International Development of Applied Behavior Analysis as a Profession

Abstract

The development of applied behavior analysis (ABA) around the world can be conceptualized in various ways. One of these ways is how the field of ABA is developing towards a professional industry distinct from other professions, such as psychology. The international ABA community is a broad landscape of hundreds of diverse and culturally distinct national and regional communities with professional development in ABA progressing in unique ways. Some current examples highlighting various successes in the development of professional ABA will be discussed.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) refers to the application of behavior analysis to problems of social importance (Baer et al., 1968). The first professional journal in ABA, the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, was published in 1968. Since then, ABA has developed along various paths. Master’s and doctoral university programs, ABA conferences, professional associations, and ABA journals dedicated to research and practice have rapidly increased in number over the years. Clinical practices have evolved and improved to prioritize ethics, reduce reliance on aversives, utilize better understood and more widely implemented analysis techniques (Gitimoghaddam et al., 2022; Leaf et al., 2022). ABA has emerged in some areas as a professional industry of its own—a field distinct from the professional practice of psychology.

The growth within ABA, however, has not been uniform globally. One of the most uniquely developing paths is the establishment of ABA as a distinct profession. A profession can be conceptualized as a type of work that requires specialized education and extensive training, mastery of unique knowledge and skills, and is distinct from other professions. The professionalization of an occupation typically relies on ethics, and other formal qualifications (Klass, 1961). One of the best indicators of an industry’s development towards professionalism is its reliance on a set of standards and requirements to enter the industry competently through the use of widespread knowledge examination, certifications, or ultimately, government regulation in the form of licensure. Certifications are voluntary and simply demonstrate one has met the educational, experiential, and knowledge requirements set by the certifying organization. Licensure is a government’s regulation of a profession. Internationally, the development of ABA towards becoming a profession has progressed at different rates from country to country (Keenan et al., 2023).

The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) was created in 1998 and provides certifications to professionals practicing applied behavior analysis (ABA). As of the writing of this article in early 2025, there were 276,133 professionals certified in North America and only 8,091 (2.9%) outside of North America (BACB, 2025). Certification in ABA outside of North America has had historically low practical utility. With few exceptions, certifications in ABA cannot be used for insurance reimbursement or to receive government funding for ABA services. Although this is beginning to change, employers have not required behavior analysts or behavior therapists/technicians to possess certifications when making hiring decisions. Certifications are simply not required, legally or practically, around the world to provide ABA services. Low certification rates were due in part to the fact that BACB certifications were difficult to obtain outside of North America for several reasons. Differences in educational degree requirements, lack of university training programs in ABA, lack of Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) Verified Course Sequences (VCS), exorbitant registration and exam-related costs, lack of translated exams and required exam centers, difficulty in obtaining supervision from those with BCBA certifications, and other challenging restrictions made the BACB certifications difficult to obtain. Despite the low international certification numbers, the BACB’s decision to stop providing certifications outside of North America sent shock waves throughout the international ABA community.

The “international ABA community” is not a homogenous entity. It is made up of hundreds of countries with unique needs, distinct cultural complexities, and different rates of progress in ABA development. This brief article is not enough to fully describe even one of the dimensions of ABA development for all these different countries. However, a snapshot of progress and challenges for some countries’ journey to ABA professionalism will be offered to provide a flavor for the differences that exist in this broad, developing landscape.

Some countries began exploring local certifications or national licensure prior to the BACB’s withdrawal from the international community. For example, in 2016, the Czech Republic initiated a process that eventually led to licensure for behavior analysts in 2020. Their approach involved a combination of the BACB’s certification standards plus additional requirements. Those included additional setting-specific training experiences (e.g., hospitals), additional coursework on legal and other regulatory issues, and additional evaluative procedures (i.e., oral presentation and evaluation in front of a board; Kingsdorf & Pancocha, 2023). The Czech Republic is an excellent example of how a country relied on existing international certification standards and requirements to create a national licensure program in ABA. This certification-to-licensure pathway is how 37 U.S. states have obtained licensure in ABA. Whereas the 37 U.S. states relied on the BACB standards completely, the Czech Republic used those plus additional requirements.

Likewise, the Canadian Province of Ontario, through the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario (CPBAO) has created licensing requirements based on the requirements of the BCBA certification while adding their own course work and assessment requirement on legal and ethical issues. With two unique routes to make the transition into their registry if currently certified in ABA, one can also start at the beginning and complete all of the requirements set forth by the CPBAO to obtain the registered behaviour analyst (RBA) designation.

