How to Expand Your Career as a BCBA: Why Learning New Skills is the Key to Building Your Dream Role

If you’re a BCBA or on your journey in applied behavior analysis, you’ve already accomplished something incredible.

Earning your graduate degree, completing intensive supervision, and passing the BCBA exam proves your dedication, resilience, and passion for making meaningful change.

Working for an ABA agency, a school district, or a healthcare company can be incredibly rewarding - and for many, it’s the perfect long-term fit.

But what if you’re feeling a nudge for something more?

What if you’re curious about creating additional income streams, more flexibility, or new ways to use your expertise? Even if you've been in your role for years, you may still be wondering: "What can I do as a BCBA?"

That doesn’t always mean quitting your job - it could mean expanding your role, starting a side project, consulting, or even building an online business on your terms.

Where do you see yourself in a year?

Take a moment to really envision it.

🌟 Are you continuing to grow as a lead BCBA in your current organization, taking on mentorship or program development opportunities?
🌟 Are you consulting with schools or other organizations on behavior systems?
🌟 Have you launched an online program that lets you serve clients outside the traditional insurance model?
🌟 Maybe you’re presenting at conferences, writing CEU content, or disseminating in unique ways.

There’s no right or wrong vision.
It’s about figuring out what expansion means to you.

The gap: comparing where you are now to where you want to be

Once you identify your desired future, it’s time to look at the gap.

Many BCBAs discover that the difference between their current situation and their dream isn’t a new degree or more traditional CEUs.

It’s about building specific, actionable skills that open new doors.

For example:

• If you want to build an online presence or launch digital services,
  you’ll need to develop skills in personal branding, content marketing, and creating online systems (like webinars, downloadable resources, or email funnels) that consistently engage and educate your audience.

• If you’re looking to specialize in consulting, like sleep interventions, toilet training, or parent coaching,
  you’ll benefit from learning how to identify your niche, craft clear service packages, and communicate your expertise effectively so families or organizations see the unique value you provide.

• If you’re excited about applying your skills to new areas like Organizational Behavior Management (OBM),
  it’s crucial to strengthen your abilities in data-driven performance improvement, leadership coaching, and systems analysis — plus learn how to pitch these services to businesses outside traditional ABA settings.

Everything is behavior - even your own professional growth

As behavior analysts, we understand that everything boils down to behavior and environment.
If we want new results (like more income, time flexibility, or innovative projects), we need to build the behaviors that produce those results.

This might mean:
✅ Learning how to market and position your expertise, so the right people know what you offer
✅ Developing confident consultative conversations to enroll clients or secure contracts
✅ Creating replicable systems so you aren’t stuck doing everything yourself
✅ Strengthening leadership behaviors to guide teams, supervise effectively, or grow a department

Your degree and certification qualified you to practice — but expanding into new areas often requires investing in very different skills.

It’s not about leaving your job - it’s about increasing your options

Here’s what’s important:
You don’t have to leave your employer to pursue these skills.

• Many BCBAs use them to propose new internal initiatives or start specialty programs within their current organization.

• Others take on contract work, supervision, or speaking engagements on the side.

• Some eventually build their own consulting practice or online business - full time or part time - with the confidence that comes from knowing they have more than one income stream.

When you expand your skillset beyond clinical programming and insurance compliance, you unlock more choices.

And more choices mean more security, more creativity, and more alignment with what matters most to you.

Practical areas to grow next

Once you have a vision for your dream career - whether it’s expanding your current role, building a niche, or exploring brand-new applications of ABA - the next step is investing in the skills that get you there. Here are some powerful directions to consider:

Specialize in a focused area of ABA
Diving deeper into a specific area like parent guidance, sleep, feeding, or family systems helps you become a trusted expert. It also makes it easier for the right clients, schools, or agencies to find you. This specialization often includes building stronger assessment protocols, intervention design, and ways to clearly communicate your unique expertise.

