In this unapologetic solo episode, Sean Yocum walks the digital tightrope — that dangerous, dopamine-fueled space where ABA professionals try (and often fail) to balance ethical integrity with online visibility. With zero filters and full accountability, Sean dismantles the myth of the “private” professional account and calls out the ethical trainwrecks playing out across social media feeds.
From viral memes that weaponize client experiences to “hot takes” masquerading as science, this episode hits hard on professionalism, digital ethics, and scope of competence. Sean unpacks how algorithms reward outrage, how one careless post can dismantle a career, and why your digital footprint is either your strongest professional asset or your fastest liability.
He doesn’t stop at criticism — he offers solutions. Learn how to train your supervisees in digital ethics, protect your license from “funny” skits gone wrong, and create content that’s radically ethical, not recklessly viral. The message is clear:
Your client is not content.
Your science is not clickbait.
Your integrity is not for sale.
If you’re using your license to chase likes, you’re walking the tightrope blindfolded — and this episode is your wake-up call.
When “check-the-box” courses crank out certificates, patients and frontline staff pay the price. In this Rad N Bad episode, Sean and Mike square up with guest Tara Zeller, BCBA—Chief Empowerment Officer at Apple Tree Connection and creator of the Empowered RBT program—to tear down the 40-hour myth and rebuild it around fluency, mentorship, and real accountability. We hit the quality gap between compliance and competence, how employers weaponize minimums, and why onboarding and BST—not glitchy videos—decide outcomes.
Tara brings solutions: synchronous + asynchronous design, prove-it performance checks, “train–mentor–empower” pipelines, and a 91.7% RBT exam pass rate that backs it up. We debate crisis training (exposure vs. in-job fluency), propose provisional licensing and payer incentives tied to retention and outcomes, and call out the revolving-door clinics starving supervision. If you’re still treating 40 hours like a finish line, this one’s your audit.
Check Out Appletree Connection here: https://www.appletreeconnection.com/
When “check-the-box” courses crank out certificates, patients and frontline staff pay the price. In this Rad N Bad episode, Sean and Mike square up with guest Tara Zeller, BCBA—Chief Empowerment Officer at Apple Tree Connection and creator of the Empowered RBT program—to tear down the 40-hour myth and rebuild it around fluency, mentorship, and real accountability. We hit the quality gap between compliance and competence, how employers weaponize minimums, and why onboarding and BST—not glitchy videos—decide outcomes.
Tara brings solutions: synchronous + asynchronous design, prove-it performance checks, “train–mentor–empower” pipelines, and a 91.7% RBT exam pass rate that backs it up. We debate crisis training (exposure vs. in-job fluency), propose provisional licensing and payer incentives tied to retention and outcomes, and call out the revolving-door clinics starving supervision. If you’re still treating 40 hours like a finish line, this one’s your audit.
Episode 17: The Data Wrecking Ball: De-Risking ABA with a Clinivise
Rad N Bad moves from calling out the broken system to showing you how to rebuild it. Host Sean Yocum welcomes special co-host Christopher Jones, PhD (CTO & Co-Founder of Clinivise) to dissect the intersection of data science, entrepreneurial excellence, and clinical impact.
Dr. Jones, a Caltech-educated veteran and Tillman Scholar, brings his mission-driven expertise to the chaotic world of behavioral health. In this episode, we dive deep into:
Eliminating the Blindfold: How data transparency and platforms like Clinivise dismantle the "information asymmetry" that gives multi-billion dollar payers leverage over smaller, clinician-owned practices.
The Access Problem: Why simply "revealing" provider deserts isn't monetizing failure, but is the crucial first step in de-risking underserved markets, incentivizing ethical expansion, and utilizing creative solutions like telehealth and mobile units.
Negotiation Anchors: How objective market benchmarks for salaries and reimbursement rates can empower new BCBAs and RBTs, eliminate unconscious pay bias, and prevent employers from simply "low-balling" labor costs.
Beyond the Billable Hour: Shifting the industry from a "zero-sum game" (volume over value) to a "positive-sum game" by establishing a baseline for outcome-based negotiation, where clinical progress directly translates to higher value.
If you believe a broken system can’t be profitable forever, you need the intelligence layer to challenge the status quo. Get ready to raise some hell.
Check out Clinivise here:
Rad N Bad moves from calling out the broken system to showing you how to rebuild it. Host Sean Yocum welcomes special co-host Christopher Jones, PhD (CTO & Co-Founder of Clinivise) to dissect the intersection of data science, entrepreneurial excellence, and clinical impact.
