A Behavioral Safety Model for Clinical Settings: Coaching for Institutionalization

Decades of research in the field of behavior analysis has offered a framework to assess behavior-environment interactions across any population and setting that involves behavior. This foundation makes a behavior-analytic perspective of safety systems a vital area of applied behavior analysis and one that can have a tremendous impact on the tens of thousands of behavior analysts working in frontline and leadership positions in clinical settings. Given the important work being done by clinicians and the growing need for behavioral services worldwide, organizations should create systems that are measured by more than just outcomes. Systems should be built to support the safe and effective practices that lead to those outcomes. This article discusses a behavioral safety model applied to clinical systems and showcases the role of training and coaching in the institutionalization of this model.