Using the ACT Matrix to Build Better Behavior Plans

Here is how to use the ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Training) matrix inside a behavior plan: sit with the client, fill in four boxes about what they care about and what gets in the way, and turn the result into a contingency contract you could hand to a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) tomorrow. Dr. Tom Szabo walked through a real one in his talk. A kid wanted to play video games with his little brother for half an hour, three days a week, after homework. That single goal is the whole point of this page. We are going to build that plan with you, step by step, using Szabo's actual case.

What the ACT matrix actually does in a behavior plan#

The matrix is a one-page interview tool. You draw a cross on a sheet of paper. The left side asks what the client cares about and what they are willing to do about it. The right side asks what gets in the way and what acceptance or defusion skills can help them keep going. You fill it in with the client, not for them.

Inside a behavior intervention plan (BIP), the matrix does one job. It gives you a values-based reinforcer and a list of covert barriers you would have missed with a standard antecedent-behavior-consequence (ABC) chart. You still write observable, measurable goals. You still measure rate, duration, or percent correct. The matrix just makes the goal worth working for and surfaces the private events that keep stalling progress.

Szabo is clear about scope. You are not doing therapy. You are doing ABA, with a tool that helps you see what is blocking a contingency from doing its job.

I promise to show you a contingency management form. This is one that I use. If you look to the left, you see what do I care about most? And here one person said my family. And what I'm willing to aim for that fits with the things I care about. From the talk — Dr. Tom Szabo

The four quadrants in plain language#

The matrix has four boxes. Two on the left, two on the right.

Top left: What do I care about? Family. Friends. Being a good big brother. Being on a team. This is not a list of feelings. It is a list of who and what the client wants in their life. For a kid, "my family" or "my little brother" is enough.

Bottom left: What am I willing to do? This is where you write the behavior. Small, observable, countable. Not "be a better brother." Instead: "play video games with my brother for thirty minutes, three days a week, after homework." If a BCBA can graph it, you wrote it right.

Top right: What gets in the way on the outside? This is the familiar ABA stuff. Brother takes the controller. Parents step in. Homework runs long. You can manage these with the same antecedent and consequence work you already know.

Bottom right: What gets in the way on the inside? Anger. The thought "he always wins." The picture of yourself as the kid who loses every time. This is the box most behavior plans skip. The matrix puts it on the page so you can plan for it.

Each box is one or two short bullets. You are not writing a report. You are sketching a map.

Walking a client through the matrix: a real kid, a real goal#

Here is how Szabo did it in the talk. The kid says his family matters most. Good. You write "family" in the top left box.

Then you ask what he is willing to do that fits with family. He says play video games with his little brother. You push for something you can count. Thirty minutes, three days a week, after both kids finish homework. That goes in the bottom left.

for this little guy, he's playing with my little brother. Okay, well, what are you willing to do? Well, I'm playing video games with my brother for half an hour after we both get our homework done on three days a week. Small goal, work up from there. That's pretty cool. Okay, well, what's going to get in the way? From the talk — Dr. Tom Szabo

Notice what just happened. You have a small, measurable, socially significant goal that the client picked. You did not assign it. The kid did. That changes how hard he will work for it.

Then you ask what gets in the way. The kid says his brother has to do everything his way and the parents let him because otherwise the brother destroys things. You write that on the top right. Then you ask how it makes him feel. He says angry. He says he does not want to share his toys. That goes on the bottom right.

You now have a one-page picture of the problem. A real goal, real outside barriers, real inside barriers, all from the client.

Surfacing covert barriers without leaving ABA scope#

Here is where most BCBAs get nervous. Talking about anger sounds like therapy. It is not, as long as you stay in the ABA lane.

Szabo's rule is simple. You can talk about private events. You cannot make them the target. The target is still the public behavior: playing video games with the brother for thirty minutes, three days a week. Anger is just an antecedent that makes the target less likely.

So you build skills that lower the chance anger blocks the goal. Two of his examples:

A "you have to" game, where the kid practices walking away from his brother taking the controller. You frame it as ninja training. Ninjas walk away. That is what ninjas do.

