board certified behavior analyst

aba therapist

qmhp

behavior technician

family support specialist

Compass Behavioral Group

I just wanted to take the time to place a review for Compass Counseling to help those of you who are seeking employment in the area. There are several agencies to choose from that are always hiring to fill community based services in the Fredericksburg area so it can be difficult to make the decision on where to work. I wanted to high-light my experience here as I have worked for other agencies in the area to provide some perspective. 

When I applied; I received an e-mail from the program director who introduced himself and wanted to set up a time to talk on the phone to get to know me, introduce me to what Compass had to offer and get to know me a little bit. The conversation was natural and I felt at ease during the conversation. From there I decided to pursue the opportunity further and scheduled an interview with the program director. When I arrived I was greeted by the friendly staff and completed the application. I was very nervous as always for my interview.

From there I conducted my interview with the Director and another supervisor. They both put my mind at ease and stated they really like to get to know potential candidates and want to make sure Compass is a good mutual fit. This was probably the most natural and friendly interviewing experience I have ever had and I left feeling really good about the company.

I decided to accept the position and from there I participated in a very extensive training program. This agency focuses on training and preparing staff as much as possible to work in the community setting. They offered training focusing on a wide range of issues that we might come by working  in the community with at risk youth.

From there I was assigned my clinical residency supervisor who is wonderful and supportive. However, it does not stop there, all supervisors work together to provide training and support and all staff are encouraged to contact and collaborate with the leadership team at any point they may need for consult. crisis, etc. 

Compass provides ongoing trainings for the team based upon current issues or concerns that come up to make sure the team is equipped and well informed. The work environment is highly supportive, team oriented and up beat.

Recently, the Clinical Director and Director of Operations hosted a company wide picnic at a wonderful lake house with activities and food for the whole family. Special events like this are ways the management shows appreciation for its employees that they realize are doing really hard work.

In summary, doing community based work is not for everyone, the hours are not traditional, working in the community and homes can be hard and stressful and these types of jobs are typically not something someone does for their whole career. However, the experience you gain is priceless in preparing you for licensure and your long term goals. Compass has always supported that and understands if your vision is beyond them long term. However, their are always ample leadership opportunities and outpatient positions available for staff that want to grow with the company.

If you are considering employment for community based work do yourself a favor and interview with this Company. Their values, ethics and focus on the well being of its employees make it stand out while doing some of the hardest jobs in mental health!

So, I absolutely love Compass. I'll start there. The job is stressful if you get overwhelmed with hearing other's issues, helping others with mental or behavioral issues, or if you just don't like the idea of being a therapist. You may have a tough kid. You may not. I have cases that I love. My boss is VERY supportive, very patient, always gives praise, and I have been recognized for my work numerous times. There are materials you can use for interventions if you are stuck, feel free to schedule time to see your boss for more help. The hours are flexible, you make your own schedule. You can request a specific location to work in (Norfolk, VB, Portsmouth, etc.) which is great. The job is so rewarding when you have that moment where you resolve a family's major issues, are able to assist a client in addressing and overcoming their trauma, and so much more. The job itself IS AMAZING. COMPASS itself is amazing. But there are some negatives that make all these positives null/void. 

Here are the negatives: Care coordination is annoying (yes you get paid for it) but, you may have a rude person you have to coordinate with. Rare, but it happens. No biggie. 
Your hours are based on availability of the families you work with. So you may have a family that cancels or never shows up. That's hours you can't get paid for. You can only work within their time limits and your own. Most kids are in school and therefore are only available after 2:30 or 3:00 pm. 
Your pay is based on level of experience. If you are a trainee you may get less. If you have your masters and are getting hours, you may receive more. This is THE WORST thing about this job, setting up those hours with families and meeting them because you are paid based on case notes and when they are submitted after your sessions. ***There is no extra pay for all the paperwork you have to do at home on your free time. Nope. You work for free basically which sucks.
Travelling can be stressful not only on you but your vehicle but you get mileage reimbursement. It does get hard at times to work with the kids but the parents are very hard to work with when they have their own mental health issues or are very difficult. You can be thought of as a baby sitter or a life saver depending on the family. You may even be disrespected by the family you work with. 
You don't get benefits if you don't equal out to a certain number of hours. I believe it is 120 to 180 somewhere in that ballpark.

All that said, the company is great. The culture is positive, you have the opportunity to grow and do SO much within the company. But those negatives...You will need another job or to have a massive amount of cases or clients to make ends meet. I know so many clinicians that work other jobs, do delivery work, etc. So be aware of all of this before starting. 

Working at Compass Behavioral Group has been a direct pathway to a career in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). The company's core beliefs and mission statement—to provide quality behavioral health services to stabilize, strengthen, and support youth, adults, and families—aligned perfectly with my own career goals. I wanted to work in a place where I could learn, grow, and excel within the field of ABA, and the supportive and flexible environment here has allowed me to achieve my goals with ease.

