Pairing Gone Wrong | Episode 9: The Emotional Cost of Leadership 🎙️

Everyone wants to be a leader, but are we talking enough about what leadership actually costs?

In this episode, we’re getting into the messy, uncomfortable, and often unspoken side of leadership. From the emotional weight of being responsible for others to the expectations placed on leaders to always have it together, we’re unpacking what happens behind the scenes.

We dive into vulnerability in leadership, the double standards men and women face, and the emotional support employees expect from their leaders. How vulnerable is too vulnerable? Are leaders responsible for managing everyone’s emotions? And why is the same leadership behavior praised in men but criticized in women?

We’re challenging expectations, sharing perspectives, and asking the uncomfortable question: Who supports the people expected to support everyone else?

As always, expect honest conversations, unpopular opinions, and a little chaos.

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🎙️ Pairing Gone Wrong | Episode 8: CPT Codes, Conspiracies & Bear Jerky

New ABA CPT codes have been announced, and naturally, we have questions. In this episode, we dive into the changes, the clarity we’re hoping for, and what it could all mean for the ABA field.

But in true Pairing Gone Wrong fashion, we couldn’t stay on topic. 😂 Between catching up, conspiracy theories, bear hunts, and somehow bear jerky, this episode took a few unexpected turns.

A little ABA, a little chaos, and a whole lot of unfiltered conversation.

Don’t take us serious. 🎙️

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Pairing Gone Wrong: Can BCBAs Work on Feeding?

Can BCBAs ethically and competently work on feeding, or are we drawing lines based more on professional territory than actual scope of competence? In this episode of Pairing Gone Wrong, we unpack the controversy surrounding The Radical BCBA’s feeding assessment and the response it has received from professionals across disciplines. Rather than critically evaluating what the assessment is designed to measure, how it is intended to be used, and where appropriate collaboration or referral fits in, some of the conversation has turned into attacks on BCBAs and ABA as a field. We’re getting into interdisciplinary collaboration, when BCBAs should step in or step out, and why professional disagreement should involve a lot more critical thinking and a lot less tearing each other down.

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Pairing Gone Wrong: Are You the Problem? Clinical vs. Admin

Clinical teams love to blame admin, but what if we’re actually part of the problem? In this episode, we’re talking about the very real divide between clinical and administrative teams in ABA organizations and how poor collaboration from the clinical side can make that divide even worse. We’ll unpack how clinicians can overlook administrative workloads, expect admin teams to understand complex clinical, ethical, and insurance requirements without enough context, and become frustrated when they don’t. The reality is that collaboration goes both ways. If we want admin to understand clinical, we have to get better at communicating, educating, listening, and understanding the pressures on the other side of the organization.

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Are BCBAs graduating clients... or just keeping them in services? This week on Pairing Gone Wrong, we're asking one of the toughest questions in ABA: Are we truly preparing clients for independence, or has the system created incentives to keep services going longer than necessary? We dive into fading plans, generalization, clinic versus natural environments, and what it really means to put the client's best interest first. Expect an honest conversation that challenges assumptions, not clinicians.

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In this episode of Pairing Gone Wrong, we’re unpacking the classic ABA glow-up: BT today, supervisor tomorrow, BCBA by Friday, CEO by next fiscal quarter. ABA loves to push passionate people into leadership and ownership, but somehow forgets to teach them how to actually lead, manage conflict, build systems, understand business, supervise ethically, or run an organization without surviving purely on caffeine, crisis, and vibes. We’re talking about how being great with clients does not automatically mean you’re ready to lead a team or open a company, and why the field needs to stop confusing clinical talent with leadership readiness. Growth is great. Unsupported promotions disguised as “opportunities”? Pairing gone wrong.

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This week on Pairing Gone Wrong, we’re talking about weaponizing ethics and the messy reality of people using the Code to intimidate, control, or “win” instead of protect. We break down the difference between actual ethical violations and the workplace drama people love to dress up as one. If you’ve ever heard “that’s unethical” and thought, or maybe you’re just mad, this one’s for you.

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This week on Pairing Gone Wrong, we’re talking about actively disengaged employees and the leadership delusion that somehow staff just woke up one day and chose chaos. Spoiler: disengagement usually has receipts. We’re getting into how BCBA leaders contribute to burnout, resentment, and low morale, and why accountability cannot just be for the team when BCBAs helped build the culture in the first place.

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