Dr. Jones, a Caltech-educated veteran and Tillman Scholar, brings his mission-driven expertise to the chaotic world of behavioral health. In this episode, we dive deep into:
Eliminating the Blindfold: How data transparency and platforms like Clinivise dismantle the "information asymmetry" that gives multi-billion dollar payers leverage over smaller, clinician-owned practices.
The Access Problem: Why simply "revealing" provider deserts isn't monetizing failure, but is the crucial first step in de-risking underserved markets, incentivizing ethical expansion, and utilizing creative solutions like telehealth and mobile units.
Negotiation Anchors: How objective market benchmarks for salaries and reimbursement rates can empower new BCBAs and RBTs, eliminate unconscious pay bias, and prevent employers from simply "low-balling" labor costs.
Beyond the Billable Hour: Shifting the industry from a "zero-sum game" (volume over value) to a "positive-sum game" by establishing a baseline for outcome-based negotiation, where clinical progress directly translates to higher value.
If you believe a broken system can’t be profitable forever, you need the intelligence layer to challenge the status quo. Get ready to raise some hell.
Check out Clinivise here:
Rad N Bad drops a tactical nuke on the ABA industry's most toxic and manipulative legal tools: non-compete and non-solicitation clauses.
Hosts Sean Yocum and Michael Carrero call out the corporate rulebook, arguing that these contracts are not about protecting proprietary secrets—they're instruments of aversive control used to weaponize the labor market, restrict client choice, and hold practitioners hostage.
Using the lens of behavior analysis, this episode dismantles the legal "scarecrows" that rely on fear to manage a young labor pool. Is your company's mission statement client-centered, or does its contract signal that your primary function is to simply generate revenue? We argue that loyalty is earned through high-rate positive reinforcement, not imposed by legal threats.
If your agency relies on forcing compliance over fostering competence, you're building a system on quicksand. Demand better.
Hot Takes Include:
Why non-competes create a business-centered agenda that is mutually exclusive to a clinician-centered workforce.
The science of loyalty: Why legal threats foster avoidance behavior instead of ethical commitment.
The ethical failure of prioritizing revenue over a client's right to their preferred, effective provider (a known generalized conditioned reinforcer).
If this fires you up, buckle up. We're here to unmask the whole thing.
Rad N Bad drops a tactical nuke on the ABA industry's most toxic and manipulative legal tools: non-compete and non-solicitation clauses.
Hosts Sean Yocum and Michael Carrero call out the corporate rulebook, arguing that these contracts are not about protecting proprietary secrets—they're instruments of aversive control used to weaponize the labor market, restrict client choice, and hold practitioners hostage.
Using the lens of behavior analysis, this episode dismantles the legal "scarecrows" that rely on fear to manage a young labor pool. Is your company's mission statement client-centered, or does its contract signal that your primary function is to simply generate revenue? We argue that loyalty is earned through high-rate positive reinforcement, not imposed by legal threats.
If your agency relies on forcing compliance over fostering competence, you're building a system on quicksand. Demand better.
Hot Takes Include:
Why non-competes create a business-centered agenda that is mutually exclusive to a clinician-centered workforce.
The science of loyalty: Why legal threats foster avoidance behavior instead of ethical commitment.
The ethical failure of prioritizing revenue over a client's right to their preferred, effective provider (a known generalized conditioned reinforcer).
If this fires you up, buckle up. We're here to unmask the whole thing.
Are we setting our clients up for failure? In this episode of Rad N Bad, Sean and Mike welcome the fearless Shanti Bradley, a BCBA who is challenging the biggest lie in ABA: that real therapy only happens in a sterile clinic environment. They dive into why the "tabletop simulator" approach is ineffective and unethical, teaching compliance over competence and ignoring the beautiful, messy chaos of real life.
The hosts and their guest get into the weeds of why skills don't magically generalize from a clinic and how an overreliance on rigid curriculums and direct-to-staff instruction fails clients in the real world. They discuss the professional, parental, and institutional barriers—including funding models and the "illusion of control"—that keep the field from prioritizing meaningful, community-based outcomes. This episode is a call to action to move past laziness and discomfort, advocate for what's right, and embrace the unpredictable learning opportunities that truly promote independence and long-term success.
You can find Shanti on Linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanti-bradley-bcba-42893571/
Ready to stop getting your science from bedtime stories? In this wake-up call of an episode, Sean Yocum and Mike Carrero dive headfirst into the recent, controversial claims linking Tylenol to autism. As BCBAs, they break down the fundamental flaws in this argument, starting with the first rule of behavior analysis fight club: correlation is not causation.
