What Is Compassionate ABA?

And Why It Belongs in Every Wellness Conversation

By Claudia
Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) • Certified Trauma Professional (CTP)

In the field of behavioral science, something is shifting — quietly, but powerfully.

It’s not a trend. It’s a remembering. A realignment.

A growing call to reconnect our clinical work with human dignity, emotional safety, and nervous system awareness. This movement is known as Compassionate ABA, and for those of us who have walked with families through trauma, regulation challenges, or neurodivergence, it’s not just important — it’s essential.

As a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Certified Trauma Professional, I’ve spent years supporting individuals and families through their most vulnerable seasons. I’ve witnessed behavior plans that helped children speak for the first time, sleep through the night, or find safety in routines. But I’ve also witnessed interventions that unintentionally pushed too hard, moved too fast, or forgot to ask: How does this feel in your body?

That’s where Compassionate ABA comes in.

Because behavior change without compassion isn’t healing.
It’s pressure dressed up as progress.

What Is Compassionate ABA?

Compassionate ABA is not a new science — it’s a more humane way to practice the science we already know works. It honors autonomy, emotional safety, and the lived experience of the person receiving support. It reminds us that behavior is communication, and that lasting change happens when nervous systems feel safe — not when they feel controlled.

At its heart, Compassionate ABA centers:

  • Respect for the whole person

  • Trauma-informed decision-making

  • Co-regulation and safety as prerequisites for learning

  • Collaboration with families and caregivers

  • A shift from compliance to connection

It’s ABA with a heartbeat.
It’s clinical care with consent.
It’s science softened by empathy — because humans are not protocols.

Why It Matters

Traditional ABA has helped thousands gain independence, communication, and confidence. But too often, these gains came at the cost of emotional overwhelm, rigid protocols, or treatment plans that lacked attunement to the human beneath the behavior.

For individuals who have experienced trauma, have sensory integration differences, or are navigating the world as neurodivergent beings, we must expand the way we define "success."

We must ask:

  • Are they learning, or just complying?

  • Are we treating the behavior, or supporting the nervous system?

  • Are we reinforcing connection, or reinforcing performance?

Compassionate ABA doesn't abandon the science.
It refines it.
It remembers that clinical effectiveness means very little without emotional safety.

What It Looks Like in My Work

In my clinical work and in every product I create for The Kind Body™, compassion is the foundation.

Here’s what Compassionate ABA looks like in action:

  • Slowing down to observe instead of immediately correcting

  • Understanding dysregulation before assuming noncompliance

  • Validating emotions before teaching skills

  • Co-regulating with caregivers to model attunement and trust

  • Offering sensory rituals that cue safety — like applying a grounding balm, misting a calming spray, or engaging in gentle touch

Whether I’m guiding a parent through a bedtime routine or formulating a body oil for nervous system support, I hold this principle:

Behavior is not separate from the body. The body must feel safe before it can learn.

Why I Created The Kind Body™

The Kind Body™ began as a whisper — a quiet desire to blend what I knew as a clinician with what I was learning as a human in healing.

I wanted to make tools that didn’t just “work,” but felt nurturing.
I wanted my clients to have more than data sheets — I wanted them to have rituals.
I wanted parents to feel empowered, not overwhelmed.
I wanted children to feel understood, not fixed.

So I began formulating skincare and sensory tools with intention:

  • Calming botanicals chosen for their nervous system support

  • Gentle routines paired with behavioral shaping principles

  • Messaging rooted in self-kindness, regulation, and choice

Every balm, oil, soak, and spray I create is behaviorally-informed — but compassion-led.

Because healing doesn’t happen through pressure. It happens through presence.

Join the Movement

Whether you're a fellow clinician, a parent, a caregiver, or someone navigating your own healing path — I want you to know: you’re not alone.

You don’t have to choose between evidence-based care and emotional intuition.

You don’t have to choose between structure and softness.

You deserve a model of care that honors the whole you — your behaviors, yes, but also your breath, your boundaries, your story.

This is what Compassionate ABA offers.
This is what The Kind Body™ was built to support.
And this is the future of healing we get to co-create.

Thank you for being part of it.

With gentleness and science,
Claudia

Behavioral Wellness Tip:

Before responding to a behavior, pause and ask:
Is this a skill they haven’t learned — or a nervous system asking for help?
Compassion lives in that pause.

Back to blog

The Science Behind Health & Wellness

Why behavior matters. Why healing is possible. Why small steps work.

When we think of health and wellness, we often think of the body — nutrition, sleep, hydration, movement. But at the core of every lasting change is something deeper: behavior.

As a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and Certified Trauma Professional (CTP), I view health and wellness through a scientific and compassionate lens. I don’t just ask what someone is doing — I ask why.

That’s where the real healing starts.

Why Behavior Matters in Wellness

Every time you choose to care for yourself — by applying a salve, setting down your phone, or pausing to breathe — you’re engaging in a behavior. These actions might seem small, but over time, they shape patterns. Patterns become habits. Habits become a lifestyle.

Behavior analysis teaches us that change doesn’t happen all at once — it happens one moment at a time, with reinforcement, consistency, and care.

The Nervous System & Trauma-Informed Support

For many of us, especially those with trauma histories, even the simplest self-care routines can feel overwhelming or unfamiliar. That’s why trauma-informed care matters. It reminds us that healing isn’t just about doing more — it’s about feeling safe enough to begin.

Behavioral wellness honors the body’s signals, works with the nervous system, and builds safety through predictable, gentle routines. When we approach wellness with compassion and structure, we help the body and mind slowly unlearn survival and relearn connection.

The Foundation of Behavior-Based Wellness

In behavior science, we use tools like:

  • Reinforcement to encourage healthy habits (rewarding what we want to see more of)
  • Prompting and shaping to help build routines gradually
  • Environmental design to make wellness easier and more accessible
  • Data and reflection to track what’s working — and why

These aren’t just clinical strategies. They can show up in your daily life as:

  • A lavender roller next to your bed to signal rest
  • A gentle balm you use after brushing your teeth to mark the end of your day
  • A sensory spray that helps your child transition more smoothly
  • A mantra you whisper each morning as a private moment of grounding

Why This Matters

Because true wellness isn't about extremes.
It’s about repeatable, nourishing actions that help you feel more like yourself.

And the science is clear: when we build wellness routines around behavior, not pressure, we make healing more accessible — for children, for parents, for everyone.

This is the foundation of my work and the intention behind every product I create. I want to help you feel safe in your routines, confident in your care, and connected to the deeper why behind the choices you make.

Mini Mantra:

“Small acts. Safe patterns. Lasting change.”

Shop