Stop Explaining More

Your Hair Isn't Green

If someone walked up to you and said your hair is green -- and it isn't -- you'd laugh it off. You wouldn't lose sleep. You wouldn't question your worth. You'd just know it wasn't true. So why is it that certain things people say can stick for days? In this episode, Dr. Monica Gilbert unpacks the difference between information and interpretation -- and why the comments that sting us most often say more about us than they do about the person who said them. She shares the story of a business owner who lost three nights of sleep over something that was actually half true, introduces the three questions that redirect your brain from defensiveness to curiosity, and explains why 1 in 10 people won't like you no matter what -- and why chasing that approval is the thing that actually costs you. Learn more about Motivational Interviewing and explore on-demand courses at www.drmonicagilbert.com [https://drmonicagilbert.com/] Join the MI Academy [https://monica-gilbert.mykajabi.com/store] for practical training and resources — and enjoy an exclusive 15% off with code MIFORCHANGE at checkout. 📲 Connect with me on Instagram: @drmonicagilbert [https://www.instagram.com/drmonicagilbert/]

When You're a BCBA, You're All Alone

A parent said something to Dr. Monica Gilbert after a session that she's never forgotten. She wasn't criticizing. She wasn't feeling sorry. She simply looked at Monica and said: "When you're a BCBA, you're all alone." In this episode, Monica talks about the part of clinical work no graduate program prepares you for -- the emotional weight of being the person everyone runs to, the isolation that hides behind productivity, and the cost of carrying uncertainty without anyone to process it with. She shares what finally changed her thinking, the story of a BCBA-D colleague who burned out and left the field entirely, and four concrete things you can do to build the support structure the profession doesn't build for you. Plus: a free resource in the show notes that makes some of your hardest conversations with parents and staff feel lighter immediately. Remember how lonely your first year felt. Sometimes the most valuable supervision isn't an answer -- it's helping someone realize they're asking completely normal questions. "Great clinicians aren't the ones who never need support. They're the ones wise enough to build it." That parent was only half right. The role can feel lonely. But it doesn't have to stay that way. The moment we start talking about it, the isolation loses some of its power. Free resource: grab the AOA guide [https://mailchi.mp/8a2aee5c7b5e/23cldo7ugk] -- a small, practical communication tool that can immediately make some of your conversations with parents and staff feel lighter and more collaborative. Download it and use it this week. Learn more about Motivational Interviewing and explore on-demand courses at www.drmonicagilbert.com [https://drmonicagilbert.com/] Join the MI Academy [https://monica-gilbert.mykajabi.com/store] for practical training and resources — and enjoy an exclusive 15% off with code MIFORCHANGE at checkout. 📲 Connect with me on Instagram: @drmonicagilbert [https://www.instagram.com/drmonicagilbert/]

Stop Explaining More

"I've explained it five different times. They keep agreeing with me but nothing changes. I don't know how to get them to buy in." If you've sent that message to a colleague, said it out loud in supervision, or thought it at 10pm on a Tuesday -- this episode is for you. Dr. Monica Gilbert makes a case that might be uncomfortable: buy-in isn't the problem. The phrase itself is. In this episode, she walks through what actually keeps parents stuck (hint: it's rarely lack of understanding), shares the story of a mom of twins whose silence was fear, not resistance, and offers three concrete shifts that change the entire dynamic of a parent coaching session -- starting with stopping what most clinicians do instinctively: explaining more. Learn more about Motivational Interviewing and explore on-demand courses at www.drmonicagilbert.com [https://drmonicagilbert.com/] Join the MI Academy [https://monica-gilbert.mykajabi.com/store] for practical training and resources — and enjoy an exclusive 15% off with code MIFORCHANGE at checkout. 📲 Connect with me on Instagram: @drmonicagilbert [https://www.instagram.com/drmonicagilbert/]

The Compliance Illusion: Why Agreement Isn’t Buy-In

Dr. Monica Gilbert posted a 60-second reel meant to teach the difference between passive, aggressive, and assertive communication. The response told her something else entirely. In this episode, she unpacks why so many RBTs immediately recognized themselves in an intentionally exaggerated, role-played scenario — and what that reaction reveals about psychological safety, the “compliance illusion,” and what it actually takes to get a team member to tell you the truth. Pulling from motivational interviewing, Monica breaks down why agreement isn’t buy-in, why trust functions like a thermometer, and why the strongest teams aren’t the ones where everyone agrees. Learn more about Motivational Interviewing and explore on-demand courses at www.drmonicagilbert.com [https://drmonicagilbert.com/] Join the MI Academy [https://monica-gilbert.mykajabi.com/store] for practical training and resources — and enjoy an exclusive 15% off with code MIFORCHANGE at checkout. 📲 Connect with me on Instagram: @drmonicagilbert [https://www.instagram.com/drmonicagilbert/]

Does Getting Better at ABA Parent Training Hurt Your Caseload? The Truth About Fading Services

Dr. Monica Gilbert almost didn't record this episode. Here's the question underneath it: what happens if you get so good at parent coaching that your clients need you less? What happens if families become independent faster — and services fade sooner than they used to? As clinicians, that's supposed to be the win. But if you're honest with yourself, another thought sneaks in right behind it: if families leave sooner, what happens to my caseload? My hours? My income? My business? Nobody says this out loud. Monica says it out loud in this episode — not as a teacher, but as someone who has run a practice for 16 years and felt this exact tension herself. Then she dismantles it. With 16 years of data behind her. The therapists who create the most independence don't end up with empty schedules — they end up with the busiest ones, because empowered families become the loudest referral sources in the room. This is the final episode in the 6-part arc — and it closes with Monica's complete invitation into the work she's built around everything you've heard so far. Learn more about Motivational Interviewing and explore on-demand courses at www.drmonicagilbert.com [https://drmonicagilbert.com/] Join the MI Academy [https://monica-gilbert.mykajabi.com/store] for practical training and resources — and enjoy an exclusive 15% off with code MIFORCHANGE at checkout. 📲 Connect with me on Instagram: @drmonicagilbert [https://www.instagram.com/drmonicagilbert/]