Cultural Sensitivity: Unconscious Bias

Unconscious bias can influence clinical judgment, communication, and decision-making in subtle but meaningful ways. This presentation explores how implicit biases develop and how they may affect interactions with clients, families, and colleagues in applied behavior analysis (ABA). Participants will review relevant BACB Ethics Code standards related to equity, cultural responsiveness, and professional conduct while learning strategies to recognize and mitigate personal bias. The session will also incorporate concepts from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), guiding participants to identify their own professional and personal values and examine how behavior tends to be reinforced when it moves toward those values. Participants will learn to recognize situations in which their behavior and the behavior of others, may be moving in different directions toward individual values, and how increased awareness can support more thoughtful, ethical, and culturally responsive decision-making. Through reflection activities, practical examples, and discussion, attendees will gain tools to promote more equitable and values-consistent service delivery.

1. 1OOBJ 1: Identify relevant BACB Ethics Code standards and describe how unconscious bias may influence clinical decision-making, behavior interpretation, and service delivery in ABA practice. OBJ 2: Describe how personal and cultural values influence behavior and decision-making, and explain how actions may be reinforced when they move toward personally held values. OBJ 3: Apply at least one practical strategy to recognize and reduce the influence of unconscious bias when working with clients, families, and team members from diverse backgrounds.