In Session 87 Dr. Merrill Winston joins me to talk about the use of restraints and seclusion in the context of supporting individuals who exhibit unsafe behaviors.

Merrill is the Vice President and Director of Program Development of the  Professional Crisis Management Association. If you're not familiar with him, I've included his bio right here:

In addition to being a PCMA trainer, Merrill specializes in the analysis and treatment of severe behavior disorders with special populations. His range of treatment experience includes feeding disorders, self-injury, severe aggression, language acquisition, and skill acquisition problems.

Merrill is a popular speaker at conferences and conducts presentations on a wide variety of topics in behavior analysis including psychotropic medication usage, mental illness, autism, exceptional student education, assessment and treatment of behavior problems, IEP goal selection and measurement, and a variety of conceptual issues as they relate to conducting behavior analysis in applied settings.

Merrill has worked in a variety of settings including private homes, group homes, large institutions, secured facilities, schools and day-treatment programs. He is an experienced expert witness and frequently consults with attorneys, parents and advocates of persons with disabilities. He currently spends at least one day a week as the Behavior Analysis Consultant for Palm Beach County Schools.

One thing I’d like to point out is that both Merrill and I have many years’ experience working with individuals with significant and sometimes dangerous behavioral challenges. As such, it is possible that to some listeners, we might come off as overly clinical, or even glib in our discussion of restraint and seclusion practices.

If that’s the case with you, I’d like to take a moment to assure you that we take these issues very seriously, and we hope that our discussion provides a level of nuance, and possibly sophistication, that is oftentimes missing when people discuss the physical management of unsafe behavior.

Lastly, as promised, here is the Danger Zone! Power Point Merrill mentioned during the interview.

Session 87 is brought to you by:

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• Lastly, Remote Fieldwork Supervision for BCBA Trainees, the book I co-wrote with Dr. Lisa Britton, who is an expert in providing high quality distance based supervision, is now out... it makes a great gift for family and friends alike!