Dr. Amanda Chastain is an Assistant Professor of Applied Behavior Analysis in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Oregon Tech. She has worked with individuals with developmental disabilities since 2011, became a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) in 2018, and is currently a Licensed Behavior Analyst in Oregon.
She earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences and a Certificate in Disability Ethics at the University of Illinois Chicago under the co-supervision of Dr. Mark Dixon and Dr. Tamar Heller. She holds both a master’s and bachelor’s degree from California State University, Sacramento, where she specialized in verbal behavior, stimulus equivalence, and intraverbal bi-directional naming under the supervision of Dr. Caio Miguel.
After obtaining her BCBA, she served as a Senior Research Associate at the University of Southern California, where she received training in Relational Frame Theory and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy under the mentorship of Dr. Jonathan Tarbox.
Her primary interests include derived relational responding, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in ABA, and applications of behavior analysis to large-scale social issues. She is committed to teaching behavior analysts how to use ABA as a disability support that utilizes neurodiversity-affirming, client-centered, and evidence-based approaches. She also enjoys nature, music, and traveling.