How to Set Up a Feedback Contract With a BCBA Supervisee

A feedback contract is a short, plain talk you have with your trainee before any real feedback ever happens. You sit down in the first meeting and agree on what feedback is, why it matters, how it will sound, and how often it will happen. You ask about their history with feedback. You share yours. You write a few lines down so you both remember. Only after that does anyone start giving or asking for feedback on the work itself.

That order matters. Most supervisors skip the talk and jump straight to giving notes. Dr. Tyra Sellers calls that a mistake. The fix is to front-load the relationship with one honest conversation about feedback culture. This page walks through how.

What a feedback contract actually is#

A feedback contract is a small agreement between a supervisor and a supervisee. It spells out four things: how you will ask for feedback, how you will take it in, how you will act on it, and how you will give it. The Board Certified Behavior Analyst, the supervisor here, owns the first move. They start the talk. They name the rules out loud.

The contract is not a legal paper. It is a shared understanding. You can write it in a Google Doc. You can keep it in your supervision notes. The point is that both people know what to expect before any real notes get exchanged.

Sellers makes a clear sequencing rule for this. Talk about feedback first. Then start asking for it. Then start giving it. In that order.

So as a supervisor, do I focus more on giving feedback or soliciting feedback? I'm going to recommend what comes first is talking about feedback. Just talk about it. First meeting with your trainee or supervising, you should be talking about what feedback is, why you value it, why it's important, what it's going to look like. From the talk — Dr. Tyra Sellers

The reason is simple. People bring history into the room with them. If your trainee had a coach who screamed at them, that history shapes how they hear your tone today. If they grew up in a culture where you do not question elders, that shapes how they speak up. You need to know all of that before you start giving notes. Otherwise you will hurt them by accident.

Five questions to ask in your first supervision meeting#

Open the first meeting by saying you want ten minutes to talk about feedback. Then ask these five questions in order. Take notes while they answer.

1. What does the word feedback mean to you?
2. What is your history with feedback, both giving and getting it?
3. How do you prefer to receive feedback?
4. How do you want to give feedback to me?
5. Does your culture or background shape how you think about this?

These are Sellers's own questions, slightly tightened. They work because they are open. They invite a real answer. They are not yes or no.

Things that you can ask. What does the word feedback mean to you? How do you prefer to receive feedback? And you can even give them a form to fill out if you perceive that these kinds of discussions are going to be difficult for them. That's OK. Right. Shaping. Ask how they want to give you feedback. From the talk — Dr. Tyra Sellers

If your supervisee freezes, that is fine. Hand them the form. Let them think for a week. Bring the questions back the next meeting. You are shaping the conversation, not forcing a perfect answer on day one.

One more thing. After they share, you share too. Tell them what tone you will use when you correct them. Tell them how loud you will get when you praise them. Make a promise out loud. That is the trade. They share their history with you. You share your plan with them.

What to do if you're already six months in and never had this talk#

Most supervisors find this page after the relationship has started. That is normal. You do not have to start over. You just have to start.

Put feedback on the next agenda. Tell your supervisee why. You can blame it on a CEU. You can blame it on a coworker. You can blame it on Dr. Sellers. The goal is to get the talk on the calendar without making it feel like a reset or a punishment.

If you are already in a supervisory relationship with someone and you never really talked about feedback, what it is, why it's important, how you frame it, just start. You can blame it on me. You can in your next meeting say, hey, I put 10 minutes on the agenda to talk about feedback. From the talk — Dr. Tyra Sellers

That ten-minute slot is the whole move. Use it to ask the five questions above. Do not try to fix everything at once. You are opening a door that has been closed. The door stays open for the rest of the relationship.

If you have given hard feedback in the past that did not land well, name it. Say something like, "I want to redo how we talk about my notes. I think I got that part wrong before." That kind of honesty resets the tone fast. It models for them what a supervisee can also do later.

How to ask about history without making it weird#

History questions can feel heavy. The trick is to ask them like you ask about a favorite snack. Calm. Curious. Short. You are gathering data, not running a therapy session.