They discuss how this narrative oversimplifies a complex neurodevelopmental condition, ignoring decades of peer-reviewed research on genetics and other contributing factors. Sean and Mike challenge the "miracle drug" mentality, calling out the ethical dangers of promoting misinformation and the real harm it causes to families. This isn't a political debate—it's a critical discussion about upholding the standards of evidence-based practice and why the so-called "autism epidemic" is actually a sign of social and scientific progress. Get ready to question everything you think you know and find out why the truth is far more complex, and more hopeful, than a single, simple answer.
Ready to stop getting your science from bedtime stories? In this wake-up call of an episode, Sean Yocum and Mike Carrero dive headfirst into the recent, controversial claims linking Tylenol to autism. As BCBAs, they break down the fundamental flaws in this argument, starting with the first rule of behavior analysis fight club: correlation is not causation.
They discuss how this narrative oversimplifies a complex neurodevelopmental condition, ignoring decades of peer-reviewed research on genetics and other contributing factors. Sean and Mike challenge the "miracle drug" mentality, calling out the ethical dangers of promoting misinformation and the real harm it causes to families. This isn't a political debate—it's a critical discussion about upholding the standards of evidence-based practice and why the so-called "autism epidemic" is actually a sign of social and scientific progress. Get ready to question everything you think you know and find out why the truth is far more complex, and more hopeful, than a single, simple answer.
In this bold and edgy episode, your hosts Sean Yocum and Mike Carrero get into the most talked about but least solved problem in the field: RBT burnout. Joined by special guest Nick Klinkefus, a tech-savvy leader specializing in Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), they expose the hard truths behind the industry's staffing crisis.
Are RBTs just billable machines? Is the high turnover rate a direct result of prioritizing profit over people? They dissect a system that has fundamentally distorted the RBT role, reducing it to a disposable resource and a mere means to an end. We challenge the notion of "client-first culture" and dive into the lack of professional development, a rigid certification system, and the devastating consequences of an undervalued workforce.
This isn't a surface-level discussion; it's a deep dive into the business of behavior analysis, the profitability of a broken model, and the uncomfortable realities that are holding our field back. If you've ever felt like your voice isn't being heard or that you're just a number, this episode is for you. We're cutting through the noise and asking the questions everyone else is too afraid to ask.
Find Nick on Linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicklinkefus/
Check out his business at:
In this bold and edgy episode, your hosts Sean Yocum and Mike Carrero get into the most talked about but least solved problem in the field: RBT burnout. Joined by special guest Nick Klinkefus, a tech-savvy leader specializing in Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), they expose the hard truths behind the industry's staffing crisis.
Are RBTs just billable machines? Is the high turnover rate a direct result of prioritizing profit over people? They dissect a system that has fundamentally distorted the RBT role, reducing it to a disposable resource and a mere means to an end. We challenge the notion of "client-first culture" and dive into the lack of professional development, a rigid certification system, and the devastating consequences of an undervalued workforce.
This isn't a surface-level discussion; it's a deep dive into the business of behavior analysis, the profitability of a broken model, and the uncomfortable realities that are holding our field back. If you've ever felt like your voice isn't being heard or that you're just a number, this episode is for you. We're cutting through the noise and asking the questions everyone else is too afraid to ask.
You can find Nick Klinkefus on Linkedin here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicklinkefus/
Find his business here:
https://www.greatdayconsults.com/
Welcome back, behavioral misfits! On this special episode, hosts Sean Yocum and Michael Carrero dive into a topic that bridges Sean's two worlds: music and behavior analysis.
We’re breaking down the incredible, and unexpected, viral resurgence of Sean's old band, Lady Radiator, and their song, "Box Turtle." What looks like a happy accident is, in fact, a perfect storm of behavioral principles in action.
Join us as we analyze:
Intermittent Reinforcement: How social media algorithms, like a slot machine , drive compulsive scrolling and set the stage for a song from 18 years ago to blow up.
Discriminative Stimuli (SDs): How influencers function as a "green light" for viral behavior and why their endorsement is a powerful cue for their followers.
Rule-Governed vs. Contingency-Shaped Behavior: The shift from a user learning through direct consequences to following a verbal rule set by an influencer, and how this accelerates virality.
Behavioral Momentum & Shaping: How the band's proactive response and strategic content creation moved passive listeners into an active, engaged fan base, ensuring the trend's maintenance and generalization.
This isn't just a story about music; it's a real-time, unfiltered look at how ABA principles are running the world. Get ready to analyze the algorithm and question everything you think you know about viral content. Remember, you're not just a consumer—you're a participant in a grand digital experiment.
