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Contents
What Matters Most
Why This ABA Therapist Resume Works
How to Write an ABA Therapist Resume That Gets Interviews
What to Include in an ABA Therapist Resume
ABA Therapist Resume Summary Examples
ABA Therapist Work Experience Examples
Top ABA Therapist Skills
Certifications for an ABA Therapist
Common ABA Therapist Resume Mistakes
ABA Therapist Resume FAQs
Melanie Wills
ABA Therapist
0015887210536
Summary
ABA therapist with six years delivering applied behaviour analysis programmes for children with autism in Manchester. Runs one-to-one therapy sessions, implements behaviour-intervention plans written by supervising analysts, and collects the data that drives each child's progress. Helped many children make meaningful gains in communication, social and daily-living skills through consistent, positive, evidence-based work. Partners closely with families, teachers and BCBAs, and adapts each session to the child in front of her. Patient, observant and genuinely invested in the children she supports. Holds a registered behaviour technician credential. Looking for an ABA or early-intervention role with a provider committed to ethical, child-centred practice.
Work Experience
ABA Therapist
Bright Steps Therapy Centre, Manchester, UK
Apr 2018 – Present
- Deliver one-to-one ABA sessions for children with autism, implementing plans written by supervising analysts.
- Helped many children make meaningful gains in communication, social and daily-living skills.
- Collect and graph session data that drives clinical decisions and shows each child's progress.
- Use positive reinforcement and consistent, ethical technique tailored to the child in front of her.
- Partner closely with families, teachers and BCBAs to keep support joined-up across settings.
- Adapt sessions in the moment to keep children engaged, regulated and learning.
Learning Support / Behaviour Assistant
Manchester SEN Support Service, Manchester, UK
Aug 2016 – Mar 2018
- Supported children with autism and additional needs in school and home settings.
- Learned behaviour-support strategies and data collection hands-on.
- Worked with families and teachers to reinforce consistent approaches.
- Gained RBT certification and a dedicated ABA-therapist role.
Education
BSc (Hons) Psychology, Psychology
University of Manchester
Sep 2013 – Jun 2016
- Psychology degree with a focus on developmental and behavioural psychology, plus a placement supporting children with additional needs. The placement set the direction toward ABA. Moved into behaviour therapy after graduating.
Registered Behaviour Technician (RBT) Certification, Applied Behaviour Analysis
Behavior Analyst Certification Board
Jan 2017 – May 2017
- RBT certification covering applied behaviour analysis principles, ethics and data collection. It is the credential for delivering ABA under a supervising analyst. Maintained through ongoing supervision and competency checks.
Certifications
Registered Behaviour Technician (RBT)
Behavior Analyst Certification Board
May 2017 – Present
- RBT certification covering applied behaviour analysis principles, ethics and data collection. It is the credential for delivering ABA under a supervising analyst. Maintained through ongoing supervision and competency checks.
Highlights
Real gains for children
- Helped many children make meaningful progress in communication, social and daily-living skills through consistent ABA work. Watching a child unlock a new skill is the heart of the role.
Trusted by families
- Built strong, trusting relationships with families and school teams around each child's programme. Joined-up, consistent support across settings is what makes the gains stick.
Languages
- English (UK) — Native or Bilingual Proficiency
- French — Limited Working Proficiency
Professional Skills
- Applied Behaviour Analysis
- Behaviour Intervention Plans
- Data Collection & Graphing
- Positive Reinforcement
- Communication & Social Skills
- Daily-Living Skills
- Family Collaboration
- Behaviour De-escalation
- Session Planning
- Ethics & Confidentiality
Personal Skills
- Patience
- Observation
- Compassion
- Consistency
- Communication
Activities & Interests
- Singing
- Yoga
- Boating
- Games
- Table Tennis
What Matters Most
Before the detail, here is what decides whether an ABA therapist resume gets a callback:
- Lead with your RBT (Registered Behavior Technician) credential and how it is maintained, because most providers cannot bill your hours or place you without it.
- Show measurable client progress in real ABA terms: mastered targets, reduced problem behavior, programs run, not vague phrases like 'helped children improve'.
- Make clear you implement BIPs and skill-acquisition programs under BCBA supervision, since employers screen for whether you understand the supervised scope of an RBT.
- Name the methods you actually run: discrete trial training (DTT), natural environment teaching (NET), prompting and fading, reinforcement systems, ABC data collection.
- Prove you can take and graph data accurately, because clinical decisions and insurance authorizations both ride on the numbers you record session to session.
- Signal that you work across settings with families, teachers and the supervising analyst, which is what keeps a child's gains consistent and durable.