A typical day offers great flexibility. I coordinate my schedule with supervisors to find a balance that works best. My days often begin with studying ABA content before shifting to client sessions in the early afternoon. Regular supervision meetings are an excellent opportunity to ask questions, practice implementation, and receive timely feedback.

I’ve learned a great deal about both ABA concepts and their practical application. When working with clients, I feel confident in identifying the function of behaviors and implementing effective strategies to achieve desired outcomes.

Management and the workplace culture are outstanding. Everyone works as a cohesive unit and is a reliable source of help and support. The same goes for fellow clinicians; the teamwork environment means help is always available, whether you need assistance with understanding procedures or building rapport with families.
Challenges, as with any job, do arise. The hardest part can sometimes be mastering complex interventions. However, the ready availability of support from co-workers and supervisors ensures these challenges are always manageable.

The most enjoyable part of the job can't be pinned down to just one thing. Ultimately, it’s the combination of the teamwork environment and working toward the shared goal of helping families live their lives as best as possible.

I wouldn’t recommend working here to anyone that is not desperate. Yes, working with the clients and families were genuinely the best part of working this job. Overall though, hours are not guaranteed and management does not make it a priority to fulfill those hours even if you ask for months. You can be dropped from a client’s case at the drop of a hat or a client will discharge and management will just leave you to figure out how you’re going to pay bills until they assign you a different case. They don’t pay at all if a client is sick or cancels sessions. Every week, my coworkers would complain about losing hours and many of them had second jobs. 

They will also throw you into intense cases without properly training you or giving feedback. If you are a new BT, ask as many questions as possible because they will not properly equip you for the totality of this position. Most of the supervision time is spent with management attempting to become your therapist by being intrusive about your personal life instead of focusing on client specific tasks.

Prepare to spend a good chunk of your day commuting back and forth to client’s houses. They don’t tell you how far your client is until you are finished with training. You are also required to do plenty of unpaid labor. For example, plan to spend about an hour a day on documentation for your first couple of months and only be able to be paid for one hour a week in total. 

Management is typical to most companies. Don’t be fooled by their “family-like” culture and their attempt to become your therapist. They will villainize you for being introverted and having boundaries. They constantly lie to their employees and families, make empty promises, gossip, make racist remarks about clients, and are notorious for miscommunication and misconduct. 

TLDR: Amazing clients and families. Inconsistent hours, lack of training, long drive times, incompetent management. 

I really enjoyed my time as an employee of Compass Counseling. I had serious reservations due to the fact I had never worked with individuals or families with special needs children. But, only after a few weeks of training, I already felt like I had learned so much. The training is very hands on, and very individualized to the child/adolescent that you will be working with. After the initial training, there is still monthly trainings on ABA techniques during staff meetings. Also, if you express to your supervisor that you would like the learn about a specific ABA technique, they will be more than happy to help educate you on the subject in which you are interested. During the pandemic, Compass was very timely in offering clients telehealth service options if the family did not prefer for the clinician to be in home, or the clinician did not feel comfortable going in home. I would say the best part of the job was having very supportive supervisors and fellow staff. They are always willing to help if they are able. I would say the least enjoyable part was the unwillingness of some of the parents to cooperate and really put in the effort to learn how to help manage their child/children's behaviors. They would commend you on doing a great job with their child but (in my experience) they would not take your advice or listen when you would try to parent-train them so they could have the same results with their kids. 
I can't say that this type or work is my passion, so somedays I did feel like I really had to drag myself to work. But, none of that was in any way the fault of the company, just not my personal passion. Overall, it was a very good experience, and the wonderful supervisors really made a huge positive difference in my experience. 

I really liked Compass as a company, the supervisors and directors were great and they did care to a certain extent about the clinician, and my coworkers were really great when I got to see them for group trainings but that's about where the positives end. Hours are a constant struggle with this job, every week I was stressed about making hours because families can cancel anytime they want with no penalty meanwhile you lose money and potentially your health insurance benefits (if you got under hours 2 months in a row you lose all benefits and then have to wait two months to earn them back). When families do cancel supervisors will tell you to essentially try and talk them out of cancelling which was really uncomfortable to do. 

Families also cancel at lot at the last minute so you can be in their driveway and they'll cancel. You don't get paid for drive time so you just wasted time driving there, especially if it's a house further away. We did get paid mileage but it's well below what other companies pay so for families closer to you it's almost pointless to even keep track of the mileage. 

This job is also mentally exhausting. It's a very thankless job and you will often feel very unappreciated by the families and sometimes by your supervisors. If you bring up issues with cancellations or lack of hours, a lot of times it will be flipped back onto you by saying you didn't build enough rapport with the families or that you need to be more understanding with the families if they cancel. I understand that to an extent but I still have to pay my bills... 

