Loving in Context
What can Catholics learn from Applied Behavior Analysis?
A few weeks ago, an author I deeply respect (
) posed a question:What human actions would you be interested in having analyzed through a Catholic behavior-analytic lens? AKA why we do what we do?
If you’ve been around these parts for a while, you’ll know that I take an observe-and-consider approach to life and to writing, so this opportunity to understand particular behaviors more deeply got me hooked. After proposing a somewhat unreasonable number of questions in the chat for Joey to explain in later newsletters, I also reached out to him directly with a request that he give me (and you all!) a basic understanding of what behavior analysis actually is, how it works, and how the basic principles of ABA can be utilized in our daily lives. Essentially, how can understanding our own behavior (or the behavior of others) allow us to grow in prayer, in our marriages, as parents, etc?
Joey primarily works with children diagnosed with Autism, as he explains below, but the principles he describes can help all of us to understand our behavior so that we can modify it to meet our needs in more functional ways and grow in virtue over time. His perspective as a Catholic is a beautiful one, and some of the concepts he describes below remind me of the principles from Language of Listening.
Today, Joey is joining us to share a little bit about what Applied Behavior Analysis is (and isn’t!), as well as a few questions to help us analyze our own behaviors as we strive to grow in virtue.
Let’s jump right in!
Hello “Whole and Holy” readers, and thank you for the opportunity, Sara.
I am a husband, father, Youth Apostle, and Catholic behavior analyst working with children diagnosed with Autism. I don’t want to bog you down with a bio, but I do want to reassure you (or disappoint you) in that I
believe in free will,
believe everything that the Catholic Church teaches, and
am a broken, wounded sinner like everyone else.
For more on who I am (and why I diverge from many others in my field by believing in free will), you can check out my Substack,
.What is a Behavior Analyst and What is ABA?
One of my favorite questions I get is “what do you do?” I am very proud of what I do, but I also enjoy getting a range of responses:
“Oh wow!” [and nothing else is said on the matter]
“Cool” [and then our conversation gets cut short by one of my kids]
“Oh, so like for the government?”
“Oh, so like for a school?”
“Oh, so like Criminal Minds?”
“Oh …”
[blank stare for a couple of seconds] “What is that?”
“Are you analyzing my behavior?” (“Yes, yes I am.”)
Only rarely do people actually take a close guess to what I do. A behavior analyst does just that—analyzes behavior. A few work with animals, but most work with human beings (and there are important distinctions between working with animals and working with humans). I’m one of the many working with human beings. Most work with children with Autism. I am also part of that majority working with children with Autism.
Using positive reinforcement, environmental restructure (a fancy way to say I move things around), and many other strategies, I teach new skills and work on changing a person’s context to make it easier to do those skills.1 This is most commonly done by supervising behavior technicians who do this direct work, and then also supporting parents to implement similar strategies.2
Here are some examples regarding work with children and adults diagnosed with Autism3:
A boy wants to be driven the same way to school every time, so he screams and yells when a turn is made onto a street not typically taken. An intervention might include showing a visual map (with photos of landmarks) to show what sequence or final destination to expect for an upcoming car ride.
A little girl hits her head against the floor when she is denied having ice cream. The parents change their strategy from giving ice cream to teaching her to accept alternative choices after being told “no” and/or to tolerate waiting from several seconds all the way to 24 hours.
An adult with only a few words to make requests likes to open unlocked cars to honk wheels. The residential staff provide alternatives—such as using a “honk” noise on a phone app or contextualizing when she is allowed to honk the car horn (after asking, meeting a certain expectation, or non-contingently every specific number of hours or at a specific time each day or week).
A teenager says, “I think my parents don’t like me.” A behavior analyst works with the teenager on holding these thoughts and feelings a bit more loosely with “defusion” exercises, and then the behavior analyst works with the parents directly on providing quality attention and time with the teenager.
A 2-year old newly diagnosed with Autism receives ABA to help with global developmental delays such as eating with a utensil, getting dressed, and using the bathroom.
A child learns to sleep in their own bed with systematic changes to the sleeping arrangements.
A child is hitting others in order to gain more control over their environment. The clinical team teaches functional communication, trust-building, and healthy boundaries in order to reduce the hitting.
A toddler learns their first words to request for their wants and needs by pairing language with positive experiences.
A child tolerates the parent leaving a room because the parents start using visual supports to show where the parent will be and when the parent is coming back.
From a virtue-building perspective, I have found that a lot of behavior treatment aims at strengthening the virtues of prudence, temperance, patience, courage, meekness, and diligence (self-discipline). I will refrain from naming vices as these have more implications, and the moral culpability attributed to a person is partly determined by the presence of certain conditions and even the power of habits (e.g., CCC #2353).
The principles of behavior analysis apply to all human behavior, according to the field, yet for a time I did not know how this all intersected with my faith. That brings me to how I introduce myself: I am a Catholic behavior analyst. Openly sharing that I want to integrate my faith has put me into contact with a number of others wanting to do the same, whether as Catholic behavior analysts (e.g., Lisa Kornacki or Françoise Nelson, who founded Cabrini Care), as Catholic technicians (those doing direct behavior therapy under supervision from an analyst), or as Catholic parents of children with Autism. Many non-Catholic Christians have also reached out and heavily supported me—I am so grateful to them.