Why This ABA Therapist Resume Works
The sample is a mid-level RBT with six years of in-home and center work; here is what makes its choices land with a clinical hiring manager:
- The summary opens with the role, the years and the population (children with autism), so a reviewer knows the scope and caseload within one line rather than guessing seniority.
- It states plainly that plans are written by supervising analysts and implemented by the candidate, which correctly frames the RBT's scope and reassures a BCBA about supervision boundaries.
- Data collection and graphing is called out as the thing that drives clinical decisions, not buried as an afterthought, which is exactly the competency providers screen RBTs for.
- The experience reads as a clean progression from a learning-support and behavior-assistant role into a dedicated ABA seat, with the RBT credential earned along the way, so the path looks deliberate.
- The RBT credential appears in the summary, the education block and a certifications section, and notes ongoing supervision and competency checks, which answers the recruiter's first question before they ask it.
- Highlights frame impact as durable, cross-setting progress for children rather than tasks completed, matching how clinical directors actually judge a therapist's value.
How to Write an ABA Therapist Resume That Gets Interviews
An ABA therapist resume is judged by a clinical director or BCBA who wants proof you can run programs and record data cleanly under supervision. Build it in these moves:
Lead with your RBT credential and its status
Put 'Registered Behavior Technician (RBT)' in your summary and a dedicated certifications line, with the issuing board and that it is current through ongoing supervision and the annual competency assessment. Many providers cannot place an unsupervised or lapsed RBT, so make the status unambiguous. If you want the credential locked to the top where a reviewer sees it first, you can build it on a clean template and drop in your own certification details.
Quantify client progress in ABA terms
Replace 'helped children improve' with the measures a BCBA tracks: 'ran 8-10 skill-acquisition programs per session', 'mastered 40+ targets across a 6-month authorization', 'reduced elopement from 12 to 3 instances per session'. Numbers tied to programs and behaviors read as real clinical work.
Name the teaching procedures you run
List the methods explicitly: discrete trial training (DTT), natural environment teaching (NET), prompting and fading hierarchies, token and other reinforcement systems, ABC data collection. This is the vocabulary an ABA hiring manager scans for, and generic 'behavior support' does not pass it.
Show you take and graph data accurately
Spell out that you collect trial-by-trial and frequency/duration data, graph it and flag trends for your supervisor. Mention any platform you have used (CentralReach, Catalyst, Rethink). Clean data drives both program changes and insurance reauthorization, so this competency carries real weight.
Make the supervised scope explicit
State that you implement behavior-intervention plans and programs written by a supervising BCBA, support functional behavior assessments and consult your supervisor on novel behaviors. Showing you understand the RBT's scope is itself a hiring signal; overstating it is a red flag.
Demonstrate parent training and cross-setting work
Include that you model procedures for caregivers, coordinate with teachers and keep technique consistent across home, clinic and school. Generalization and parent buy-in are what make gains stick, and clinical directors weight therapists who can do this.
What to Include in an ABA Therapist Resume
Beyond the standard sections, these are the elements a clinical reviewer specifically looks for on an ABA therapist resume:
Getting these elements in the right order matters as much as having them, because a BCBA scans the top third of the page before reading a single bullet. You can arrange them on a clean layout that keeps your RBT status, supervision detail and data skills where a reviewer sees them first.
RBT certification with issuing board, date and current supervision status, plus any BCaBA progress or coursework toward certification.
Setting and population: in-home, center-based, school or telehealth, and ages served (early intervention, school-age, adolescent).
Crisis and safety training such as CPI, Safety-Care or QBS, which many providers require before a therapist works behavior-reduction cases.
Data platforms used (CentralReach, Catalyst, Rethink) and comfort with trial-by-trial, frequency, duration and ABC data.
Caseload size and weekly billable hours, which tell a hiring manager the scale of work you can sustain.
A psychology, education or related degree, plus any coursework in the ABA verified course sequence if you are moving toward BCBA.
ABA Therapist Resume Summary Examples
Your summary should state seniority, population and credential in the first line, then prove progress with real ABA measures. These examples cover different entry points without copying the sample on this page:
Entry-level resume summary example
Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) with eighteen months of center-based experience delivering applied behavior analysis to children ages two to seven on the autism spectrum. Implements discrete trial training and natural environment teaching programs written by a supervising BCBA, runs eight to ten skill-acquisition targets per session and records trial-by-trial and ABC data in CentralReach for daily graphing. Mastered over forty targets across a recent authorization period and supported a steady reduction in problem behavior through consistent prompting, fading and reinforcement. Safety-Care certified and maintains the RBT credential through ongoing supervision and the annual competency assessment. Psychology graduate seeking an early-intervention ABA role with a clinically supervised, ethics-first provider.
