Session 266: What is Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics?

ACE Learning Credits: 2.0

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Dr. Chris McGinnis joins me in Session 266 to talk about his work in Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics. If you're not sure what that is, don't worry. We go over that right away and learn that this area of work sits in an important and underserved niche: The niche between the general behavioral advice dispensed by pediatricians, and intensive treatment for serious mental health challenges.

In a way, this conversation expands on something that Pat Friman brought up in our most recent interview: The idea that BCBAs are uniquely suited to provide families with this type of care. In order to provide direction to those who are interested in doing just this, Chris recently published Introduction to Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics: A Guide for Behavior Analysts.

In our conversation, we covered:

  • His background in Behavioral Pediatrics, including his work at BoysTown (and meeting Pat Friman for the first time).
  • The motivation for writing his book.
  • The reification of psychological terms (see Skinner '45).
  • The myth of the Chemical Imbalance Hypothesis.
  • The range of behavior challenges he sees in his practice.
  • Thoughts on caregiver adherence.
  • The pros and cons of reimbursement practices, including the concierge model he has currently adopted.
  • Chris' study of Trauma-Informed Care.
  • Permissive vs. Authoritative, and how those related to adolescent mental health.... In other words, why parenting is like The Marshmallow Test.
  • Advice for the newly-minted BCBA.

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