What is a Behaviour Support Practitioner?
Introduction
You might be asking this question because you’ve heard this title before and you’re curious about it. Possibly you’re coming to the end of your studies or looking for the next stage of your career in the disability field, and want to know what your options are. In that case, you’re in the right place!
Long story short, or TL;DR, a Behaviour Support Practitioner (BSP) is registered with Australia’s NDIS to increase the quality of life and reduce the risks for NDIS participants who are engaging in behaviours of harm to themselves or others.
If that just raised more questions for you, let’s break it down.
Who Usually Becomes a BSP?
Firstly, we must be registered with Australia’s NDIS. That means going through the NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission to submit an application to become a Behaviour Support Practitioner. Our blog already has multiple articles talking through the steps and requirements for this when you’re ready to take a deeper look; see them here under ‘BSP Registration’.
Technically, there’s no minimum requirements to become a BSP (at the moment; this is likely to change in the future), though usually they want to see some sort of relevant qualification or certification and/or your experience within a relevant field to disability services.
I’ve worked with a lot of people making the move to become a BSP, and I typically see:
Psychology students or graduates
Positive Behaviour Support students or graduates
Social work students or graduates
Support Coordinators
Psychosocial Recovery Coaches
Teachers and Child Care Educators
Nurses, especially Mental Health Nurses
Team Leaders/Area Managers/Regional Managers for Disability Support Services
Allied Health - e.g. Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists
Disability Support Workers who are studying a relevant Diploma, Bachelors, etc
The above list isn’t absolute so don’t feel discouraged if you’re not represented.
I do recommend, if you’re planning to become a BSP, that you have both a relevant qualification and experience at least underway. This is purely because I notice these people tend to find it easier to transition into the role. It might be due to familiarity with preparing detailed reports through university, or having familiarity with how to engage with people with varying disabilities, that makes it a little less overwhelming when you’re just starting out.
However, I personally believe the most important factor comes down to personality. The people I see slide into the role and do well more quickly tend to be those with:
A strong desire to help others,
Great self-regulation skills and self-awareness,
A tendency towards finding the positives,
A belief in the capabilities of the participants and those around them, and
Determination to improve over time, always.
Quality of Life and Risk Reduction: What Role Does the BSP Play?
The next part of my definition is the overall purpose of the BSP’s role. Although most people believe our work centers solely around reducing risk through tackling the behaviours of harm, our top priority is actually to increase people’s quality of life. These two things are interconnected - usually most people recognise that people’s behaviour tends to be in response to some sort of need or want. Therefore, it’s logical that if you support people to find appropriate ways to meet their needs and wants, their behaviour might change. So if you want to see positive changes, you need to help that person have a better life having their needs met.
Or in other words, if someone has a great life where things are going well for them, why would they need to engage in any risky behaviour?
As such, I often feel like our title doesn’t quite capture what we do. Rather than primarily being Behaviour Support, we’re more like Quality of Life Support.
Of course, we also need to focus on the risks associated with what’s happening, because that helps point us in the right direction of what the person isn’t receiving in their life. It’s usually one of the following:
Seeking connection with others
Wanting to escape negative or undesired interaction
Seeking access to an item or activity
Avoiding a task demand
Wanting to access or avoid sensory stimulation or, sometimes, an internal experience
Knowing what the person is missing helps us know what to add to their lives. The biggest issue then is working out what specifically will help in this scenario (as everyone’s different) and how we’re going to support the participant and the people around them to achieve this.
I should mention, in a worst case scenario, we might need to reduce risk through the use of Regulated Restrictive Practices. This is quite an intimidating phrase, and involves a vast range of practices that we might need to do to keep everyone safe by restricting the participant in some way. I’ll go into more depth in future articles is this area is incredibly nuanced, however this is a last resort where the severity of the risk is so high that we must temporarily prioritise it above the participant’s quality of life.
Who Do BSP’s Work With?
In general, we tend to work with NDIS Participants who have been allocated funds under Positive Behaviour Support (called ‘Relationships’ in their NDIS Plan). This typically happens when there are Behaviours of Harm or Community Participation Isolation risks for the participant which have been flagged.
Outside of NDIS funding, there’s usually not many funding pathways for people to access us. It’s typically going to be out-of-pocket if there hasn’t been a State or Territory scheme involved to provide funding, e.g. QLD’s Community Support Scheme. As a note on that, we’re all waiting to see what the new ‘Thriving Kids’ system is going to look like as that’s going to be where potential NDIS participants under 9 will be directed once it’s up and running. This will be a State and Territory-led system and is expected to roll out over the next year or two if they can all agree on the funding.
Lastly, we might also be engaged with those receiving funding from the Australian Disability Support for Older Australians, though this is quite uncommon within my experience.
What Constitutes Behaviours of Harm?
This is the last part of my definition, and is quite a bit broader than you might expect. Some of the risks we see are:
Verbal and physical aggression towards others, e.g. shouting or hitting others
Self-injurious behaviour, e.g. banging head on the wall
Damage and breaking of property, e.g. throwing electronics off the balcony
Leaving unsupported where this poses a concern for safety, e.g. a child running away from school
Inappropriate social behaviour, e.g. stealing people’s food or belongings
Withdrawal from society / reduced motivation, which can include personal neglect risks
Inappropriate sexualised behaviour, e.g. trying to touch someone without consent
There are a much wider range of concerns and risks which I’ve tackled across my career as a BSP; it’s difficult to get it all down into one nice neat list. Each different risk brings a new layer to explore with the participant as you try and understand why this is happening and what you might be able to do to help.
I have to say that I’ve never been bored in this career as there’s always something more to learn and experience, so if that’s something you’re hoping for in your day-to-day then it might just be the right step for you.
Conclusion
The role of a BSP is easy to define, but each aspect of the role has quite a lot to it. As mentioned, this is a job where it’s hard to get bored so it suits people who enjoy having every day be a little different. This can sometimes be tiring though and there’s moments where you wish things would just stabilise for a few days or even weeks so you can catch your breath. This becomes especially true when multiple reports are due around the same time or a handful of major incidents happen and require your analysis and support. Having a good Supervisor to help you prioritise your upcoming document due dates in advance, and be available when you need to brainstorm or debrief, is absolutely crucial for these times.
If you were reading through all of the information above and it’s sparked your interest in knowing more about becoming a BSP, please feel free to get in touch and we can have a chat about this as a potential next career move for you.
Author: Rebecca Kim
