Developing Your Practice as a Behaviour Support Practitioner
Developing as a Behaviour Support Practitioner doesn't stop once you're registered.
As your practice develops, the questions often become less about following a process and more about professional judgement — how you respond when something goes wrong, work effectively with families, manage the demands of the role, evaluate the quality of your work and decide what you need to develop next.
These articles draw on my experience as a Behaviour Support Practitioner, Clinical Lead and Supervisor to explore some of the challenges that can arise in real-world PBS practice.
The Best Way I’ve Found to Give Feedback on a PBSP
Giving feedback on another BSP's work isn't just about finding what needs to change. Here's the approach I've developed for reviewing PBSPs in a way that improves the quality of the plan while helping the practitioner develop their skills, clinical reasoning and confidence.
Why Is It So Hard to Stay in Positive Behaviour Support?
Why can it be so difficult to build a sustainable career in Positive Behaviour Support? Explore the pressures that can build around BSPs — from caseloads and isolation to supervision and organisational systems — and what may help practitioners stay in the field.
Considerations for Working with Parents in Behaviour Support
Working with parents and families in Positive Behaviour Support requires more than developing good strategies. Explore how family capacity, communication, emotional safety and everyday realities can shape effective and sustainable PBS practice.
How Do You Know if a Positive Behaviour Support Plan is Good Quality?
What makes a good Positive Behaviour Support Plan? Explore how structured quality tools, NDIS checklists and professional judgement can help you assess whether a PBSP is coherent, person-centred, practical and usable.
What Does a Sustainable PBS Caseload Look Like?
A sustainable PBS caseload is about more than the number of participants you support. Learn how funding, complexity, travel, deadlines and billable capacity can help you understand whether your caseload is manageable.
Always Feeling Behind as a BSP? Here's What Might Help.
Always feeling behind as a Behaviour Support Practitioner? Explore practical ways to manage your caseload, calendar, deadlines and workload, protect your time and build a more sustainable way of working.
Is It Normal to Feel Imposter Syndrome as a Practitioner?
Feeling out of your depth as a Behaviour Support Practitioner? Explore why imposter syndrome can arise in PBS practice, when self-doubt can be useful, and how to recognise when it may be starting to affect your work.
Made a Mistake as a BSP? Here’s What to Do Next
Made a mistake as a Behaviour Support Practitioner? Explore how reflective practice can help you move beyond the initial panic, understand what happened, identify what you've learned and decide what to do differently next time.
Where to next?
Start with whichever issue feels most relevant to your practice right now. If something hasn't gone as planned, try Made a Mistake as a BSP? Here’s What to Do Next. If workload or sustainability is becoming difficult, explore our articles on self-care and sustainable practice. If you're developing your professional judgement, you may find our articles on PBSP quality and working with parents particularly useful.
You can also explore our Supervision articles if you'd like to think more about how supervision can support your ongoing development.