Holly Gover

Dr. Holly Gover is a doctoral-level Licensed Board Certified Behavior Analyst with over a decade of experience working with individuals with developmental disabilities. She earned her Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis from Western New England University, where she served as a lead clinician and researcher in the Life Skills Clinic. Her work there concentrated on improving assessment and treatment processes for severe problem behavior, and she developed FTF's structured approach to assessing and treating food selectivity and refusal.

Dr. Gover has published research on the practical functional assessment and skill-based treatment (PFA-SBT), the assessment and treatment of food selectivity, trauma-informed applications of behavior analysis, and assent-based models of learning. Her work on food selectivity is grounded in the same values that run through PFA-SBT: prioritizing the learner's choice and assent at every stage of assessment and treatment.

She has trained practitioners across North America and internationally, including in Brazil, Italy, Nicaragua, and Israel. Dr. Gover is committed to bringing effective, dignified solutions to practitioners and families navigating food selectivity and other behavioral concerns.

Dr. Gover delivers workshops and trainings on food selectivity and refusal, drawing on both the research base and the clinical model she helped develop at FTF. Her training work has reached practitioners across North America and in Brazil, Italy, Nicaragua, and Israel. To inquire about a workshop or presentation, use the link below.

• Gover, H. C., Hanley, G. P., Ruppel, K. W., Landa, R. K., & Marcus, J. (2023). Prioritizing choice and assent in the assessment and treatment of food selectivity. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 69(1), 53–65.
• Gover, H. C., Hanley, G. P., & Ruppel, K. W. (2022). On the generality of preference for contingent reinforcement. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 55(2), 318–336.
• Rajaraman, A., Austin, J. L., Gover, H. C., Cammilleri, A. P., Donnelly, D. R., & Hanley, G. P. (2022). Toward trauma-informed applications of behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 55(1), 40–61.
• Rajaraman, A., Whelan, C. J., Jessel, J., & Gover, H. C. (2024). Promoting safety while addressing dangerous behavior via telehealth: A clinical case investigation serving the family of an autistic adolescent living in India. Clinical Case Studies.