In a few countries, nongovernmental agencies have created certifications in ABA. The requirements for these different certifications vary widely—some requiring exams, others not. In fact, there are differing standards even within countries that have multiple organizations offering ABA certifications. The UK, Australia, and France each have organizations offering certifications in ABA. The UKBA, the highest level of ABA certification offered by the UK Society of Behaviour Analysis, does not have a knowledge exam, but one will be introduced in 2026. In Australia, the Association for Behaviour Analysis Australia offers the certified behaviour analyst (CBA) certification. There are two pathways to the CBA. The first is to have the BCBA or BCBA-D. The second includes a master’s degree or higher, 270 h of ABA coursework, 1,500 h of supervised practice, and live in Australia. There is no knowledge exam to be certified in Australia if you do not already possess the BCBA. In France, the Organisation Nationale des Professions de l’Analyse du Comportement (L’ONPAC) offers the ACC-A as their highest level of certification. This requires a Diploma Level 7 and higher (i.e., master’s degree or higher), 270 h of ABA coursework, 1,500 h of supervised practice, and to pass the ACC-A exam.

Multiple organizations in Poland and Italy have established certifications in ABA. In Poland, the Polish Behavioural Therapist License (PLTB) is provided by the Polish Association for Behavioural Therapy and the Polish Society for Behavioural Psychology working together. The Behavior Analyst Certificate (CAZ) is offered through the Institute for Child Development in Gdansk as well as at the University of Gdansk. Likewise, in Italy, two distinct certifications in ABA are available. ABA Italia (ABAIT) provides certifications at three different levels: behavior analyst (AdC), assistant behavior analyst (aAdC), and behavior technician (TdC). The Italian Associate Chapter of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (IACABAI) also offers three different certifications in ABA—the AdC, aAdC, and the TdC. The IACABAI requirements for their behavior analyst certification (AdC) include a master’s degree, 270 h of ABA education through a verified course sequence of another ABAI-approved tier of education, 1,500 h of supervised practice, and passing the AdC exam.

Poland, Italy, France, Australia, and the UK are the rare exceptions among countries with organizations that have created certifications in ABA. These certifications are a benefit to the citizens of these countries and the consumers of ABA services there. Parents, teachers, and other consumers of ABA services can use these certifications to distinguish who has been properly trained to the standards of the field and who might be providing ABA services without the requisite knowledge, education, and experience. This is the importance of certification at its core—community protection. However, because the development of unique standards is not shared from country to country, different standards from country to country can be problematic.

Certification requirements define what it means to be in the field—what one must know, how one must behave professionally, etc. But, these requirements change over time. We can look at the ways in which the BACB requirements have changed over the last 28 years to understand and anticipate the ways in which standards might continue to evolve. The required ABA education, where education can be obtained, the required hours of practice, who can supervise, and what is included on the exam all change. What it means to be a behavior analyst can therefore be very different from one place to the next. Suppose a behavior analyst in one country wants to move and work as a behavior analyst in another country. Will the requirements from one place to the next be sufficient to obtain the new credentials if individual countries create their own evolving standards of practice? Will there be limits to reciprocity if the differences are too great? What if a behavior analyst in one country wants to provide telehealth services to a client in a different country with different standards? As an example of these difficulties that exist already, I have a PhD, a BCBA-D, and have been certified by the BACB since 2002. If in 2026 I want to move to the UK and obtain the UKBA, I would be required to have a year of supervision, presumably by someone much less experienced, and pass the UKBA exam. Will such differences create barriers to international service provision, consultation, and training? Can the differences be great enough to affect the willingness of behavior analysts to move freely from place to place and practice without having to meet every difference in certification requirements from country to country? Will these issues have an even greater impact if these various certification requirements are successfully used for licensure or payment for services one day?

To provide certification options to the international community, the International Behavior Analysis Organization (IBAO) was founded in 2020. IBAO provides international certifications at the behavior analyst (International Behavior Analyst [IBA]) and therapist/technician (International Behavior Therapist [IBT]) levels. IBAO has supported and assisted the growth of ABA communities through sponsorship, partnerships, and other collaborative methods. Certifying organizations within some countries have expressed a desire to build a national certification model that might one day lead to licensure while simultaneously remaining in step with international standards. In these instances, IBAO has partnered with those organizations to create reciprocity agreements where both standards can be aligned so that obtaining one certification leads to obtaining the other. In Italy, if one obtains the IACABAI AdC or TdC, the IBA or IBT, respectively, can be added without any additional requirements. On the other hand, suppose one has the IBA or IBT and wants to be added to the Italian IACABAI registry as an AdC or TdC, respectively. In that case, they can do so without needing to obtain any additional requirements. In Poland, the CAZ works the same way. The CAZ and the IBA have the same reciprocal arrangement.