Don't forget to stay edgy, stay bad, and don't forget to analyze that behavior!
Check out Sean's old band Lady Radiator on Spotify!
On a brand-new installment of our "Who The Hell Is That?" series, Sean and Mike welcome a guest who's not afraid to challenge the status quo: the brilliant Dr. Lindsey Sneed. As the Vice President of Clinical Excellence at Catalight and a licensed psychologist, Dr. Sneed is fiercely passionate about an approach with robust evidence that is often resisted by the mainstream: Parent-Mediated Interventions (PMI).
In this no-holds-barred conversation, we dive headfirst into the why behind this resistance. We explore the ethical and clinical reasons for prioritizing PMI as a least-restrictive, highly effective treatment model. Dr. Sneed shares her "aha" moment that drove her to champion this cause, revealing how she's swimming upstream against a field that often equates intensive, 30-hour-a-week models with quality—despite the evidence suggesting otherwise.
This isn't a conversation about tearing down traditional ABA; it's about evolving. Dr. Sneed argues that by ignoring PMI, we are limiting access to care, contributing to clinician burnout, and potentially damaging outcomes for families. She offers a compelling argument for a future where we stop chasing dosage and start chasing fit, focusing on what truly empowers caregivers and improves well-being.
Join us as we challenge our biases, question the comfort of our current models, and fight for a more effective, humane, and collaborative approach to ABA.
Find out more about Dr. Sneed's work at:
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/company/catalightcares/
(14) Lindsey Sneed, Ph.D., BCBA-D | LinkedIn
Lindsey Sneed, Ph.D., BCBA-D (@drlindseysneed) • Instagram photos and videos
Facebook
Catalight | Walnut Creek CA | Facebook
YouTube
X (though, we don’t really use it anymore)
Catalight (@CatalightCares) / X
Podcast
What’s Up With Catalight - Catalight
What’s Up With Catalight! - Podcast - Apple Podcasts
What’s Up With Catalight! | Podcast on Spotify
Don't forget to stay edgy, stay bad, and don't forget to analyze that behavior!
On this special episode of the Rad N Bad Podcast, host Sean Yocum takes a break from his usual bold and edgy takes on behavior analysis to dive into a wild personal story. Forgetting the textbooks and dry data, Sean reunites with his old bandmate, Adam Kobylarz, guitarist from the alternative band Lady Radiator.
Join them as they reminisce about their days as loud, angry, and avant-garde musicians in a band that was "18 years too soon." Adam, the band's brainchild, recounts the band's origin story, from its formation to the legendary recording sessions. They discuss the unexpected viral TikTok revival of their song "Box Turtle Magnificent Isn't She" and how it catapulted them from forgotten to famous almost two decades later. Adam shares the process of reclaiming their music, engaging with new fans, and turning this brief moment of digital luck into a massive opportunity. Sean highlights how his current life of being a behavior analyst has made him see things differently in how all of this came to play.
They discuss how staying in the music industry and being genuine with their audience helped them seize this second chance at fame. This episode is not just about nostalgia; it's a testament to the power of authentic art and the idea that you get what you can handle. Whether you're a musician, an artist, or a consumer of digital content, this conversation will inspire you to keep creating, drop your art, and understand that you're a participant in a much bigger digital behavior, and that behavior analysis is at play everywhere in life.
Check out Lady Radiator on Spotify at
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5U2FH1VnxiZYbLcUVWGrov?si=lxmaS_cvS0yZsNWo7LtQ2A
This episode of 'Who the Hell Is That?!' features the incredible Dr. Kristyn Peterson, who cuts through the noise of corporate culture in applied behavior analysis (ABA). She joins hosts Sean Yocum and Mike Carrero to expose the uncomfortable truths behind buzzwords like 'psychological safety' and 'client-centered care.' Dr. Peterson, an expert in organizational behavior management (OBM), dismantles the myths of so-called 'family' work environments, revealing how things like rigged surveys and hollow mission statements lead to high employee turnover and compromised client outcomes. The conversation gets brutally honest, tackling everything from the dangers of the RBT level system to how leaders can use behavior analytic principles like FBA to uncover—and fix—a company’s true cultural rot. If you're ready to stop sugarcoating and start confronting what's truly broken in the field, this is the episode for you.
