Dr. Michael Harman

"My favorite part by far is the community aspect with faculty members, students, and staff. I have really been embraced with open arms into the Briar Cliff community. I teach 3 classes right now, Intro to Psychology and Experimental Psychology and then Behavioral Interventions Course which is an intro, moderate, and advanced level course. So we work with our students in a kind of integrated training process.

We'll provide some initial foundational information, maybe more akin to what you would learn in the classroom to understand some basic principles among behavior change and modification and apply behavior analysis and once those skills and learning set have been acquired, we slowly integrate students into working one-one-one with clients.It usually starts out as a secondary therapist where you're there for support, collecting data. And as students become more and more comfortable and proficient with these procedures, we can integrate them in even more broader familial, community context where they're working with family members, client, but also within the community. 

This clinic sees individuals typically with developmental disabilities and delays, such as individuals with autism. We typically work with young children ranging from about 3 to 5 years old and we use a scientific practice that has about 100+ years of evidence to change these individuals behavior in some really significant way. It is especially unique to a school this size, mainly because it offers the resources that are really only available at large institutions and has the scope and the community impact that a large institution would have.This and one other center in the area are the only registered service providers in about a 100-mile radius. So the fact that Briar Cliff can offer a service like this is especially unique and very impactful.

I'm really looking forward to growing this clinic, and growing the impact that Briar Cliff as a university and this clinic in particular can have in a larger community setting. I'm also really looking forward to working with students to understanding the goals they have in higher education and beyond to help them to develop those goals and advise them the best that I can and work with them to accomplish those goals."

-Dr. Michael Harman, Behavior Analysis Clinic Director / Assistant Professor of Psychology