Polish Society for Behavioral Psychology

By Bartlomiej Swebodzinski

During 2022 Society continuously worked on the development of the Polish certification system (license) for behavior analysts. The recently achieved goal is the creation of an advisory body at the Chapter, composed of commonly selected therapists and supervisors licensed under the Polish Behavioral Therapist License. Polish certification system was created and introduced in 2010 together with partner organization Polish Society for Behavioral Therapy (www.terapeutabehawioralny.pl). Its aim was to improve the quality of work of behavior analysts in Poland by establishing professional standards of good work and proper conduct for behavioral analysts. Two members of PSBP participate on a regular basis in meetings of the executive committee of the system.
The main responsibilities are:

Evaluating applications of candidates to the title of behavioral analyst according to standards of the Polish certification system,

Developing standards for training programs and evaluating new training courses proposed by supervisors within the system,

Answering ongoing questions concerning the certification system and providing a consistent interpretation of its rules,

Propagating knowledge about the certification system and behavioral therapy in Poland as well.

Work is currently underway on changes to the Polish licensing system in the context of the termination of certification of behavior analysts from outside the US and Canada by the BCBA.

In 2022, the association took patronage over the publication of the following books:

“Science and human behavior” by Burrhus F. Skinner – Polish version edited by our chairman of the board, Przemysław Bąbel.

Katie Cook’s “Thriving with Autism: 90 Activities to Encourage Your Child’s Communication, Engagement, and Play” – Polish version edited by our member Monika Suchowierska-Stephany “Development of a child with autism”.

“Beyond the DSM” by Steven C. Hayes and Stefan G. Hofmann. Marcin Domurat and Konrad Ambroziak are responsible for the substantive editing of the translation.

Also, it took patronage over the International Scientific and Didactic Conference “Curiosity builds bridges”, 8-11.09.2022 Poznań (ACT.2022).

In addition, as part of partnership and co-organization, mention can be made of:

The conference “Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy in the face of contemporary challenges” organized by the Polish Society of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy and the Institute of Psychology of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, May 13-15, 2022;

II Rally of Behaviorists – 50 years of Polish behaviorism, co-organized with the Polish Association of Behavior Therapy, Krakow, October 15-16, 2022. Special guests attended with their lectures: Julie Vargas (daughter of B.F. Skinner), Andy Bondi (the co-author of the PECS) and Neil Martin (the representative of Behavior Analyst Certification Board).