Building and Sustaining Effective Relationships

As someone who provides remote clinical supervision as my full-time job, I’m always searching for resources to better support my supervisees. Providing quality supervision is crucial for the future of the field of behavior analysis, and is an area of focus in which I’m most passionate. Tyra and Linda have teamed up to utilize their extensive knowledge and experience in order to create a user-friendly textbook that guides and supports supervisors striving to do better. This gem should belong in every behavior analyst’s library!

In their book, Drs. LeBlanc, Sellers, and Ala’i masterfully combine personal stories, best-practices informed by existing research, and practical tools for supervisors. They provide a model for compassionate supervision every behavior analyst should strive to incorporate in their practice. The activities and resources offered at the end of each chapter are aimed at developing a thoughtful and effective supervisory practice. These can be especially useful for behavior analysts beginning their journey as supervisors and mentors. This book provides many ready-to-use tools that can be easily incorporated into supervisory practice and in graduate training to ensure future behavior analysts are well equipped to embark on this important role. Although there are many gems throughout the book, I particularly enjoyed the chapter exploring the impact of culture, which includes activities for identifying the supervisor’s place of privilege and perspective – an area often overlooked in our field. This is an aspirational read that allows the reader to set clear, attainable goals as they strive to become the supervisors these authors model in their own work. May we all embody a bit of Linda, Tyra, and Shahla in our own role as supervisors!
- Corina Jimenez-Gomez, PhD,BCBA-D,LBA, Assistant Clinical Professor,Department of Psychological Sciences

This book is a goldmine for supervisors and mentors! It provides everything from foundations for relationship development to comprehensive supervision practices, including evaluation and career planning. The focus on cultural diversity brings a deeper vision to the reader and promotes the creation of powerful supervision and mentoring experiences. The authors provide many useful tools and resources for helping you achieve success in any supervision endeavor. I purchased one for everyone on my leadership team and they have raved about its usefulness.

Kudos! A gift indeed to the profession and also a lived inspiration for us all. I originally bought a few copies to provide as gifts to others. I ended up keeping one for myself. This has been an added value and resource to me. Thank you for writing this book and sharing your knowledge and wisdom.
- Celia Heyman, MA, BCBA, Predoctoral Fellow at FTF Behavioral Consulting, Part-Time Faculty at Capella University

As the cofounder of PASS the BIG ABA EXAM, I have watched many of our students, upon passing the exam, fall into high-level supervisor and mentor responsibilities without the models of good mentorship and supervision. I am often asked what I would recommend to these newly minted BCBAs to help them make up for that sort of deficit. Building and Sustaining Meaningful and Effective Relationships as a Supervisor and Mentor is the supply to that demand. Obviously, these authors are heavy hitters, and if you’ve ever heard them speak, then like me, I am certain you thought to yourself, I wish I could be mentored and supervised by these amazing women. In reading this book, it is like you can. Their knowledgeable, loving, and supportive voices are on every page. I especially appreciate the clearly defined calls to action. I have already started to utilize these strategies and tools in my own supervisory and management work and really look forward to a future of making a more substantial impact on my students, supervises, and administrative staff. I will definitely be recommending this book to our students!
- Dana Meller MA, BCBA, Co-founder, PASStheBIGABAEXAM

In this text, LeBlanc, Sellers, and Ala’i examine supervision from every important angle...practically, culturally, from the supervisor’s point of view as well as the supervisee’s. This book will influence the field of behavior analysis through its demonstration of how important and transformative supervision can be for all involved. - Devon Sundberg, Sundberg & Sundberg | Women in Behavior Analysis

I have 4 large bookshelves filled with literature, primarily focusing on approaches to helping people at the individual, group, and organizational level meet their potential and achieve meaningful outcomes. Out of the hundreds of books that mostly gather dust, there are a handful I regularly reference. For example, Aubrey Daniel’s "Performance Management," Thomas Gilbert’s "Human Competence," Maria Malott’s "Paradox of Organizational Change," and Geary Rummler’s "Improving Performance." For me, these books are like a well that continues to nourish my knowledge and approach as I learn a concept and then work to apply it as a leader, coach, and mentor.

"Building and Sustaining Meaningful and Effective Relationships as a Supervisor and Mentor" is rapidly becoming one of these coveted sources for me. But what sets this book apart from the rest is it's diverse, very practical, and highly compassionate approach to supporting others. While the title suggests supervision and mentoring, truly, most of the principles and approaches can be used by anybody, anywhere, regardless of title, to help people grow. That being said, I consider this book a must-read for those in the field of behavior analysis, given the importance of clinical supervision. In fact, I’d recommend Universities strongly consider adopting this book as part of their curriculum for Behavior Analysts, and organizations think about using it as part of their onboarding, training, assessment, and deliberate coaching of their supervisors.
- Paul "Paulie" Gavoni, Ed.D, BCBA, COO at Brett DiNovi International * Co-Founder of MMA Science * #1 Best Selling Author * Keynote Speaker * Executive Coach *

Kudos! A gift indeed to the profession and also a lived inspiration for us all. I originally bought a few copies to provide as gifts to others. I ended up keeping one for myself. This has been an added value and resource to me. Thank you for writing this book and sharing your knowledge and wisdom.

