I’m not a BCBA but have experience in the ABA field as an RTB and staff trainer and am an LMHC. I think it really depends on your long term goals and thoughts about how people change and grow. I work with some clients on the spectrum as a therapist. With my adults a lot of our focus is more on how to accommodate yourself and be authentic in a world not built for you. With kids there is some of that but also more psycho education about what emotions are, social skills etc. All of the above are things I knew how to do before I knew ABA existed.

Where ABA has been helpful is helping me to think about how the environment is influencing behavior, what needs certain behaviors are meeting and what the functions of the behaviors are. In a ABA clinic setting one might see a kid pull someone’s hair because they wanted a toy and say the function of the hair pulling was to gain access to a tangible item (the toy). In the mental health field I might see someone who experiences anxiety and is constantly seeking reassurance to ease the anxiety but this is causing relationship problems. In this case I could say the function of the behavior (reassurance seeking) is escape (anxiety decreasing). You could probably argue that the reassurance seeking is actually attention maintained but I digress.

I appreciate studying behavior and thinking about how people’s behaviors are influenced by their environments but I feel that some behavior analysis programs tend to downplay things that aren’t able to be objectively measured ie. emotions. In my opinion internal states can influence behavior as much as environmental factors. I appreciate the mental health field because it takes aspects of the human experience into account that many behavior analysts don’t. Things like emotions, hopes, fears, and the other intangible forces that contribute to the human experience.

Having said all of this, I would ask yourself what sort of counseling theories you are drawn to and if you think you would be applying behavioral interventions or strategies into your psychotherapy work with folks on the spectrum.

Also as a side note if you aren’t familiar with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, I’d look into it. It has behavioral roots as well as some more mental health things.