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)4 is the most often associated-with treatment for children with Autism, so it bears a lot of responsibility to be ethical and effective, when so many physicians are writing a script for it. Unfortunately, ABA has been practiced unethically and ineffectively in different times and places, just like other helping professions have abused or ignored the systems in place to protect the public. All helping professions have the potential for great good and great harm. When ABA is practiced ethically and effectively, lives can change for the better.5
I would love to see more fellow Catholics in the field. There are many Catholic counselors and psychologists by comparison, but children with Autism are more often referred to a behavior analyst, speech therapist, and/or occupational therapist.
What Does ABA Bring to the Table?
As a Catholic, it’s easy to say that ABA comes from a reductionist worldview of radical behaviorism, but I believe that what we actually have with ABA is a partial worldview and necessary perspective. We are embodied in space and time, and as such, we live in our context. Context is “necessary, but not sufficient” for the exercise of free will.6 How is it necessary? You do not act in a void. You do not behave in a vacuum. You always think, speak, feel, and move in relation to what is around you (public events) and within you (private events). Furthermore, as Catholics, we believe we act in the context of spiritual realities which can also be around us or within us.
If I may, I think our reservation in acknowledging the influential power of our context is that it shines a light on our fallenness. It’s humbling and humiliating to admit that what happened before and after our actions significantly impacted us, perhaps even to a degree of experiencing a total lack of freedom, as with addictions. On that note, ABA also has a steadily-growing application to helping individuals with substance abuse prevention. To a lesser extent, I have the privilege of working on “technology addiction” frequently with clients. Those dopamine-releasing tablets (the battery-powered ones) are powerful reinforcers, but also potentially harmful when the limitation of using them evokes crying, yelling, hitting, and even self-injury. A behavior analyst (or parent) needs to teach a child healthy, consistent limits regarding screen-time. This might involve visual supports, teaching functional communication for requesting “more time,” and teaching novel leisure activities (whether solitary or interactive). In all of this, our surroundings can work towards our flourishing through virtue and vocation or towards our languishing.7 Where in your life is your context helping or hindering you from you praising, reverencing, and serving God our Lord, and by this means saving your soul?8
I’m going to say four things in two sentences. We cannot underestimate our context or free will. We cannot overestimate our context or free will.
Did you catch that? This alone is worth pondering in silence and in conversation with your spiritual director or close friends. With God’s grace, community and openness are antidotes to these underestimations and overestimations.9
If it is true that we live and behave in context, then it is necessarily true that we love in context. Something preceded your affection and delight for the child in your arms. Something followed your self-sacrifice of waking up at 2:00 AM to drive a relative to the airport. There are smiles releasing endorphins. There are alarm clocks and a rising sun waking us up. There are thumbs-up from mentors that give us a swelling feeling of confidence. There are paychecks if we go to work (not necessarily for actually working during the day in some jobs—something to ponder). There are feelings of remorse and sadness after we have wronged someone. There are feelings of reconciliation after forgiveness. There are Sacraments and sacramentals giving invisible grace. There is the Holy Spirit stirring our spiritual heart and all our affections towards the true, the good, and beautiful.
God knows the nature of our behaviors. His behavioral strategies with us are intended to help us mature so that we can be with him in eternity where there is no “before” and “after”—only the present moment with the Holy Trinity and Communion of Saints as our forever-context.
What Are Your (My) Concerns About ABA?
I remember one of my first experiences with the behavioral perspective. It was a behavioral psychology class and I was angry. I balked at the idea that our behaviors are influenced by our surroundings, let alone the more radical perspective, held by some, that all behaviors are determined by the environment. I said, “I’m not an animal or a machine!” Yet, shortly afterward, I had the opportunity to use behavior analysis (distinct from behavioral psychology) to help little kids with Autism learn how to talk, how to cope, how to use the bathroom, how to meet different developmental milestones—and wow, was it effective! How could I make sense of ABA being a force for good within a Catholic worldview?
Could I just write off everything as the other, more “Catholic” elements of ABA therapy, such as my active presence or engaging the person’s free will and intellect? Of course not. These strategies, born out of a desire to help persons flourish, were getting the job done. Knowing which strategies to use is the challenge, as well as when, with whom, how, at what intensity, and with what things or activities. ABA strategies involve changing a person’s behavior using classical and/or operant conditioning (e.g., pairing good things with the things we want to be perceived as good; making sure good things happen after good behaviors). My major concern is that classical and operant conditioning are portrayed as the end of the story—that our behaviors are somehow context-determined. In that worldview, there is an implicit message that me kissing my child on the forehead is as consequential and meaningful as a meteor smashing into another meteor millions of lightyears away.