An acceptance line the kid can say to himself when he gets angry. "Of course I feel angry. It is okay to feel angry. I do not have to act on my anger."

These are not therapy techniques. They are antecedent strategies and self-instruction, both squarely on the BACB task list (G6 rules, G19 contingency contracts, self-management).

doing the you have to game or seeing yourself as a ninja. And ninjas are capable of walking away. That's what ninjas do. They don't fight when they don't have to. And some acceptance strategies, like, yeah, of course I feel angry. It's okay to feel angry. I don't have to act on my anger. From the talk — Dr. Tom Szabo

You teach these the same way you teach any skill. Model, role play, prompt, fade, reinforce. Track them like any other replacement behavior.

Writing the matrix into a contingency contract#

The matrix is the assessment. The contract is the plan. Once the four boxes are full, you write a contingency contract that any ABA supervisor would recognize.

The contract has five parts.

1. The target behavior. Play video games with brother, thirty minutes, three days a week, after homework.
2. The when. Specific days and times. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, right after dinner.
3. The how. The strategies you just built. The "you have to" game. The acceptance line. The ninja frame.
4. The payoff. This is the reinforcer. Szabo had the dad take the kid to the new Star Wars movie. Mom would entertain the brother when the kid wanted his friends over.
5. The signature. Yes, an actual signature. Kid signs it. Parents sign it. You sign it. Treat it like a contract because it is one.

When are you going to get it done? And so we're going to get it done in particular days and times. We're going to use particular strategies to make sure it gets done. And then what's the payoff? What's your what for? Well, let's work on some reinforcement strategies. From the talk — Dr. Tom Szabo

The reinforcer is not random. It came from the values box. The kid cares about family and friends, so the payoff involves family and friends. That is the part most contracts get wrong. They reinforce with whatever is handy. The matrix gives you a reinforcer that matches what the client already cares about, which is exactly the kind of motivation that holds up after you fade.

Common mistakes when you first try this#

Three mistakes show up over and over the first month you use the matrix.

Writing values for the client. You ask what they care about, they say "I don't know," and you fill it in. Do not do that. Sit in the quiet. Offer two or three options if you have to ("family, friends, being good at something"), but the client picks. If they cannot pick, that is data. Work on flexible responding before you write a plan.

Targeting feelings. "Reduce anger by 50%" is not an ABA goal. Anger is private. You cannot count it independently. The goal is still the public behavior. Anger is a barrier you plan around, not a target you reduce.

Skipping the contract. A matrix without a contract is a journal entry. The contract is what turns the conversation into a working plan. Days, times, strategies, payoff, signatures. If you stop at the matrix, the client will too.

A small fourth one: do not call them "ACT goals." Szabo is firm on this. There are no ACT goals. There are ABA goals. ACT is a strategy you use to make those goals happen. Write your goals the way you always do. Use the matrix to find them.

Frequently asked questions#

Can I use the matrix with a learner who has limited verbal skills? Not in the form Szabo demos. The matrix needs the client to relate ideas in context, which takes some verbal skill. For learners who do not have that yet, stick with direct contingency management and build language repertoires first. If a learner has the words for "I like this, I do not like this, this is in the way," you can try a simplified version with pictures.

How long does a first matrix conversation usually take? Most first passes take twenty to forty minutes if rapport is solid. Longer if the client is guarded. You do not have to finish in one sitting. Many BCBAs do values and willing-to-do in one session, barriers and strategies in the next, contract in a third. Slower is fine.

What if the client cannot name a value yet? Common, especially with kids and with adults who have been told what to want their whole lives. Two moves help. First, ask about who, not what. "Who do you want more time with?" is easier than "what do you value?" Second, look at what they already work for. The activities they already do, the people they already text, are clues to values they have not named yet. Write those down and check with them. "It looks like family matters to you. Does that fit?"

Szabo walks through the matrix live and shows the full contingency contract on screen. If you want to see the form he uses and hear how he handles the harder client responses, watch the recording.