Natalie Parks, Ph.D. Named New Program Director for the Applied Behavior Analysis Program

The School of Social Work in the College for Public Health and Social Justice has named Natalie Parks, Ph.D., as its new program director for the school’s Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Program. Parks’s appointment began prior to the start of the 2020-2021 school year.

In addition to her administrative role, Parks serves on faculty in the School of Social Work as an assistant clinical professor, teaching a range of ABA courses, including Principles and Concepts in Behavior Analysis, Behavior Change and Processes, Behavior Change and Ethics, Supervision and Organizational Behavior Management and Thesis.
 
Parks comes to the ABA Program with more than 20 years of experience in the field. She has co-authored three books: Leadership in Behavior Analysis, Feedback F!@#ups!, and OBM Entrepreneur, and numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters focused on skill acquisition, behavior reduction and extending the dissemination of findings from behavior analysis research.

Her research interests include organizational behavior management; diversity and inclusion; staff training; feedback; leadership; performance management; and social justice applications of behavior analysis.

Parks earned her master’s degree in 2006 and her doctorate in school psychology in 2008 from the University of Missouri-Columbia. While at the University of Missouri she worked as a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) providing early intensive behavior intervention services to young children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders and conducted research on the mental health needs of individuals involved in the juvenile justice system.

Parks was one of the initial BCBAs to work with the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities and played an instrumental role in the initial services that were provided there.

Upon completing her training, Parks worked at the Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, where she worked within the inpatient neurobehavioral unit and intensive feeding programs.

At the Marcus Autism Center with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, she ran the day treatment program focused on reducing severe problem behavior and created a parent training program for young children with speech and language delays and problematic behaviors.

While working in California, she worked in various leadership positions in organizations that provide in-home, community-based, and school-based services to individuals with autism.

Most recently, and largely as a result of both experiencing and observing other young leaders promoted into leadership roles without appropriate training, mentorship, or guidance on how to be an effective leader, Parks has focused on Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) – a cutting-edge ABA approach to improve organizational efficiencies and human resources – with an emphasis on leadership, diversity, and inclusion.

She founded and now serves as CEO of Behavior Leader, Inc., which focuses on inclusion and leadership training for organizations in service to their communities, including teachers and school administration staff, fire fighters, police officers, behavior analysts, and human resource professionals. She is also a managing director of TeamABA, LLC, which uses behavior analysis to improve the performance of athletes and those focused on wellness and health.

About the College for Public Health and Social Justice 

The Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice is the only academic unit of its kind, studying social, environmental and physical influences that together determine the health and well-being of people and communities. It also is the only accredited school or college of public health among nearly 250 Catholic institutions of higher education in the United States.

Guided by a mission of social justice and focus on finding innovative and collaborative solutions for complex health problems, the College offers nationally recognized programs in public health, social work, health administration, urban planning, applied behavior analysis, criminology and criminal justice, and outcomes research and data science.