At the heart of effective clinical service lies the quality of relationships, between supervisor and supervisee, clinician and client, and system and family. This workshop explores reflective practice as a behavioral process that strengthens these relationships and, in turn, enhances clinical outcomes. In the infant and early childhood mental health literature, reflection has been shown to deepen self-awareness, reduce burnout, and increase professionals’ capacity to sustain emotionally responsive and effective relationships with families (Spielberger et al., 2022; Huffhines et al., 2023; Shea et al., 2022). The Best Practice Guidelines for Reflective Supervision emphasize that reflection creates space for curiosity, regulation, and connection, qualities that directly support behavior change and well-being (Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health, 2018). In behavior analysis, reflective practice can be understood as a form of response delay and stimulus control,a practiced pause that allows clinicians to contact private events such as thoughts, emotions, and values before acting. This pause fosters psychological flexibility, attuned responding, and ethical sensitivity, all of which strengthen the relational conditions necessary for behavior change. By cultivating reflective capacity, behavior analysts become more effective at shaping environments where trust, safety, and learning can occur. This workshop also introduces the CARE Cycle of Supervision, Connect, Attune, Reflect, Empower, developed by Dr. Nasiah Cirincione-Ulezi as a relationship-centered framework that operationalizes reflection into observable and teachable steps. Through experiential learning, vignette reflection, and guided practice, participants will learn how intentional reflection functions as both a behavioral intervention and a relational act that improves outcomes by promoting connection, attunement, and sustained engagement across the systems of care.

Learning Objectives

1. Define reflective practice and identify its core components, including observation, self-awareness, emotional regulation, curiosity, and values-driven responding.
2. Define the concept of relationship within clinical and supervisory contexts, and describe the relational qualities such as attunement, trust, and safety that support effective clinical outcomes.
3. Explain how reflective practice contributes to the development of strong supervisory and clinical relationships, drawing on evidence from infant mental health, early childhood special education and behavior-analytic literature.
4. Discuss the behavioral mechanisms that connect reflection to relational capacity such as pausing, observing private events, and selecting responses consistent with values and professional ethics.
5. Apply a structured reflective the CARE Cycle, to a clinical or supervisory scenario to demonstrate how reflection enhances attunement, communication, and ethical decision-making.

About the Presenter

Nasiah Cirincione-Ulezi

Dr. Nasiah Cirincione-Ulezi is a board certified behavior analyst, with a doctorate degree in education from Loyola University of Chicago.  She holds a master’s degree in special education from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a master's degree in educational leadership from the American College of Education.  She is a graduate of the infant studies and mental health program at Erikson Institute of Chicago. In addition to her BCBA credential, she is an Illinois licensed special education teacher, an Illinois Early Intervention provider, and State of Illinois evaluator.  Professionally, she has served as a special educator, clinician, educational administrator, and professor of special education.  Her clinical experience spans infancy through adulthood.  Currently, she is the CEO & Founder of ACT Soulfully and serves as a court-appointed special advocate, for children in the Illinois foster care system.  She is also a Board member of the Association for Behavior Analysis Affiliate Chapters Board and former President of the Illinois Association for Behavior Analysis. She is a champion for human dignity, liberation and self-expression and is deeply committed to using her skills and experiences, paired with the science of applied behavior analysis, to serve and support, in ways that make a meaningful and positive difference.