Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Applied Clinical Project (ACP)

Degree Name

Doctor of Marriage and Family Therapy (DMFT)

Department

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – Department of Family Therapy

Advisor

Anne H. Rambo

Committee Member

Tommie V. Boyd

Abstract

The use of parent training has become a rising requirement when using Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) techniques. Parent involvement has been shown to be one of the most influential factors in modifying a child’s behavior. Though their influence is crucial, there is a lack of collaborative, strength-based goal creation with parents, and research has found that the protocols may overwhelm parents when created by their Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs). This Applied Clinical Project will take the reader through the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of a parent goal assessment to specifically address the needs of parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) that have behavioral concerns. The Monterroso Parent Goal Assessment was created to be used by BCBAs to utilize in their parent training with these families.

The goal of this Applied Clinical Project is to fulfill a specific need within the community to recognize the parental struggles associated with behavioral concerns of their children and utilize a collaborative, strength-based approach when obtaining parenting goals. This project utilized one action research cycle to obtain stakeholders’ feedback and suggestions for the enhancement of the assessment. Modification of Monterroso Parent Goal Assessment was guided by the feedback by stakeholders, the BCBAs. The findings indicated that the Monterroso Parent Goal Assessment is a unique and collaborative tool that can help BCBAs create collaborative, strength-based goals with parents. As a result of this Applied Clinical Project, this assessment will service to aid Behavior Analysts in addressing the needs of parents of children with an ASD diagnosis & behavioral concerns.

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