Mid-level resume summary example
ABA therapist and RBT with five years across in-home and school settings, supporting children and adolescents with autism and co-occurring developmental delays. Runs behavior-intervention plans and skill-acquisition programs under BCBA supervision, manages a caseload of six clients and collects the frequency, duration and ABC data that drives program changes and reauthorization. Reduced targeted problem behavior by roughly sixty percent on multiple cases through function-based reinforcement and structured fading, and trained caregivers to carry procedures into the home so gains generalized. CPI and Safety-Care certified, fluent in Catalyst and trial-by-trial data collection. Looking to deepen behavior-reduction and parent-training work toward a BCaBA pathway.
Senior-level resume summary example
Senior ABA therapist and lead RBT with eight years delivering applied behavior analysis and mentoring newer technicians in center and home programs for autistic children. Implements complex behavior-intervention plans, supports functional behavior assessments and assists the supervising BCBA with program design, treatment-integrity checks and caregiver training across a twelve-client clinic. Drove an average mastery rate of more than fifty targets per six-month authorization and cut severe problem behavior on several cases through function-based intervention and rigorous data review. Holds CPI crisis certification and completing the verified course sequence toward BCBA. Seeking a lead technician or behavior-specialist role with a provider committed to ethical, data-driven, child-centered care.
ABA Therapist Work Experience Examples
Strong ABA bullets pair a teaching procedure or behavior target with a number and a clinical outcome. These sets show how to write experience for different settings, each distinct from the sample on this page:
Center-based / early intervention RBT
- Delivered six to seven hours of one-to-one ABA daily across a caseload of five children ages two to six, running discrete trial and natural environment teaching programs written by the supervising BCBA.
- Collected trial-by-trial and ABC data in CentralReach for every session, graphed daily progress and flagged stalled targets to the supervising analyst, keeping authorizations clinically defensible.
- Reduced session-level elopement and aggression by roughly fifty-five percent on two clients through function-based reinforcement and a structured prompting-and-fading hierarchy over four months.
- Helped clients master more than forty new communication and self-help targets across a single six-month authorization, contributing to successful reauthorization for continued services.
- Modeled reinforcement and prompting procedures for parents during pickups and transitions, measurably improving in-home carry-over of mastered communication and self-help skills reported by caregivers at monthly progress reviews.
In-home / school-based therapist
- Ran in-home ABA programs for four school-age children, coordinating with classroom teachers and the supervising BCBA so reinforcement and prompting stayed consistent across home and school settings.
- Implemented behavior-intervention plans targeting aggression and non-compliance, cutting daily incidents from an average of ten to three over a single semester through function-based intervention.
- Trained two sets of parents to run token systems and first-then routines independently, measurably increasing treatment integrity scored on the supervising analyst's monthly fidelity checks.
- Recorded frequency, duration and latency data on paper and in Catalyst across daily sessions, then graphed the trends to support the supervising BCBA's decisions on program changes and mastery criteria.
- Supported functional behavior assessments by gathering structured ABC and preference-assessment data across multiple settings, directly informing two new behavior-intervention plans the analyst wrote during the year.
Lead / mentoring RBT
- Served as lead RBT for a six-client clinic, mentoring three newer technicians on DTT delivery, prompting hierarchies and accurate trial-by-trial data collection under BCBA oversight.
- Assisted the supervising analyst with treatment-integrity and inter-observer agreement checks across the technician team, raising data-reliability scores above ninety percent across a rolling quarter.
- Implemented complex behavior-reduction plans for clients with severe aggression, cutting targeted incidents by more than half through function-based reinforcement and crisis de-escalation technique.
- Led caregiver-training sessions that taught families to run reinforcement and fading procedures at home, improving generalization reported across the clinic's monthly progress reviews.
- Maintained CentralReach graphs and detailed session notes across a twelve-client clinic caseload, ensuring every program's data stayed authorization-ready and clinically defensible at each reauthorization point.
Extra tips
Clinical directors track RBT reliability because insurance authorizations depend on consistent weekly hours being delivered.
A line like 'sustained 90%+ billable utilization with under 5% session cancellation' signals you protect authorized hours.