Overall, the company is good at what they do but this type of work isn't for everyone. I think this job would be great for someone in college who wants to go into this field because it's great experience but it's not something you can make into a career because you'll never make enough hours for financial stability. 

I've worked for Compass for about 3 years now, but what has separated it from other agencies since the interview process has been how genuine and supportive the people are. This job will provide you with one of the best work environments you will ever experience. From the owners of the company, through the directors, through the supervisors, the clinicians, and the office staff, everyone has been very down to earth and accessible since day one. The company has grown but in a very intentional and thoughtful manner. This company is not solely about the financial profit. The people who work here clearly care about people and that very is evident in the day to day interactions. The level of communication also sets it apart. If you have questions, just ask them, and someone will provide you with an answer in a timely manner. This is very challenging and emotionally intense work, but the company leadership knows that and is experienced in the work. They will make themselves available to process a session and teach self-care, which is crucial in this line of work. Being organized is a key component for managing this work. Managing the paperwork, scheduling, and hours can be challenging, but training in those areas are provided and continued support is offered. If you want to work for a company that cares about its employees, offers opportunities for professional growth, and works hard for their community to provide the best possible mental health services, you will not regret applying to Compass!

This job mainly consists of driving to clients' houses for ABA therapy sessions (mileage reimbursed!), meeting for weekly supervisions and creating resources for clients. There are trainings every few weeks with the entire office and in a smaller group setting with your supervisor and the other clinicians they supervise. The small group trainings are great for receiving advice, sharing experiences, asking questions and learning from other clinicians. You have the opportunity to be very independent in this position and it is really up to you to get your hours in and ask for help and support when needed. Everyone was very nice, but you really are spending the majority of your time on your own. However, I really loved the freedom to be creative in making resources, structuring sessions, and managing my time. You are putting your own hours in to be billed so it is up to you how much time you wanted to spend working outside of sessions (making resources). When I felt overwhelmed and needed help, weekly supervisions were great for me to ask questions and clarify treatment plans. Additionally, my supervisor was always very helpful in giving me tasks when I wanted more hours or when a client canceled a session. In the end, the kids were the best part of the job by far. You get to work in homes on your own with families and kids, and you inevitably grow very close. It is up to you to do more than the bare minimum in this job and truly listen to what the families need the most help with. When you work this job and choose to go above and beyond (make resources, collaborate with other clinicians, make the most out of supervision) it is so incredibly rewarding. 

Compass offers great opportunities for clinical supervision for LCSW/LPC. I enjoy working with clients and providing in-home services. High quality clinical supervision is offered for free, as well as monthly staff trainings. There are opportunities to shadow other clinicians and learn new skills. Clinicians are only paid $10/hr “training rate” (instead of regular wage) for staff meetings, training, and shadowing.  Due to the fee for service pay structure, clinicians are not paid for some work responsibilities including driving to clients, planning, time spent shopping for therapeutic supplies, time spent meeting with clinical supervisor, some phone calls, responding to texts from clients, email, and writing notes/progress reports. It can be difficult to earn full time status due to client availability. For example, you can lose full time status due to illness, vacation, holidays, discharging a client, and client no-shows. Telehealth option is available if needed (i.e., quarantine due to exposure to covid-19), but hours will usually be reduced due to the difference between in-person and virtual. They do offer reimbursement for cell phone and therapeutic supplies. Mileage reimbursement is offered, but it is below the IRS recommended rate. There are covid-19 policies in place, but they are somewhat vague and not clearly enforced. For example, management didn’t explicitly require staff to wear face coverings during staff meetings until October 2020 although the company remained in operation since the beginning of the pandemic. Clients are not required to wear face coverings during in-home sessions.

Compass overall has been a great place to work. The environment is friendly, fun, and supportive with a focus on integrity, transparency, professional development, and work/life balance. Management all the way up to and including the CEO are approachable and responsive. The director of the Connections program has been a wonderful mentor providing the support, consultation, training, and tools/skills needed to transition from many years as a direct service provider to a supervisory role. Weekly meetings with the program director, administration, and other BCBAs are very helpful for managing and providing checks and balances for required paperwork/deadlines, caseload management, and provide a regular opportunity to consult on cases. Outside of the weekly meetings, the other BCBAs are always willing to provide assistance and consultation. Monthly team meetings provide behavior technicians with regular professional development. More challenging parts of the job are within the norms for many BCBA positions: evening hours at times, management of multiple deadlines/paperwork, managing a team of behavior technicians, and travel (ongoing attempts are made to try to manage the extent of travel within reason).

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Board certified behavior analyst 164 salaries reported	$86,671 per year
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Qmhp 13 salaries reported	$22.50 per hour
Behavior technician 48 salaries reported	$23.00 per hour
Family support specialist 90 salaries reported	$22.88 per hour

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