Part 1: Why Great Clinicians Can Struggle as Supervisors

by: Cheryl Davis, PhD, BCBA-D, Dana Reinecke, PhD, BCBA-D

Clinical expertise does not automatically translate into supervisory expertise. Supervisors need explicit instruction, modeling, practice, feedback, and ongoing support, just like the clinicians they supervise.

In behavior-analytic organizations, a familiar career progression unfolds: a clinician demonstrates strong technical skills, good judgment, reliability, and knowledge of applied behavior analysis, and the next logical step is promotion into a supervisory role. On the surface, the transition makes perfect sense. Who better to supervise others than someone who is already highly competent at the work? The problem is that being an excellent clinician and being an effective supervisor require different repertoires.

Consider what we ask supervisors to do. A supervisor must:

• Establish clear, reasonable performance expectations
• Observe staff behavior
• Identify skill and performance deficits
• Teach new skills
• Reinforce effective performance
• Deliver corrective feedback
• Evaluate whether that feedback worked
• Occasionally navigate uncomfortable conversations about performance.

Supervisors must also learn when to change their own behavior when their current approach is not producing the desired outcome.

The behavior-analytic literature increasingly recognizes that effective supervision requires more than technical competence alone. LeBlanc et al. (2020), for example, emphasized the importance of developing both technical supervisory skills and the interpersonal repertoires necessary to build meaningful and effective supervisory relationships.

Research examining performance feedback similarly suggests that supervisors need proficiency in both technical and nontechnical skills, and that many behavior analysts report receiving insufficient explicit training in how to provide feedback effectively (Fraidlin, 2023). This distinction matters as organizations can easily misinterpret supervisory difficulties as personality problems: She isn’t assertive enough. He doesn’t like confrontation. She just isn’t a natural leader.

A behavioral perspective gives us a more useful way to look at the problem. Instead of asking whether someone “has what it takes” to supervise, we can ask: What does effective supervisory behavior look like, and has this person had sufficient instruction, modeling, rehearsal, feedback, and reinforcement to develop it?

Recognizing supervision as a distinct set of teachable skills is an important first step, but recognition alone is not enough. In the next installment of this series, we’ll explore why new supervisors need structured training, not simply a new title and a list of expectations.

Part 1 References

Fraidlin, A., Van Stratton, J. E., McElroy, A., & Aljadeff, E. (2023). Peer feedback: Recommendations for behavior analysts’ training and supervision. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 16, 696–708. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-022-00761-1

LeBlanc, L. A., Sellers, T. P., & Ala’i, S. (2020). Building and sustaining meaningful and effective relationships as a supervisor and mentor. Sloan Publishing.

Author Bios

Cheryl Davis, PhD, BCBA-D (Creator)

Cheryl Davis obtained her doctoral degree from Endicott College in Applied Behavior Analysis. She received a Masters of Science Degree in Intensive Special Education from Simmons College in Boston, MA after attending The University of Connecticut where she received a bachelor’s degree in Human Development. With over 25 years of experience working with children and families with autism, developmental disabilities, and related disorders, Cheryl specializes in working with individuals with ASD and developmental disabilities, online teaching, active responding and skill acquisition. She has had experience as a teacher, job coach, home therapist, residential supervisor, public school consultant, staff trainer and professor. Cheryl has extensive experience in developing training topics for both parents and teaching staff. She has provided professional development trainings to over two thousand teaching staff and enjoys providing services internationally. 

Dana Reinecke, PhD, BCBA-D (Creator)

Dana Reinecke is a doctoral level Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) and a New York State Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA) and New York State Licensed Psychologist.  Dana has worked extensively in higher education in faculty and leadership roles and as a consultant, trainer, and clinician in various settings.  She has presented original research and workshops on the treatment of autism and applications of ABA at regional, national, and international conferences. She has published her research in peer-reviewed journals, written chapters in published books, and co-edited books on ABA and autism. Dana has been actively involved in the New York State Association for Behavior Analysis (NYSABA), previously serving on the Board of Directors as Secretary, President, and conference chair.