Top ABA Therapist Skills
List the procedures and data competencies a BCBA actually supervises, not soft generalities. These are the skills hiring managers scan an ABA therapist resume for:
Hard skills
- Discrete trial training (DTT)
- Natural environment teaching (NET)
- Behavior-intervention plan (BIP) implementation
- Skill-acquisition programs
- Data collection & graphing
- ABC data collection
- Trial-by-trial & frequency/duration recording
- Prompting & fading hierarchies
- Reinforcement systems (token economies)
- Functional behavior assessment (FBA) support
- Preference & reinforcer assessment
- Crisis intervention & de-escalation (CPI/Safety-Care)
- Parent & caregiver training
- Generalization & maintenance programming
- Treatment integrity & IOA checks
- CentralReach / Catalyst / Rethink
- Session note documentation
- HIPAA & client confidentiality
- RBT ethics code compliance
- Early-intervention support
Soft skills:
- Patience
- Observation
- Consistency
- Compassion
- Clear communication
- Composure under pressure
- Adaptability
Certifications for an ABA Therapist
For ABA work the credential ladder is what a provider checks first, because billing and placement both hinge on it. These are the real certifications and safety credentials a clinical director looks for on an ABA therapist resume, from the entry-level requirement up:
-
RBT
— BACB (Behavior Analyst Certification Board) Typically required to work as an ABA technician; most providers cannot bill your hours or place you without a current RBT, maintained through ongoing supervision and the annual competency assessment.
-
BCaBA
— BACB (Behavior Analyst Certification Board) Optional next step above RBT; a bachelor's-level credential that lets you assist with program design and supervision under a BCBA, and signals you are progressing beyond technician scope.
-
BCBA
— BACB (Behavior Analyst Certification Board) Optional and aspirational for a therapist; the master's-level certification to design plans and supervise technicians. List coursework or accrued supervised fieldwork hours if you are on this pathway.
-
CPR & First Aid
— American Red Cross Commonly required by providers before you work directly with children; a basic safety credential most agencies expect you to keep current.
-
CPI
— Crisis Prevention Institute Optional but often required before behavior-reduction cases; crisis de-escalation and safe physical-management training many providers mandate for clients with aggression or elopement.
-
Safety-Care
— QBS Optional alternative to CPI, required by many ABA agencies before you take severe-behavior cases; covers prevention, de-escalation and safe response for behavior-reduction work.
Extra tips
The BACB requires an RBT receive supervision on at least 5% of service hours each month, with two supervisor contacts.
Phrasing it as 'maintained via 5% monthly supervision and annual competency assessment' reads as insider-accurate, not vague.
Common ABA Therapist Resume Mistakes
These are the errors that quietly sink an ABA therapist resume with a clinical reviewer:
- Burying or omitting the RBT credential and its current supervision status, which is the first thing a provider checks before they can place you.
- Writing vague impact like 'helped children improve' instead of mastered targets, reduced problem behavior or programs run; ABA hiring managers want the measures.
- Overstating scope, for example claiming you 'designed treatment plans' when an RBT implements plans written by a supervising BCBA, which reads as a clinical red flag.
- Leaving out data and graphing skills, even though accurate data is the core of the job and drives both clinical decisions and insurance reauthorization.
- Using generic 'behavior support' language and skipping the real procedures (DTT, NET, prompting and fading, reinforcement systems) that prove you know the work.
- Forgetting crisis and safety credentials like CPI or Safety-Care, which many providers require before you can take behavior-reduction cases.
ABA Therapist Resume FAQs
The questions candidates most often ask when writing an ABA therapist resume:
In most cases yes, because providers bill ABA services under the Registered Behavior Technician credential and cannot place uncertified staff. Put your RBT certification, issuing board (the BACB) and current supervision status near the top, and note any progress toward BCaBA or BCBA.
An ABA therapist (usually an RBT) implements behavior-intervention and skill-acquisition programs under supervision, while a BCBA designs those programs and supervises the technician. Frame your resume around faithful implementation and data, not program design, so your scope is accurate.
A bachelor's degree, commonly in psychology, education or a related field, is the typical baseline alongside the RBT credential. List it clearly, and add any coursework in the ABA verified course sequence if you are working toward BCBA certification.
Note that your RBT credential is maintained through ongoing supervision and the annual competency assessment, and if you are pursuing BCBA, state your accrued supervised fieldwork hours. This signals you understand the supervised scope of the role and are progressing within it.
List the procedures a BCBA supervises: discrete trial training, natural environment teaching, BIP implementation, prompting and fading, reinforcement systems, ABC and trial-by-trial data collection, and parent training. Add crisis training (CPI or Safety-Care) and any data platform like CentralReach.
Use the measures a clinic tracks: targets mastered, percent reduction in problem behavior, programs run per session, caseload size and weekly billable hours. For example, 'reduced elopement from 12 to 3 instances per session' reads as real clinical progress.
One page is right for most ABA therapists, even with several years of RBT experience, since the work is consistent across roles. Lead with your credential and quantified client progress, and only stretch to two pages if you have lead, training or BCaBA-level responsibilities to show.
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