We sat down with this month’s Gold Star winner Rebecca Lasoski to discover what drives her as a Behaviour Analyst, what she likes about working for Golden Care Therapy. and how she manages her work-life balance
What drove you to the BCBA profession?
I knew nothing about ABA when I entered the field as a direct support professional. I had just graduated college with a fine arts degree and decided I didn’t want to pursue a career in art therapy so I took a direct care job in a neurobehavioral stabilization unit quickly learning about ABA. It was one of the hardest jobs I had ever worked, but I loved it. I felt like I finally found what I wanted to be when I grow up.
How do you balance your career and family?
Consulting has been a blessing for me when it comes to balancing family and a career. Prior to having kids, I was working full time as a BCBA in a residential setting, and work was my daily motivator. I loved going in every day and giving it my all. After having my first son and realizing all of his needs, I really struggled with finding a balance and not having mom or career guilt. After some soul searching I realized I needed to find something that would allow me to be the best I could be as a mom and a BCBA, which meant taking the leap and being a full-time mom and part-time BCBA.
How has Golden Care helped you in your career development?
Golden Care has allowed me to keep my feet wet with consulting and gain an understanding of the insurance world, while I was working full time in a residential setting. This helped a lot as I took the leap to leave my full-time job and just do consulting.
What do you find the most challenging in your work as a BCBA?
I find some of the challenging parts of being a BCBA related to clients and behavior change to be what keeps me going and stimulated as a professional. However, keeping up with the constant changes in insurance requirements is one of the more frustrating challenges.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Don’t overcomplicate it. Sometimes the smallest intervention can produce the biggest change.
What’s the one thing you’d tell your younger self?
Celebrate the small accomplishments, behavior change and skill acquisition take time.
What is your favorite part of your work as a BCBA/ of working for Golden Care?
I love being able to work with parents and motivate them to be a part of the behavior change process. I feel as though my job sometimes is half behavior analyst and half motivational speaker, but obtaining the buy-in of parents is so rewarding.
What is one thing that you wished people knew about your job?
We don’t analyze the behavior of everyone we encounter.
If you’re interested in our services, you can find out more information about our in-home ABA therapy in New Jersey here. Or for job openings, you can view our ABA therapy jobs in NJ here.