You can find Kristyn here:
linkedin.com/in/kristynpeterson
This episode of 'Who the Hell Is That?!' features the incredible Dr. Kristyn Peterson, who cuts through the noise of corporate culture in applied behavior analysis (ABA). She joins hosts Sean Yocum and Mike Carrero to expose the uncomfortable truths behind buzzwords like 'psychological safety' and 'client-centered care.' Dr. Peterson, an expert in organizational behavior management (OBM), dismantles the myths of so-called 'family' work environments, revealing how things like rigged surveys and hollow mission statements lead to high employee turnover and compromised client outcomes. The conversation gets brutally honest, tackling everything from the dangers of the RBT level system to how leaders can use behavior analytic principles like FBA to uncover—and fix—a company’s true cultural rot. If you're ready to stop sugarcoating and start confronting what's truly broken in the field, this is the episode for you.
You can find Kristyn here:
linkedin.com/in/kristynpeterson
Get ready, Rad N' Bad fam! Sean and Mike are tearing into another unapologetically honest episode of "Who The Hell Is That?!"—our series dedicated to the fearless individuals igniting real change in ABA. This week, we welcome the brilliant and uncompromising Dr. Kristen Byra, PhD, BCBA-D, a true force in clinical excellence who's not afraid to push back against the norm.
Kristen, a highly credentialed BCBA with vast experience in autism services, reveals the "fed up" moments that fueled her mission to transform quality and accountability in our field. She pulls back the curtain on the alarming inconsistencies in ABA training and supervision she witnessed, contrasting it with her own rigorous Western Michigan University experience. Discover the genesis of her game-changing Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) and Quality Assessment tools—innovations designed to tackle the biggest systematic failures in clinical practice. We dive deep into why she demands "fridge-worthy" work, the power of her "red dot" system for RBT feedback, and the audacious medical analogy that exposes why we're defaulting to the most restrictive interventions when evidence-based alternatives are available.
This episode is a candid, no-holds-barred discussion on everything from the nuances of non-billable time accountability to the critical importance of parent involvement beyond "tuck and roll" drop-offs. Kristen shares her vision for standardizing quality across agencies, empowering BCBAs and RBTs, and safeguarding the future of ABA by prioritizing client outcomes over mere billables. If you're craving brutal honesty, radical insights, and a blueprint for elevating your practice, strap in! This is where the real insights break loose.
You can find Kristen at the following locations:
Website: Her professional website is UpskillABA.com.
LinkedIn: She primarily posts and is active on her personal LinkedIn profile, Kristen Byra.
Get ready, Rad N' Bad fam! Sean and Mike are tearing into another unapologetically honest episode of "Who The Hell Is That?!"—our series dedicated to the fearless individuals igniting real change in ABA. This week, we welcome the brilliant and uncompromising Dr. Kristen Byra, PhD, BCBA-D, a true force in clinical excellence who's not afraid to push back against the norm.
Kristen, a highly credentialed BCBA with vast experience in autism services, reveals the "fed up" moments that fueled her mission to transform quality and accountability in our field. She pulls back the curtain on the alarming inconsistencies in ABA training and supervision she witnessed, contrasting it with her own rigorous Western Michigan University experience. Discover the genesis of her game-changing Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) and Quality Assessment tools—innovations designed to tackle the biggest systematic failures in clinical practice. We dive deep into why she demands "fridge-worthy" work, the power of her "red dot" system for RBT feedback, and the audacious medical analogy that exposes why we're defaulting to the most restrictive interventions when evidence-based alternatives are available.
This episode is a candid, no-holds-barred discussion on everything from the nuances of non-billable time accountability to the critical importance of parent involvement beyond "tuck and roll" drop-offs. Kristen shares her vision for standardizing quality across agencies, empowering BCBAs and RBTs, and safeguarding the future of ABA by prioritizing client outcomes over mere billables. If you're craving brutal honesty, radical insights, and a blueprint for elevating your practice, strap in! This is where the real insights break loose.
You can contact Kristen at:
Website: Her professional website is UpskillABA.com.
LinkedIn: She primarily posts and is active on her personal LinkedIn profile, Kristen Byra.
Ever wondered how Matt built his podcasting empire? We go behind the scenes to uncover the gritty origin story of Behavioral Observations, revealing the passion and drive that fueled its creation. If you've got an entrepreneurial spirit or a burning desire to make an impact, this segment is a goldmine.
But it's not all business! Matt shares invaluable, real-world suggestions for navigating the complexities of the school setting in ABA. Get ready for practical insights that go beyond the textbook, designed to help you thrive and make a tangible difference where it matters most.
And because this is the Rad N' Bad Podcast, we take a delightful detour into an unexpected tangent on the comedic genius of Chris Farley. It's a reminder that even in the serious world of behavior analysis, a little wit and humanity go a long way. Also...have you tried ACT?
Check out The Behavioral Observations Podcast hosted by Matt at https://behavioralobservations.com/