In other countries, the IBAO has established partner organizations to create opportunities for nations to develop national certification programs aligned with international requirements and standards from the outset. In the Russian Federation, IBAO and the Applied Behavior Analysis Certification Service (ABACS) have launched a joint certification program that utilizes IBA and IBT standards, along with translated exams, for Russians seeking to obtain national certifications in ABA while simultaneously acquiring the international equivalent. Passing the exam results in both international and Russian certifications. Similar arrangements have been made with organizations in China and Vietnam. These arrangements offer a progressive approach for those seeking eventual national recognition while maintaining connections to the broader international ABA community.

Most countries, however, are not actively seeking national government recognition of ABA as a profession. Most ABA communities are too small and too new to consider changing their federal laws to govern the practice of ABA as an industry distinct from psychology. For these countries, the international certifications provided by IBAO and others (e.g., Qualified Applied Behavior Analysis Credentialing Board [QABA]) are used to distinguish proper training and experience by consumers of ABA. The continuance of the international standard is being utilized in more than 100 different countries.

It is interesting that in spite of the fact that the certification-to-licensure model that has been the only successful model leading to government recognition of ABA as a regulated profession (e.g., 37 U.S. states, Czech Republic, Ontario) after it stopped certifying the international ABA community, the BACB has worked to prevent ABA organizations from adapting international certifications from IBAO and the QABA. The BACB has discouraged adoption of certifications in several countries even though the BACB has acknowledged that certification would be immediately helpful to protect consumers in those growing ABA communities (Johnston et al., 2017). In Poland, Sri Lanka, Japan, China, and other countries, the BACB has attempted to deter the acceptance of international certifications. In Mexico and the Philippines, the BACB convinced the main ABA organizations in those countries to turn down speakers promoting international certifications at their conferences and steered those organizations away from accepting sponsorship funds from IBAO and QABA. Rather than working collaboratively with organizations providing international certifications to build a recognizable group of professionals that could one day be used to make a legitimate push for licensure, the BACB has impeded the adoption of international certifications. It is ironic that when the BACB provided certifications internationally, they promoted and supported their own certifications to be used as an international standard (Martin & Carr, 2020). According to Johnston et al. (2017), “BACB certification was designed to eventually be used as the basis for licensure.” Because they now provide certification only in North America, they have discouraged international certifications to be used as a basis for licensure. Of note, their consultation and support for bodies seeking national recognition of ABA as a unique profession from psychology without first adopting international certification standards by those bodies, has not been successful.

There is one example of an unsuccessful attempt to seek regulation for ABA as an independent field. The main ABA organization in Romania lobbied the government to recognize ABA as a profession distinct from psychology. After multiple attempts, the Romanian government denied those requests and made the practice of ABA regulated under the Romanian College of Psychologists (CPR) in an official capacity. There is an initial grandfathering period in which some behavior analysts will be able to join the CPR as licensed psychologists. International credentials such as the BCAB, IBA, and QBA are insufficient without a master’s degree in psychology. After this grandfathering period ends, those seeking to join the College of Psychologists must meet all their new requirements. This could reduce the already low numbers of properly trained behavior analysts in the country. For example, if someone with a BCBA or IBA and a bachelor’s and master’s degree in a field other than psychology would want to move to Romania and join the CPR, they would likely need to earn new degrees. On the bright side, Romanian behavior analysts who are successful in joining the CPR will likely have the benefit of government reimbursement for ABA services provided to children with autism.

ABA is developing around the world as a unique professional industry at different rates. One country has attained national recognition and licensure. A small number of countries have organizations that created professional ABA certifications. In two countries, multiple organizations have created certifications. Many countries use newer international certifications to recognize those who have been trained properly to enter the field. Other countries have partnered with IBAO to create national standards based on the international model to pursue national licensure one day while maintaining international certifications. One country has tried and failed to establish its ABA community as distinct from psychology. As the awareness of ABA grows around the world, it will be interesting to see how the development in various countries evolves, changes, or unifies in various ways in the future.

Funding

The author did not receive support or funding from any organization for the submitted work. The author is on the Board of Directors and serves as the executive director of the IBAO but receives no salary or monetary compensation.

Data Availability

The author confirms that all data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the referenced articles and website.

Declarations

Conflicts of interest

The author is on the Board of Directors and serves as the Executive Director of the IBAO, a for-profit corporation, but receives no salary or monetary compensation. IBAO and the BACB are competitors who provide certifications in applied behavior analysis.