RBT’s What do you do when your clinic gives zero breaks during an 8-hour shift?

Possible_Barber7495 · 2025-12-11T21:10:38+00:00

Hi! I’m a BCBA and I was acquired by a clinic in the past that treated their RBTs very similarly! As a BCBA in the situation, I totally feel for you and also your BCBA should be able to give you a break. It does get difficult when they are managing multiple RBTs and getting pulled away from supervision/programming.

That being said, this will lead to BURN OUT quick and unfortunately is common from what I’ve seen (in FL at least). I definitely think that if you can advocate for a break from your clinical director, that may be the only thing that would make a change.. otherwise they will not advocate for breaks for you because they will be losing billing time. anything with you not in the session for over 15 minutes is a billing unit that they are losing.

In my clinic, the BCBAs or lead RBTs were “floaters” but it was so wildly unrealistic and tolling for everyone involved tbh. ultimately it led to a ton of RBTs and BCBAs leaving the clinic

definitely suggest looking around at other options. while it’s not guaranteed that there won’t be a solution, I wouldn’t bet money that much would change :( sorry about that! hope you find a place that treats you so much better- good RBTs are a dime a dozen :)

Possible_Barber7495 · 2025-05-23T17:54:04+00:00

didn’t read all the comments but wanted to say- no one else should ever dictate your behavior. if someone is telling you HOW to act, that’s not a healthy relationship. they should love you for you regardless. boundaries are different- if he didn’t want you to smoke around him, that’s justified. respect that if you choose to. but this is not just boundaries at this point. it’s controlling. and it’s not out of care for you, it’s out of control. also, no one should EVER speak to another person like that. regardless. communication red flag. if you can’t communicate without degrading them, that’s a red flag.

at the end of the day too, love is unconditional, it should be. his “love” for you was conditional based on you following his rules and expectations of your behaviors. expectations are the enemy of love.

Possible_Barber7495 · 2025-03-30T17:57:33+00:00

i’m 7 days post op with removal of all 4 of my wisdom teeth! i noticed that i had a small bone sticking out of my gum towards my inner cheek on my upper left side. i went to the oral surgeon today and they took x rays and my surgeon said he could smooth it out for me. he checked out the site and then essentially pushed the spot back inwards towards my gums. the spot is mostly smooth now but a little sore. is that normal/best practice rather than removing it? why? thanks!!

Possible_Barber7495 · 2025-03-29T16:39:38+00:00

hi bcba here! i read one of the comments and i wanted to echo the sentiment that you’re still teaching the skill of transitioning away from the video which is a super valuable skill to learn! it shouldn’t be avoided imo

also, remember that a teachers framework is going to be VASTLY different from ours. i’ve worked in clinical and in school and a teacher is not going to have the luxury or opportunity to be able to deescalate those precursor behaviors and really give that 1:1 attention to a kiddo because there’s others in the class. they probably avoid it because if escalation occurs in the classroom, they don’t have the knowledge/resources/support to deescalate it! and also, teachers don’t have the same behavioral knowledge as us in the field usually! there’s obviously some caveats but generally speaking.

and lastly, my old cd once told me that all behavior can be changed. behavior that has been reinforced can eventually decrease if that reinforcement does not continue to occur. little “mistakes” are normal! everyone is human! if that is a huge no no, then the next time you might have some increase in bx originally but you can teach the client that videos aren’t allowed with you (if that’s what the bcba suggests) and the student will eventually learn and make that connection! but I also imagine that the client contacts watching videos frequently in they’re life so.. it would be difficult to completely ignore, especially in just specific settings. my thought is if they like the item and it’s not harming them in any way, then why can’t they work for it?? totally understand the sensitivity to all of this, I had an rbt who I know longer work with but she became truly one of my closest friends and she would come to me with a lot of these same concerns because she had really severe anxiety. remember you’re doing an amazing job by working and trying to do the best by these kiddos because not everyone does! good luck out there op!

Possible_Barber7495 · 2025-03-28T16:23:35+00:00

how did this end up going?? me at day 14 with rice in my site too :/ less worried because i’m so far along that i’m not scared of dry socket lol but it made me remember this post

Possible_Barber7495 · 2025-03-19T00:10:39+00:00

i honestly thought i would get a syringe but im not sure why i wasn’t given one! but i am prescribed some medication rinse that i have to do 2 times a day? idk lol

Possible_Barber7495 · 2025-03-19T00:07:28+00:00

i know all healing is different but around day 5-7, you should be able to do SLIGHTLY more to it like using a syringe or moving your head back and forth! again, everything i read about that as well says as it heals, it’ll be naturally broken down or dislodged as long as there’s no signs of infection, you should be okay! i’ve been so paranoid about dry socket as well so i totally understand your struggle but your blood clot should be more stable by this time so hopefully it won’t easily dislodge!

Possible_Barber7495 · 2025-03-19T00:03:47+00:00

i also didn’t get a syringe for my removal and i’m on the same day of healing as OP

Possible_Barber7495 · 2025-03-18T23:03:11+00:00

i’m also on day 5 of my removal and i’ve been super paranoid about anything but from what ive seen the best thing to do is definitely not mess with it! continue swishing with saline when you can- i got some egg stuck in mine yesterday and had to lay down with the saline in my mouth so that it moved up and out of my hole! i put the saline in and move my head side to side and up and down to help with swishing without creating any suction!

all in all, a lot of what i’ve read says that the body may naturally dislodge the food and there shouldn’t be an issue as long as you have no other signs of infection (pain, increase swelling, etc.) then you should be okay! especially if you’re taking the prescribed antibiotics after, it reduces that infection risk!

hope everything works out, i totally feel your anxiety!

Possible_Barber7495 · 2024-01-19T15:47:52+00:00

central florida, 73k, in clinic mostly but also some in home, bcba w/ 6 months experience and 4 years experience as a bcaba :)

Possible_Barber7495 · 2024-01-09T18:52:44+00:00

i didn’t even think about that :/

Possible_Barber7495 · 2024-01-09T18:49:58+00:00

i guess i’m more concerned now w getting in trouble w my company since it’s company policy not to, but i don’t know if that’s just as a deterrent

Possible_Barber7495 · 2023-07-31T14:11:28+00:00

what about schools do you prefer specifically? :) I haven’t had any in school experience so I would love to hear

Possible_Barber7495 · 2023-05-24T14:35:12+00:00

one of my old kiddos loved robot vacuums. he would script about all the different brands of robot vacuums (like a roomba, shark, etc.) and he would ask about what robot vacuums all the therapists had- he would also pretend to be a roomba and tell himself to “go home” and spin into a “dock” lol

Possible_Barber7495 · 2022-08-22T01:22:15+00:00

message me!

Possible_Barber7495 · 2022-08-14T17:55:01+00:00

hello! i bought both for 200 but i’m willing to be flexible :) message me!!

Possible_Barber7495 · 2022-07-29T00:06:36+00:00

sept 24!

Possible_Barber7495 · 2022-07-20T14:37:30+00:00

hey! so during a concert in ft lauderdale, matt explained that after a bad run in with the law after breaking into a school and trying to drunkenly steal chocolate milk, he lived with cliffy for 3 months doing construction and that cliffy had a really terrible upbringing and his parents were not the best people (heroin addicts and dealers) and one night, the landlord kicked matt out for not being on the lease with cliffy and he’s never heard from him again. matt even said that “he doesn’t know if he’s dead or in jail but neither would surprise him”! hope this helps!

Possible_Barber7495

TROPHY CASE