A Constructional Approach to Positive Behaviour Support
What if the goal of support wasn’t to reduce problem behaviour — but to build opportunities, skills, and meaningful lives?
In this episode, we explore the constructional approach to PBS — a person-led framework that redefines how we think about behaviour change.
Featuring guests John Wooderson and Oliver Roschke, the conversation dives into:
-Co-designing goals, supports and outcomes with the person
-Building repertoires and real-world options rather than shrinking behaviour
-Assent-based, strengths-focused planning and dignified risk
-Forming genuine therapeutic alliances where what matters most to the person drives the plan
Guided by four simple but powerful questions :
Where does the person want to go?
Where are they now?
How can we get there?
And what will keep them going?
– this approach moves PBS from compliance to collaboration.
Podcast Resources
- "Nonlinear Contingency Analysis: Going Beyond Cognition and Behavior in Clinical Practice" is probably one of the most accessible introductions to the constructional approach and non-linear contingency analysis, and it was written to introduce these ideas and concepts to a broader audience, beyond behaviour analysis:
- Liden, T.A., Rosales-Ruiz, J. Constructional Parent Coaching: A Collaborative Approach to Improve the Lives of Parents of Children with Autism. Behav Analysis Practice 18, 109–126 (2025)
- Abdel-Jalil, A., Linnehan, A.M., Yeich, R. et al. Can There Be Compassion without Assent? A Nonlinear Constructional Approach. Behav Analysis Practice (2023)
- Layng, T. V. J., & Abdel‐Jalil, A. (2022). Toward a constructional exposure therapy. Advances in Cognitive Therapy, Fall, 8–11
- Linnehan, A.M., Abdel-Jalil, A., Klick, S. et al. Foundations of Preemptive Compassion: A Behavioral Concept Analysis of Compulsion, Consent, and Assent. Behav Analysis Practice (2023)
- Scallan, C.M., Rosales-Ruiz, J. The Constructional Approach: A Compassionate Approach to Behavior Change. Behav Analysis Practice (2023)
- Layng T. V. (2009). The search for an effective clinical behavior analysis: the nonlinear thinking of Israel goldiamond. The Behavior analyst, 32(1), 163–184
- Goldiamond, I. Toward a Constructional Approach to Social Problems: Ethical and Constitutional Issues Raised by Applied Behavior Analysis. Behav. Soc. Iss. 11, 108–197 (2002)