already feeling the weight of an unsustainable workload, or you want to get ahead of the warning signs, Micaela’s insights offer a genuinely practical starting point. Small, meaningful steps, taken consistently and without self-judgement, are what create lasting change — and that applies as much to practitioners as it does to the people they support.

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. It’s all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback? Email us at [email protected]

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at [email protected]

Jenn Colechin is joined by Dr Fiona J. Davis to unpack what actually makes Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) implementation work in real-world disability contexts. Fiona is a specialist developmental educator and specialist behaviour support practitioner with more than 35 years’ experience across Australia, and she brings a strongly rights-based, practical lens to the “doing” part of PBS.
Together, they explore why implementation often becomes an afterthought (especially for novice practitioners under compliance pressure), and what it looks like to start implementation from “day dot” by building trust, working with context, and focusing on micro-changes that families and support teams can realistically sustain.

Takeaways:

• Implementation isn’t the optional second half of PBS. It’s the core work that turns assessment and plans into meaningful quality-of-life change.
• Many PBS practitioners have been trained for compliance (reports, timelines, restrictive practice identification), but not supported to build strong implementation skills.
• Start implementation from the first contact: the way you listen, communicate, and build trust sets up everything that follows.
• “Good implementation” is always contextual. Your approach shifts depending on the person, setting, safety risks, and stakeholder capacity.
• Micro-changes matter: small, doable shifts can create momentum, reduce overwhelm, and help stakeholders see that change is possible.
• Data collection needs to fit the family’s real life. Creative, low-burden options (like simple dots on a calendar) can still give useful insight.
• Strong therapeutic relationships make it easier to collaborate, problem-solve, and respectfully challenge when things don’t go to plan.
• Understanding disability (including history, rights, and lived impact) is essential. Behaviour support doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
• Clear, concrete communication supports predictability (for example, reducing language during escalation and using specific times rather than vague “later”).
• Implementation is iterative: expect adjustments as you learn more, circumstances change, and you refine strategies, often by simplifying rather than adding more.
• Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS goals) offers a practical way to define success, capture progress on a spectrum, and make outcomes visible and measurable.
• Organisation supports implementation: simple structure, checklists, and consistent communication reduce “floating in the wind” for both practitioners and teams.

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?
The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. It’s all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.
Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at [email protected]


Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at [email protected]

Jenn Colechin is joined by Jill Hellemans (Behaviour Analyst, Special Educator, and Child and Family counsellor; Clinical Director of All Aboard Inclusion) to unpack early intervention- especially what good early intervention can look like when it’s embedded in inclusive, real-world settings like homes, childcare, and preschool.
Together, they explore why early intervention is fundamentally about building meaningful skills (not “fixing” children), how capacity-building with families and educators creates real intensity over time, and what current shifts in Australia’s NDIS landscape (including Thriving Kids) could mean for practice, particularly around natural environments, collaboration, and tiered support.

Takeaways:

Early intervention is most powerful when it builds foundational learning skills early (communication, play, transitions, tolerance, daily living skills, safety), reducing the likelihood that distress behaviours become the main way needs are communicated and met.
Progress comes from everyday practice across routines, relationships, and environments.
High-quality early intervention prioritises capacity-building: upskilling the people who are with the child most (family, educators, support staff) so strategies are used consistently and confidently.
Teaching needs to happen where life happens, like at home, community, and early childhood settings because that’s where skills are most likely to generalise and stick.
Multidisciplinary work is essential, but collaboration needs to be realistically funded and protected.
In early childhood settings, therapists who “blend in” (support routines, join play, build rapport, avoid the clipboard-in-the-corner vibe) are more likely to create sustainable change.

Early intervention is a rights-based opportunity: teaching choice-making, requesting, and rejection (including “no”) supports agency and reduces reliance on unsafe or misunderstood communication.

· Thriving Kids could create better pathways by focusing on need (not just diagnosis), strengthening natural-environment supports, and investing earlier, before children reach school already behind.
· Jill’s call to the field: be more visible, collaborative, and open. Show what contemporary ABA looks like in practice, learn from lived experience and past harms, and keep improving.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

· PRECI Report (National Best Practice Framework in Early Childhood Intervention) – released May 2025
· Thriving Kids Advisory Group Final Report – released December 2025
· Key worker model (and how behaviour analysts can work effectively within it)Want extra support to turn these ideas into practical, real-world strategies?

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?
The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools.
It’s all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice—designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at [email protected]

In this episode of Behaviour Bits, Jenn Colechin is joined again by behaviour support practitioner, Board Certified Behaviour Analyst, speech pathologist, and co-director of Launch Supervision, Kristin Bayley, for a deep dive into supervision.
Together they unpack what “good supervision” really looks like in Positive Behaviour Support, both within NDIS contexts and beyond, and why it matters at every stage of your career.
They explore the difference between clinical and organisational supervision, how to balance KPIs with genuine clinical growth, and why the “dose” and quality of supervision can be a major protective factor against practitioner burnout.

You’ll also hear practical guidance on individual vs group and clinical vs organisational supervision, how to find a supervisor who’s a good fit for your values, and how supervision can help you hold onto your “why” in this demanding but rewarding work.

Takeaways:

• Supervision should be lifelong: even very experienced practitioners benefit from a reflective space, a soundboard, and someone to challenge and extend their thinking.
• There is a crucial difference between organisational supervision (KPIs, billables, deadlines, compliance) and clinical supervision (case formulation, evidence base, skills, wellbeing) and both are needed.
• When supervision time is often consumed by compliance issues, practitioners lose opportunities for deeper clinical reflection and skill-building, and risk practising in a reactive way.
• Finding a supervisor starts with knowing your own “why” and values—then seeking out practitioners whose public work resonates, connecting through communities of practice, and treating the match a bit like dating: fit matters.
• Supervision is a key protection against practitioner burnout in emotionally demanding work; connection, celebration of small wins, and peer/reading groups all help you keep giving people the best of you, not just what’s left of you.

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools.
It’s all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice—designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at [email protected]

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at [email protected]