My other concern has been this: if behavioral principles apply to both humans and animals, then does that mean our behavior is as meaningful as animal behavior or that our behavior is as determined as animal behavior? I mentioned at the beginning that ABA can be done with animals or humans—and that there are differences. My personal concern with my own field is that there can be a subconscious generalization of treating behavior change as exactly the same between animals and humans, despite the science showing just how different they are, especially regarding the complexity of verbal behaviors. The big difference I would like to share about the application of ABA to animals vs. humans, which was insightfully shared with me by one of my coworkers is this: “With humans, the goal is to get beyond tangible (food, toys, activities, etc.) reinforcers so that they can be motivated by social reinforcers. With animals, the goal is to continually return to those tangibles.” In short, the person has an immaterial end and an animal has a material end.
From a Catholic perspective, I would add that there is an implicit message here: “social” refers to interpersonal interactions—two or more persons interacting, with the person being the motivation. Two dogs encountering one another do not encounter in the same way that two persons encounter one another. When two dogs face each other, they are operating in a way determined by their environment, with no more free will than a rock floating in space, pulled and pushed by gravitational forces. When two persons face each other, they can experience the presence of another “self.” The dog sees another dog as biological material for mating and sniffing. The person sees another person as a being to know, to affect toward, and to love in action as an immortal being made in the image and likeness of God. ABA can—and should—have the ultimate outcome of helping a client pursue this recognition and value-respond to persons.
Practical Summary & Questions for Consideration
Take stock of your surroundings—you are not immune to your surroundings. God has made you to exist in time and space as an embodied soul and ensouled body. There is a functional relation between your actions and what happens afterward, which varies in strength. Also, there are events in your surroundings which are gifts that God is giving you for your sanctification. How are you practicing gratitude for your context?
What happens immediately before problematic behaviors? What would happen if that antecedent event did not happen any more?
What happens right after? What do you think would happen if that typical postcedent event did not happen any more?
What happened right before you tried to do that retreat resolution last time? What happened right after?
If you are a parent, how is your child’s environment influencing your child’s behavior, for the better or for the worse?
Reach out to me if you have any questions about any of these topics. Also, if you are a parent with a child with Autism, I’m always happy to take your call. I can only provide clinical recommendations to official clients through my work, but I love to help by answering more general questions about ABA, Christian perspectives on special needs, marriage, parenting in general, etc. Check out other resources at the top ribbon of my Substack.
May God bless you for reading (or even skimming) this far.
Sincerely,
If you liked this article, please consider sending $1 or more to my wife,
. Any donations go directly to her because she is the one who makes sacrifices for me to write. You can Venmo her at @Rachel-Clem-2Bio & Disclaimer:
Joseph (Joey) Clem is a Catholic licensed behavior analyst in Virginia. He is a husband, father, and lifetime full member in Youth Apostles. He works primarily with children diagnosed with Autism and volunteers in youth ministry. This article does not constitute professional advice or services. All opinions and commentary of the author are his own and are not endorsed by any governing bodies, licensing or certifying boards, companies, or any third-party.
References
CCC = Catechism of the Catholic Church (2012). Vatican City, Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved from https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/
Ignatius of Loyola (1951). Spiritual Exercises. Translated by Puhl, L.J [Based on studies in the language of the autograph]. Chicago: Loyola University Press [Originally composed 1522-1524]
Kreeft, P. J. & Tacelli, R. K. (2009). Handbook of Catholic Apologetics. Ignatius Press: San Francisco, CA. (Originally published and based on previous book: Kreeft, P. J. & Tacelli, R. K., 1994, Handbook of Christian Apologetics, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL)
Vitz, P., Nordling, W. J., & Titus, C. S. (2020). A Catholic Christian Meta-Model of the Person: Integration with Psychology & Mental Health Practice. Divine Mercy University Press: Sterling, VA
Often, new skills are replacement behaviors for challenging behaviors (i.e., self-injury, hitting, yelling, property destruction, etc.) which means the skill replaces the challenging behaviors by addressing the same or similar function (i.e., reason) behind the behavior.
I also assess (not diagnose) and make treatment recommendations and plan with the family. Most importantly, I pray for my clients (yet not as often as I should). For more information about behavior analysts, check out https://www.bacb.com/about-behavior-analysis/
Any examples provided are typical kinds of behaviors observed in behavioral treatment.
The basic science of behavior is Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB). The applied science (i.e., applied to meaningful behaviors of social significance for actual people in real life) is called Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
For more information on how behavior analysts are certified, go to bacb.com. Different states have different licensure laws. As a personal example, in the Commonwealth of Virginia, licensed behavior analysts operate under the Virginia Board of Medicine in the Department of Health Professions and are considered Licensed Mental Health Professionals (LMHPs).
Kreeft & Tacelli, 1994/2009, p. 145
see Vitz, Nordling, & Titus, 2020
Ignatius, 1524, #23
The General Director of my community, John More, likes to say occasionally, “we as humans have a unique capacity to delude ourselves.” You may wonder, am I deluding myself by saying all of this? I hope not, but that’s why I need dialogue in community and friendship.
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