Listen to Your Gut
with Aly Rogers
Behavior Bites Podcast - Ep63May 21, 2025How often do you consider what your clients have taught you?
Do you think about the therapeutic relationships you build?
During today’s meal— I speak with a behavior analyst and business owner about working with the adult population, trusting your gut, and her favorite vegan seafood dish she found while traveling.
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Amuse-Bouche
How did your neurodivergent board game speed dating night go?
So much of our field is focused on young learners. What’s it like working with the adult population?
Appetizer
How did you get into Behavior Analysis?
How did you make the shift to treating other diagnoses like ADHD, Anxiety, Depression?
What does supporting queerness in the neurodiverse population look like for you?
Palate Cleanser
Has it been difficult finding vegan food in different cities?
Describe your favorite vegan dish you’ve found while traveling.
Entree
Something you wish you could have told yourself when getting started?
Something people seem to misunderstand about you?
Dessert
The best compliment you have ever received?
Your favorite thing about what you do?
Excerpts from the Episode
(*Paraphrased highlights)-
I love that transitional age of getting out of high school, going into college, or getting out of college and going into adult life. I love being able to help people through those different periods because it's just so fun to help somebody discover their passion in life— figure out what they're good at, what they're not good at, what they want to take from their family values, and what they want to leave behind.
There are also different aspects like dating or sex that might come up, or that they're uncomfortable about, or they don't know how to navigate a sensory situation in that realm. There's just so much that ends up being really fun about working with adults.
I still collaborate with families sometimes where it makes sense, but it's much more one-on-one. The person that I'm working with really wants to be there. They're very motivated to work on the goals that they have. That's also a fun part of working with the adult population.
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Listen to your gut, and trust your gut— whether it has to do with something involving myself or a client I'm working with.
When I was brand new, just like a baby RBT, and there's a BCBA that's been doing this for 10, 15, 20 years— they might be telling me to implement a program that I really don't feel comfortable with. I was never really okay with some programming around stimming or programming an individual to mask their needs more. I would find myself in these positions where the programming that I was supposed to be working on just did not align with my values.
It's really difficult when you're at the beginning of your career and you're thinking— I don't know, this person must know more than me, they've been doing this most of their life. I wish I trusted my gut and had a conversation about it with some BCBAs that I worked under.
Also, I ended up being in a position where I was quite uncomfortable with some of the clients that I had. They could have pretty severe physical aggression. I really didn't feel comfortable or feel safe, and I would try to ignore that feeling within myself. It really ate at me and definitely affected my life outside of work. I dreaded going to work all the time.
There was this culture around, you're not good in ABA if you can't handle that. Unless you're able to take clients that are having XYZ behaviors, then you're not really a BCBA— you're not really that great at this. That’s ridiculous. People have different interests and strengths and histories that are going to come with them. For myself, already having some sort of trauma in my background, that was never going to be an environment that I flourished in. That's not fair to put myself in that scenario, nor my clients, because I'm not in a state where I can really be doing my job the best if I'm just in survival mode going through my day.
I think I really struggled with that because I wanted to come across as confident and intelligent to my peers, but it just wasn't the right match for me.
So I would definitely tell my younger self, it's okay to listen to your gut.
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I love the therapeutic relationships that you end up forming with your clients. It feels really nice when you find that client or family that you're working with where you feel like, okay, we're the right match for each other. I really understand this person.
I've learned so much from my clients and the people that I'm working with. Like you touched on earlier— sometimes you're talking with them and you start realizing something about yourself— like oh, I do that— or I feel that way— or some validation around like, oh yeah, I always feel like that in that situation, too.
I feel really grateful that in some ways I end up getting information that people might not generally feel comfortable sharing with others.
ABOUT Aly
Aly Rogers, BCBA
Aly is a neurodivergent Clinical Behavior Analyst and the founder of Behavior Explained, where she blends behavior analysis with therapeutic approaches like ACT and ERP to help zillennial clients navigate life with clarity and confidence.
Known for her dark humor and no-BS approach, Aly specializes in working with ADHD, OCD, anxiety, and PTSD, creating a space where support feels both effective and relatable. She’s also passionate about fostering community-driven solutions—like a new speed dating initiative for neurodivergent folks.
When she’s not working, you’ll probably find her at a live show or festival embracing her love for all things music.
CONNECT with Aly
Instagram: @behaviorexplained & @alythinksWebsite: behaviorexplained.comPlease support our podcast by leaving a rating or review!
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Visit my Podcast page to learn more about Behavior Bites!