Broaden into holistic health & lifestyle change
If you’re passionate about helping people beyond traditional treatment plans, you can expand your practice to address wellness, habit change, or even preventative care. This might involve learning about coaching methodologies, motivational strategies, and how to integrate ABA principles into broader life goals.

Apply ABA in new settings and populations
Behavior analysis doesn’t have to stop with direct client work. Applying it to organizational systems (like OBM), leadership, team performance, or even non-clinical coaching gives you a way to serve businesses, schools, and community programs. Here, skills like data-driven performance management, systems analysis, and translating behavioral concepts for wider audiences become crucial.

Build an online business or scalable offers
If your goals include reaching more people or creating income streams that aren’t tied strictly to billable hours, building digital products or services is a powerful option. This means developing skills in marketing, content creation, online platforms, and packaging your knowledge into scalable formats like courses, workshops, or memberships.

Strengthen your own mindset & self-leadership
Sometimes the most important work isn’t external, it’s internal. If you’re holding yourself back with old beliefs or struggling to stay consistent, investing in your own mindset, self-management strategies, and goal clarity can completely change how you show up for your vision.

Programs to help you build specialized skills and new opportunities

(Transparency note: Some of these links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend programs I believe will truly help you grow.)

👉 [OBM Pathways CEU Membership] – If you’re curious about applying ABA to organizational settings, this membership makes it easy. Each month you get OBM-focused CEUs plus done-for-you resources to help you apply concepts immediately in the workplace. Select the annual plan at checkout to get two months free.

👉 [OBM Practitioner Program] – A straightforward, practical course that teaches you how to design and run OBM projects - whether for your own organization or as a consultant. Perfect for turning OBM theory into hands-on application.

👉 [MBB’s Health Coaching Certification] – A unique dual-certification program that lets you earn your health coaching credentials and gain 32 CEUs at the same time. Expand your ability to help clients with holistic behavior change. Enroll in the Fall 2025 cohort (with me!) or the Spring 2026 cohort.

👉 [Sleep Competency Program] – Get certified in sleep interventions so you can market your specialized skills to families in need. This program gives you both the tools to solve real problems and the strategies to showcase your expertise.

👉 [Digital Clinician Program] – Want to turn your expertise into online income? This program walks you through creating and selling digital offers, plus gives you the tech stack and support you need to actually launch your online business.

👉 [Clinical Boss Membership] – Ready to step outside traditional treatment and leverage your clinical skills for a broader audience? This program teaches you exactly how to start and run your own online business, blending your expertise with a more flexible, scalable model. With everything from training to done-for-you websites, we have options for everyone. Use code FOUNDER for $1,000 off our Scale package.

👉 [Parenting with ABA CEU Membership] – Develop your expertise in compassionate parent guidance and training. This membership helps you build confidence supporting families while earning CEUs, so you can stand out as a trusted partner in their journey.

👉 [Self-Set-Go Conference] – If something internal is still holding you back, this unique event helps you reinvent yourself first - so you show up fully committed to building the career and life you imagine.

The bottom line: Your future is about expansion, not rejection

Being a BCBA for a company or agency is an incredible path. Many people find long-term fulfillment and build lasting impact exactly there.

The key message?
It’s not about leaving, it’s about expanding.

By intentionally building new skills - whether it’s online business and marketing, advanced specialization in areas like sleep or parent coaching, or exploring fresh applications like OBM - you give yourself choices.

✅ Choices to become the go-to expert in a niche that excites you.
✅ Choices to reach clients and organizations in innovative ways, including online.
✅ Choices to lead, consult, or create programs that extend your impact far beyond 1:1 services.

It’s not about abandoning your current role. It’s about equipping yourself to grow, pivot, or diversify on your own terms, so you can design a career that’s as dynamic and rewarding as the science we practice.

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you sign up through them, at no additional cost to you. I only share resources I genuinely believe will help you grow your skillset and expand your career.