registered behavior technician

behavioral therapist

paraprofessional

mental health technician

therapist

Life Strategies, LLC

Over the past year, the upper management was gutted and turned into a money making machine. Anything that would cost them more, they wanted to get rid of. In that case, if you’re looking for job advancement (a raise, a promotion, moving along as you become more educated), this is not the company for you. This job requires major support from upper management to assist those who are doing challenging work in the field - when that support, appreciation and compensation are lacking, the challenging job becomes far more challenging. The work itself is great; helping children and families, seeing client progress, working alongside a supportive and knowledgable BCBA. HR unfortunately makes performing this job extremely difficult at Life Strategies. The mindset should be client first, and employee appreciation, growth and compensation in order to provide the clients and families with overall higher quality services. Life Strategies has shifted its mindset to money first. Turnover is extremely high as upper management has changed. If you aren’t looking for any kind of job growth and just a ground level RBT job, Life Strategies might be for you. The work you do is rewarding in and of itself. But if you’re looking for more professionalism, care and compensation from your HR department, there are better ABA clinics in the area. Hopefully in the future things change for the better within the company. 

In all of my years working in the ABA field, I have never come across a company as toxic as Life Strategies. They treat their RBTs like garbage. They encourage supervisors to write up RBTs for *anything* they deem to be insubordination, even if it’s simple mistakes. The require BCBAs to have an absolutely ridiculous and unmanageable caseload. The head of HR is nothing less than cruel & unfair. They have unreasonable expectations of their staff with an extremely high turnover rate. Due to their high turnover rate, they had to regularly cancel client sessions because they didn’t have an RBT available to cover client sessions. RBTs are expected to know everything pertaining to the client and company rules and are punished simply for asking for clarification on programs or protocols. As a BCBA, I had to deliver so much negative feedback and write ups for things that I didn’t agree with, but upper management said that I had to. I wouldn’t recommend that anybody work here, whether they be a BCBA or an RBT. You will be belittled, reprimanded, and under the scrutiny of upper management at all times. When I told them that I couldn’t handle the caseload and even presented research supporting my concerns, they told me that’s just how they do things there! 

Once a thriving workplace, Life Strategies valued its employees as individuals and fostered a collaborative environment for growth. However, subsequent changes in human resources and operations shifted the focus towards employee production metrics, and micromanaging. Management became less supportive and receptive to feedback that deviated from operational objectives or was critical of changes. Compensation lagged behind industry standards, and benefits that were once competitive stagnated and fell behind their peers.
Work-life balance, once a compelling selling point, quickly became a relic of the past due to the increasing workload that exceeded the capabilities of a 40-hour workweek. Excessive tracking and micromanagement necessitated the monitoring of every hour of the day, resulting in a decline in the quality of supervision and a perceived lack of trust in employees. Micromanagement led to burnout and turn over among managers and further contributed to the worsening of support.

Management and workplace culture are trash. You’ll never see management and when you do they’re berating employees or behind closed doors trash talking others. If you voice concerns or issues you get put on PIPs and threaten your job instead of addressing the concerns. There is minimal training and guidance once you start even though they encourage new grads to apply. Changes are not presented or implemented before fully thinking through procedures, but instead of problem solving management will be quick to tell you what you’re doing wrong with no further clarification. No 90 day review is given. The only feedback provided is when management thinks you’re doing something wrong. Management provides no oversight and then tries to call you out for things other employees are doing. Team building and asking for advice from other team members is discouraged unless overseen and scheduled by management. The only pro is the clients and their families. 

This business draws such amazing, intelligent clients on the spectrum, as well as employees on the spectrum. As an employee on the spectrum I never shared this information, but still felt the effects of others treating me differently everyday. I was pushed constantly into situations I was not appropriately trained for, then scolded by management for not being trained. HR was made aware of specific scheduling issues where I was unavailable for trainings at the point of hire, and then fired me for not being available for trainings. You are never guaranteed a break, and when you do get one, you better keep it under 7 minutes. Which is impossible with only two available restrooms for an entire center of clients/employees. Ultimately, this may be a great place to gain certification, you just won’t be paid well or treated well in the meantime. 

I really enjoyed working in the center. The team of BCBA supervisors work really hard for the clients and want everyone there to do well. Some coworkers struggled a little at times because it is challenging to learn all of the ins and outs of the position but you really have to hang in there. It gets easier as you gain experience. My coworkers were mainly supportive and the supervisors are too, they will provide a lot of feedback because they want you to do the best for the kids there so you have to remember that. This job is very important and I'm glad that I stayed with it! LS does fun spirit days and does several community events you can participate in. It's hard when clients cancel but you can be scheduled to help in the center with a variety of things. Overall, it's a great job, just be ready to learn and stick with it!

I would not recommend working at this facility. While the company claims to prioritize the well-being of its clients, the experience as an employee was far from supportive. What's even more frustrating is that management doesn't adhere to the very policies and guidelines they enforced on us. (e.g. tardy, disorganized, moody, gossiped) 

While the purpose of Life Strategies is commendable, there are much better opportunites for those looking to work in this field where we can be properly compensated and treated with respect.

I have been with Life Strategies for a reasonable time. I believe that I am part of a team at Life Strategies that works to improve others' lives. Whenever I have questions, my colleagues are always willing to answer them. Cancellations can be frustrating, however, at Life Strategies there is always something to do.

Life Strategies frequently participates at community events. 

From what I have seen, if you put in reasonable effort, you will go far within this company. 

 I love working with the kids!  The culture is welcoming and supportive.  I like that they bring in food for special days, have a coffee and snack area and they do theme weeks with the kids, which is fun.  My team and supervisor are great to work with.  They provide a lot of support and HR is available if you need anything. The hardest part of the job would be, sometimes a kid can be challenging but we work through it and get to see them learn and grow.    

The center is nice and so are the other RBTs but the management is kind of rude and micromanaged a lot of the therapists. The lowest pay you will probably see in this field. High turnover rate! They had me start training people before I was fully trained. Also if your client cancels you have to clean the clinic all day for like $12/hr and it’s not optional. No breaks, they limit your times you can go to the bathroom daily. I did learn a lot there but I would recommend somewhere else.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered behavior technician 21 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Behavioral therapist 22 salaries reported	$44,500 per year
Paraprofessional 26 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Mental health technician 4 salaries reported	$38.50 per hour
Therapist 8 salaries reported	$44,500 per year

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