We all feel uncomfortable, sometimes, and our profession often puts us in uncomfortable situations. Megan Sullivan Kirby and Barbara Kaminski created Uncomfortable BCBA as a platform for them to talk about ethical issues surrounding BCBAs participating in politics as well as ethical quandaries and dillemas indemic to our profession. As stated on their site, the purpose of their blog is:
Uncomfortable BCBA is a platform for behavior analysts to discuss a wide variety of issues. Regardless of the day-to-day topics of commenting or the pinned blog post, the heart and soul of Uncomfortable BCBA is to encourage our fellow behavior analysts to play a role in positive societal change.
As therapists, we may encounter racism, homophobia, clients with uncomfortable political views, you name it. I remember after the 2016 election, which, for those who don't know (or try to avoid) United States politics, was a controversial event. Our more verbal clients would espouse the view points of their parents, and this caused some uncomfortable moments. Some families even attempted to post political material in our lobby or asked therapists who they wanted to win the election.
Uncomfortable BCBA is a platform to talk to other analysts about these issues. It's a new blog, relatively speaking - they got started in 2017 (like me!!!) but they (unlike me) have spoke at conferences espousing their concerns about diversity training, ethics and politics, and all things uncomfortab.e
Here are some of my favorite posts & discussions on their site: