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Compassionate Care, Cultural Humility, and Psychological Flexibility: Examining the Potential for Consilience in
Donna M West1, Kian Assemi1, Swathi Ragulan1
1Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, Mailstop 0296, 1664 North Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89557 USA.
Behavior Analysis in Practice
|April 20, 2026
Summary
Applied behavior analysts (ABA) can enhance client relationships by integrating compassionate care, cultural humility, and psychological flexibility. Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) offers a framework to develop these skills, improving services for all involved.
Area of Science:
- Behavior Analysis
- Psychology
- Human Services
Background:
- Applied behavior analysis (ABA) research suggests a need for enhanced collaboration between behavior analysts and caregivers.
- This collaboration can be fostered through compassionate care, encompassing research, training, and supportive client interactions.
- A behavior analytic interpretation of compassionate care can extend to all stakeholders in ABA services.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore a relational frame theory perspective on compassionate care within ABA.
- To examine the relationship between compassionate care, cultural humility, and psychological flexibility.
- To discuss how Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) can facilitate these components in human service organizations.
Main Methods:
- Review of relational frame theory (RFT) and its application to compassionate care.
- Analysis of similarities between compassionate care, cultural humility, and psychological flexibility.
- Discussion of Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) and the ACT Matrix as tools for skill development.
Main Results:
- Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) supports self-management skills, notably psychological flexibility.
- Psychological flexibility can bolster a compassionate care repertoire for behavior analysts.
- A consilience of compassionate care, cultural humility, and psychological flexibility is proposed.
Conclusions:
- Practicing ACT can facilitate compassionate care, cultural humility, and collaborative relationships in ABA.
- The ACT Matrix provides a framework for behavior analysts to develop psychologically flexible skills.
- Implications for practitioners, clients, and the field of ABA are discussed, with recommendations for future research and leadership support.
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