Try this script. "Tell me a little about your past supervision. Anything stick with you, good or bad?" Wait. Let them talk. Do not interrupt. If they share something hard, thank them. Then make a promise back. A promise is the contract piece.

Here is what that promise can sound like in real life.

I'm going to say, listen, you can be guaranteed the only time I'm raising my voice at you is when I'm shouting about how awesome you're doing. When I have corrective feedback, I promise you I will maintain a calm and even tone of voice. You do not have to worry about getting yelled at from me. From the talk — Dr. Tyra Sellers

Notice what that promise does. It takes a piece of their history and turns it into a specific rule about your tone. That is the whole job of a feedback contract. You translate their past into your future behavior.

Culture is part of history too. Some people grew up in homes where you never push back on someone with more authority. That is real. Honor it. Ask about it.

If I have a trainee that says I come from a culture where we're not, you know, we respect our elders and people in a position of authority and you're not really allowed to question things. I'm going to need to work on. I have to say that's incredible and rich and I'd love to know more. From the talk — Dr. Tyra Sellers

When culture comes up, slow down. Say it is welcome in the room. Then explain that in most American workplaces, giving feedback up the chain is part of the job. Tell them you will work on it together over time. You will not flip a switch in week one.

How to write the contract down so you both remember it#

After the talk, write a short doc. Six lines is enough. More is fine. Less starts to feel sloppy.

Put these headers in the doc:

• How we ask for feedback
• How we receive feedback
• How we act on feedback
• How we give feedback
• Tone promises from supervisor
• Tone preferences from supervisee

Under each header, write one or two sentences. Use plain words. Use the trainee's words when you can. If they said "I freeze when I get hit with a big note in front of the team," write that down. Then write what you both agreed to do about it.

Save the doc somewhere you both can see. A shared Google Doc works. A note in your supervision tracker works. The point is that nobody has to remember it from memory. It is on paper.

Tell the trainee they can edit it any time. The contract is a living thing. If their preferences change, the doc changes. If your tone slips, they can point at the doc and say so. That is how power gets shared in a small, real way.

Revisiting the contract every quarter#

Put a calendar reminder every three months. The reminder says one thing: open the feedback contract and read it together. That is the whole meeting. Ten minutes max.

Ask three questions. What is working? What is not working? What needs to change? Write the answers in the same doc. Date the changes.

Quarterly is the right rhythm for most pairs. It is short enough that small problems do not turn into big ones. It is long enough that you are not nagging the relationship. If the work changes a lot, like a new client or a new role, revisit sooner.

The contract also helps you watch yourself. If you keep promising calm tone and keep getting heated, the doc will tell on you. That is the gift. You wrote the rule. Now you have to live it. That kind of pressure is good for a supervisor. It keeps the relationship honest.

Frequently asked questions#

Should the feedback contract be a written document or a conversation?

Both. Start with a conversation. Ask the five questions. Listen. Then write six to ten lines down in a shared doc. The conversation builds the trust. The doc holds the memory. Without the doc, you both forget what you agreed to within a month.

What if my supervisee says "I don't have any feedback preferences"?

That answer usually means one of two things. They have not thought about it, or they do not feel safe saying. Either way, do not push for a perfect answer. Give them a one-page form with the five questions. Tell them to bring it back next meeting. Then ask softer follow-ups, like "What kind of praise feels real to you?" or "When was the last time a note from a boss felt fair?" Stories are easier to share than preferences.

How is a feedback contract different from a supervision contract?

A supervision contract covers the big shape of the relationship. Meeting times, hours per week, fieldwork goals, money, paperwork. A feedback contract is one piece inside that. It is only about how feedback flows between the two of you. You can have a strong supervision contract and still have a broken feedback culture. The feedback contract fixes that gap.

Start the talk this week#

Pick one supervisee. Put ten minutes on the next agenda. Run the five questions. Write six lines down. That is the whole first version of your feedback contract. You can polish it later.

If you want to see this taught with the full BST demo, the zombie supervisor metaphor, and the scoop-the-materials example, watch the source CEU. It is a one-hour supervision CEU and it pairs well with this page.