Incorporating trauma-assumed practices into the assessment and treatment of challenging behavior evoked by corrective feedback

• Published in: Clinical case studies Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 98 - 116
• Main Authors: Reilly, McKenna E., Sullivan, Emily K., Kaur, Jasmeen, Melanson, Isaac J., Fahmie, Tara A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.04.2025
• Subjects: corrective feedback; performance-based functional analysis; trauma-assumed; challenging behavior
• ISSN: 1534-6501; 1552-3802
• DOI: 10.1177/15346501251317968

Receiving corrective feedback can be challenging, yet it is essential for teaching new skills. Thus, learning to tolerate corrective feedback from others is a critical skill for accessing less restrictive environments. Our case study details the referral of a 7-year-old boy to a university-based outpatient clinic for the assessment and treatment of increasingly dangerous, challenging behavior. We integrated trauma-assumed approaches by (a) conducting a performance-based functional analysis with synthesized contingencies and (b) evaluating a treatment package (e.g., token system including task choice and graduated exposure across activities) to build tolerance of evocative properties of corrective feedback. We describe how clinical decision-making and trauma-assumed modifications during assessment and treatment reduced challenging behavior, increased tolerance of corrective feedback, and maintained these effects when treatment was extended to caregivers in the home.