Cultural Sensitivity: Unconscious Bias

Unconscious bias can influence clinical judgment, communication, and decision-making in subtle but meaningful ways. This presentation explores how implicit biases develop and how they may affect interactions with clients, families, and colleagues in applied behavior analysis (ABA). Participants will review relevant BACB Ethics Code standards related to equity, cultural responsiveness, and professional conduct while learning strategies to recognize and mitigate personal bias. The session will also incorporate concepts from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), guiding participants to identify their own professional and personal values and examine how behavior tends to be reinforced when it moves toward those values. Participants will learn to recognize situations in which their behavior and the behavior of others, may be moving in different directions toward individual values, and how increased awareness can support more thoughtful, ethical, and culturally responsive decision-making. Through reflection activities, practical examples, and discussion, attendees will gain tools to promote more equitable and values-consistent service delivery.