christi wilson, ms bcba
behavior analyst | supervisor | mentor | leader

about me

Christi Wilson, MS BCBA

Christi is a career mom with 4 sporty boys at home. Christi has been working in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) since 2006 with clients across a variety of settings, ages and diagnoses. She was credentialed as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) in 2013, considering herself a dinosaur in the field. Christi spent about 10 years working in residential settings for both children with autism at the New England Center for Children and then troubled youth at Becket Family of Services. Following that was spent working in home, school and community settings through Granite State ABA Services. Christi established Passion for Behavior, LLC in 2023 with the mission of helping the field of ABA grow deeper as it continues to grow wider. Christi has a passion for behavior and leadership and is eager to share these passions with others. 

Christi prioritizes relationship building and authentic communication in her work. Working with families and other professionals can be vulnerable and demanding work. It is important that a solid foundation of trust be built to maximize depth and opportunity. 

When not working, Christi can be found cheering on any of her kids at their sports of choice or exploring breweries with her loving husband. Christi and her family have a rambunctious pup at home along with over 40 chickens. Christi loves her houseplants and snagging clippings of various plants wherever she goes to propagate and grow her home jungle. 
My Journey Contact Me
christi wilson, ms bcba

My journey

How it all started

I started working with children with autism when I was in college. I had started an undergraduate degree in Sports Medicine, thinking I wanted to go into physical or occupational therapy. As any college student does, I needed a job. I stumbled upon working for a rehabilitation center first, providing 1:1 respite services. This opportunity introduced me to the beautiful work of developmental disabilities. Later, a friend of mine introduced me to a family she was working for where she was providing direct services to 2 brothers with autism under the direction of a BCaBA. I fell in love with the work there! Learning about behavior became fascinating. I finished my undergraduate degree in Sports Medicine while working with this family, and a few others, providing direct ABA services.

I knew I would be moving to Massachusetts from North Carolina once I graduated and began looking for Masters programs in the field of ABA. While visiting a friend in Massachusetts, we were sitting in a Mexican restaurant talking about what was next for me. The waiter overheard and told me about The New England Center for Children. I applied immediately and was accepted to work for them and into a Masters program in ABA. I worked with NECC and completed my Masters in ABA through Western New England University. I started on the Staff Intensive Unit, working with teenage girls with severe self injury and aggressive behaviors. After about one year on this unit I transferred to the day program and spent my last 2 years there. This opportunity gave me experience working with different age groups as well as severities in learning and profiles.

After graduating with my Masters in ABA, I obtained a job working for a residential treatment facility for troubled youth with Becket Family of Services. In this setting I had the opportunity to work with comorbidity with the autism diagnosis and got a wide perspective of how trauma blends with behavior. I spent almost 7 years in this setting, advancing in my role from clinician to Treatment Coordinator and then to Clinical Director. I had the opportunity to work closely with other clinicians and the licensing agencies to make our treatment package solid with a blend of psychology and behavior. During this time I also got to provide BCBA supervision to 2 aspiring BCBAs who were in programs to complete their ABA coursework and obtain a BCBA themselves. 

After leaving this setting I found myself at a private ABA agency, Granite State ABA Services, providing ABA services to children with autism and other developmental disabilities in the home, school and community settings. Here I had the opportunity to collaborate with other BCBAs and professionals in the field.

By now I had been certified as a BCBA for almost 7 years, which made me a “dinosaur” compared to how the field was trending with so many new cerfiticantes coming through. The more experience I had working with other BCBAs the more I realized how this boom in increase of new cerfiticantes coming through was putting a strain to the field; the same field that was already fighting to make a good name for itself being a new field in the science of psychology. I enjoyed mentoring other BCBAs coming into the company and soon found myself in a leadership type role. We were a small company but I was able to help take some of the weight from the owners, who were also BCBAs, by providing mentorship to the newer practitioners we were getting. Our small company eventually merged with a larger nation wide company and leadership continued to be my goal. I had been a clinical director before so my visions expanded as my passion to help the field of ABA to grow deeper as it was growing wider strengthened. Ultimately this did not work out as I thought it would and I found myself ready for a next step, a new setting and following new dreams.

With my passion burning bright for helping newer BCBAs in the field, Passion for Behavior LLC was born! My dedication to serve the field of ABA comes through the aspiring BCBAs that I have the opportunity to work with, sharing my experiences (and lessons from along the way!) and love I have for the field.

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