This is a great text for clinicians who are seeking to strengthen their supervisory and mentoring skills. The text provides a multitude of ideas and practices surrounding effective supervision and mentorship, as well as new ideas and perspectives for those seeking to enhance their skills. I highly recommend this text for any invested in their own professional growth and the growth of those they mentor.
- Allyson Moore, BCBA, LMFT Senior Clinical Supervisor, THERAPEUTIC PATHWAYS, INC.

This book helped me become the next best version of myself as a leader. The authors vividly capture the critical behaviors, skills, and repertoires of highly effective supervisors. They establish the importance of a “collaborative relationship” for the supervisor and supervisee to get the most out of supervision. That framework sets up key skills that a supervisor -as a “teacher”- can purposefully build with their supervisee. Here’s what I loved about this part of the book: the skills are practical, relevant, and meaningful. Hands-on activities are layered throughout the book so that I could incorporate them immediately into my supervision practice. There are many self-reflection activities that helped me think critically about my own skills (including where I need to improve!). I really appreciated the section on evaluating the quality of supervision and building career resilience: these are topics that our ABA field doesn’t talk enough about, yet the authors confront it head-on. Bravo! (My favorite section here related to knowing my values/reinforcers and maintaining access to them). Unlike many business/self-help books, the authors look to the actual research to inform their recommended best practices. Full disclosure: I’m not a BCBA. But I still found this book tremendously valuable because it transcends title/certification/experience. Pick up a copy as soon as you can.
- Jonathan Mueller (he/him) • Founding Owner and Co-CEO

Having worked as a professional in the fields of education and behavior analysis for over 20 years, I’ve learned the value of effective supervision and mentorship. The methods for achieving competency in these areas are all in this book –bi-directionality, the centrality of relationships, self-reflection, and more. The information presented in this work is relevant and necessary and a must-read for anyone seeking to improve upon their repertoire of mentorship and supervisory capabilities in the field of behavior analysis and related disciplines. - Nasiah Cirincione-Ulezi, EdD, BCBA, CEO & Founder, ULEZI, LLCCEO & Co-founder, Pivot 2 Inclusion, LLCAdvisory Board Member, Black Applied Behavior AnalystsBoard Member, ABAI Affiliate Chapters

LeBlanc, Sellers, and Ala’i provide an invaluable resource for those who aspire to supervise and mentor in our field. With an emphasis placed on the importance of establishing and sustaining strong relationships, the authors’ approach toward effective supervision and mentorship is based on their collective experiences and conceptually sound training and supervision practices. This thoughtful and compassionate approach not only prepares behavior analysts for effective supervision and mentorship in their early years but also encourages ongoing professional growth so that one may continue to develop as a supervisor and mentor throughout their career. My graduate students and I found the content easily consumable, and we thoroughly enjoyed the reflection activities and the group discussions they generated. I am confident that this resource will positively influence the nature of supervision delivery in our practice and, as a result, will have a meaningful impact on our field and those it aims to serve.
- Adam M. Briggs, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBAEastern Michigan University

This book is a must-have purchase for any professional engaged in behavior-analytic supervision. It summarizes relevant content for a competency-based approach to supervision, which is necessary for a book on this topic. What impressed me most was the emphasis on cultural awareness and responsiveness supplemented by immediately actionable steps readers can adopt to build their cultural repertoires. In addition, the book tackles critical areas, such as interpersonal and problem-solving skills, which are not discussed enough in the behavior-analytic literature. This book should be required reading for supervisors and mentors, supervisors in training, BCBA aspirants, and graduate students.
- Florence D. DiGennaro Reed, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Director of the Performance Management Laboratory, University of Kansas

This book is a must have for your professional book shelf! I love the organization of the text because it starts with the most important part which is a focus on developing a positive approach to supervision and mentoring. The book then moves on to the teaching part and covers strategies for teaching supervisees important skills. The book ends with a focus on evaluating the process. This will help YOU as a supervisor to improve your own skills based on feedback from your supervisees. I feel the authors did NOT save the best for last but rather immersed us in the good stuff throughout by including activities to help both the supervisor and the supervisee (e.g., self-management planning and assessing organization & time management). Do not walk but run to your bookstore or online merchant to get your copy!