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Courtney Tarbox joined our FirstSteps team in 2005 and currently serves as our Director of Clinical Development. In this capacity, Ms. Tarbox is responsible for developing materials for the delivery of treatment services, ensuring the FirstSteps treatment model aligns with best practices, assisting in the development and delivery of clinical trainings to staff, and providing essential quality assurance work across all FirstSteps locations. Ms. Tarbox earned her Master of Science Degree in Counseling, with a specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis from California State University, Los Angeles. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and is passionate about contributing to research that is informed by real-life practice. She is actively engaged in treatment evaluation research on topics including complex skill acquisition, naturalistic discrete trial training, compassionate and kind ABA treatment, and the infusion of acceptance and commitment training (ACT) within comprehensive ABA programs for children with autism. Ms. Tarbox is committed to fostering ongoing community-wide discussion and collaboration with the aim of dispelling common misconceptions of ABA and advocating for effective ABA treatment that is also dynamic and compassionate. Ms. Tarbox regularly presents at community events and professional conferences, and has co-authored a training manual for Registered Behavior Technicians.