We kindly invite you to congratulate our next distinguished spotlight, Paul Doher, the National Director of Clinical Quality at Acorn Health. Acorn Health stands committed to delivering services that integrate established best practices with pioneering, evidence-based next practices, all while engaging the families and individuals in their care. During the early stages of his tenure at Acorn Health, Paul had an opportunity to partake in a Practical Functional Assessment (PFA) and Skill-Based Treatment (SBT) training cohort with FTF Behavioral Consulting. In this capacity, he collaborated closely with Dr. Gregory Hanley and Dr. Kelsey Ruppel, gaining hands-on experience with the application and implementation of PFA-SBT.
Following his engagement in an implementation cohort, another promising opportunity arose for Paul: participation in FTF’s Train-the-Trainer model. Guided by the expertise of Dr. Ruppel, he led a small cohort of professionals, contributing significantly to the dissemination and comprehensive training of PFA-SBT among his colleagues at Acorn Health.
Several years later, an opening emerged within Acorn, with a central responsibility to spearhead PFA-SBT training and support for clinicians throughout the organization. Paul applied for this role, and below he describes his journey:
“Central to my appreciation for PFA-SBT is the pronounced emphasis on values over procedures within and the focus on televisibility. I deeply value the inherent flexibility of the processes, which encourages customization to suit the unique needs of each learner. This approach has significantly contributed to refining my clinical skills, including shaping, task analysis, identifying reinforcing contexts, and the progression of establishing operations (EO), all essential to providing compassionate care.
In assuming the National Director of Clinical Quality role, I undertook the pivotal task of arranging organization-wide training for our dedicated clinicians. Excitedly, I aspired to equip every Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) at Acorn with the necessary tools to provide compassionate care to all individuals who engage in severe interfering behavior.
My role today has grown to encompass the creation of tailored implementation cohorts for clinicians at Acorn, the facilitation of PFA-SBT Introductory Design Workshops and SBT Advanced Design Workshops, and the organization of PFA-SBT Workshops for RBTs. My overarching objective remains firm—to foster a culture of quality at Acorn that centers around values, safety, and the client-staff relationship. I believe positive client outcomes will naturally ensue by concentrating on these pillars.”
In recognition of his exceptional leadership endeavors, we sincerely thank Paul. His dedication and contributions have had a profound impact, driving PFA-SBT forward and inspiring excellence.
