Loved these folks - werkgeversreview RBT bij The Behavior Train

I’ve had a lot of jobs, and the Behavior Train totally tops the list for me. Leadership was very high-quality overall, and genuinely interested in our opinions as staff. There was overall open and friendly communication that built a foundation of trust. They even brought up financial breakdowns in staff meetings sometimes to talk about where the money goes, which I thought was awesome in terms of transparency. We had feedback mechanisms as well that could be anonymous if we wanted. My bosses made me feel valued as an employee, and I know for a fact they worked hard to create and sustain a great team culture. They model the behavior they wish to see, which is great leadership to me. I remember we had a work group chat solely focused on encouragement and shared positivity to support one another. It was used frequently. The Behavior Train excels at choosing good people. The work itself was rewarding, given the impact on clients’ progress. I think my supervisors did a great job of training me and helping me to engage in cases involving multiple stakeholders - the client, the family, the other services providers (PT, OT, SLP). I liked that the people I worked with were interested in trauma-informed care, working in an interdisciplinary clinic, and would listen to me if I brought up an ethical concern. Being a family-run clinic started by parents instead of venture-capitalists probably makes a difference. The Behavior Train worked to bring in health insurance and better PTO systems while I was there - they were always making improvements. The onboarding and training process was good, too, involving shadowing and working with another, more experienced technician. They took care not to ‘throw you to the wolves’ so to speak, if you were brand new or not yet confident in handling cases with more severe behaviors or aggression. This was just another way that I felt cared for and seen as a human being, not just a cog in the machine that was expected to meet any and all demands placed upon it, you know? Another important point: The BCBAs were very responsive and extremely supportive, which I know is not always the case in every ABA clinic out there. If I needed help, I would get it. If the case needed changing, it would happen in a reasonable timeframe. All in all, here’s my take, from my experience: The Behavior Train is a well-run, compassionate organization that values employee input, listens, and actively works to improve the work environment and the services that clients receive. I highly recommend it to anyone passionate about making a difference in clients’ lives, and I’m very grateful for my time there.

In my time, the company was smaller but expanding rapidly into multiple clinics. This involved its own challenges and high administrative workloads. Some of the weak points probably came from the challenge of administrators handling their workloads. While the pay was decent for our area, it could have been better, but industry-wide factors made it challenging to earn a higher income without more accessible financial support from health insurers. It was not a company issue, in my opinion. We were in a lower cost of living area, anyway. I just think the profession as a whole needs higher pay - hazard pay, essentially. The cancellation policy also made it difficult to get consistent hours at times, though leadership did offer some non-clinical work where possible, which was good. I think the job role should be restructured to reliably, as a matter of course, involve more non-clinical time, but that is an industry issue, not a Behavior Train issue. I remember how, at times, it felt a little impossible to do required paperwork and clean/close the session with certain clients, like those who were new, did not have independent play skills yet, or struggled with high rate attention seeking behaviors that could compromise their safety if not watched at all times. Another area for growth included having more resources for mental health support or Employee Assistance Program (EAP)-type services, which could help with burnout prevention, especially in such a high-demand role. Even just being encouraged to use hotlines or chatlines and being provided the information for them can be helpful. This could have changed in the three years that I have not been working here, though. Scheduling with breaks between clients would have also been pretty incredible, but scheduling is a logistic nightmare as it is. We did have short lunch breaks at one point, but we advocated for longer ones, and ultimately got longer ones. I don't claim to know of the current cons, but I would be willing to bet they do not include cruel, callous, or unresponsive management.

I absolutely LOVED getting to work with the students and the families. My BCBA supervisor was fantastic and supportive, and the other techs I worked with always had my back and supported me. The job was hard, but getting to work so closely with the clients and having a supportive supervisor and tech team helped prevent and intervene on burnout. ABA is such a special field and this was the best job to prepare me for a career in special education.

The office coordinator did not have any experience with what the techs went through during sessions and how important breaks are, so that was hard to navigate. This was my absolute favorite job!