More of What You Want
with Dr. Jennifer Haddock
Behavior Bites Podcast - Ep54January 15, 2025How often do you journal or practice gratitude?
How often do you try to shape your own behavior towards things you want rather than things you don’t?
During today’s meal— I speak with a behavior analyst about using behavior analysis principles in everyday life, using clear stimulus conditions for work and non-work to promote boundaries, and taking care of our bodies before our bodies make us.
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Amuse-Bouche
You enjoy creative writing. What do you like to write about?
Appetizer
How did you get into Behavior Analysis?
What do you mean by “behavioral interpretations have so much to offer”?
Palate Cleanser
Describe your go-to dish that you bring to parties.
Entree
What’s a typical day in your life look like?
How do you practice self-care in your daily life?
Dessert
What’s an “insult” you’ve received that you’re proud of?
Describe yourself with one word.
Excerpts from the Episode
(*Paraphrased highlights)-
The message I was trying to convey is that behavioral principles, even though they're seemingly simple, can explain so much of our behavior on an everyday basis. Like everything that we encounter, everything that we're doing is behavior.
If we accept that as radical behaviorists, then we just have to zoom in at any given moment and be able to interpret, apply, describe, predict, and control our behavior.
We don't need a thousand different procedures and all these variations and all these different names for things, we can stick to our principles. If we know the principles well enough, then we can apply them in almost any situation.
That's the beauty of what applied behavior analysis can do.
Unfortunately, I feel like a lot of us get caught up in the procedures.
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One of my most important self-care tasks is my writing. I try to prioritize that as part of my self-care because it lets me have this time to myself, this thing that I enjoy doing and how it makes a product that others might also enjoy.
I write mostly essays, sometimes poetry, creative essays about just topics and everyday topics in my life and try to put a behavioral spin on them. Writing has become part of my morning ritual of coffee, dog play, yoga, and meditation.
I also prioritize my health. I make time for walks and try to get to bed on time. I try to not eat too much and make sure I'm hydrated and have all my physiological needs met before I go see clients. That's incredibly important.
I also try to do all my work tasks with a certain computer and not my personal computer. So I get some pretty tight stimulus control over what I do personally versus what I do professionally.
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Ever-changing.
We are always changing.
We're always learning and growing.
That's an important part of being a behavior analyst, too— always wanting to learn and always being ready to change.
ABOUT Jennifer
Dr. Jennifer Haddock, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Dr. Jennifer Haddock has been practicing behavior analysis for nearly 20 years. During that time, she has been lucky to study, teach, and conduct research at several universities. She’s worn many hats in the field, including direct service provider, supervisor, post-doctoral fellow, assistant professor, and held leadership positions in organizational behavior management.
She is passionate about sharing Radical Behaviorism and the science of behavior analysis by making it relatable to her own life. To that end, she has written and made video content on social platforms. Her written content includes a blog in which she writes essays about a variety of topics, including self-improvement, mental health, and career topics. Her video content includes conceptual foundations, misinformation about behavior analysis, and everyday application, with a few wildcards thrown in.
She hopes to model how behavior analysis can transform lives and inspire others to find practical, meaningful applications in their own lives and those of their clients.
CONNECT with Jennifer
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