Ep. 35 - Beyond the Behavior: The Heart, Humanity, and Healing Behind The Play Base

In this deeply personal team episode of The Play Base Podcast, Frances Fishman sits down with five members of The Play Base senior team: Jennifer Leonard, Danielle Goodman, Katrina Abutog-Manon, Wendy Dominguez, and Diana Puentes.What begins as a conversation about how each clinician found the field of behavior analysis becomes an honest exploration of what it truly means to support children, families, educators, and therapists with compassion.The team shares the personal experiences that shaped their work, including sibling loss, motherhood, raising neurodivergent children, working within schools, supporting overwhelmed families, and witnessing approaches that focused more on compliance than connection. They reflect on why The Play Base feels different and why meaningful care must begin with seeing the whole person—not simply observing and changing behavior.Together, Frances and the team discuss the nervous system, co-regulation, intuition, empathy, energy, family dynamics, and the powerful relationship between a clinician, a child, and the adults surrounding them. They also speak openly about the emotional weight parents carry, the vital role of RBTs, and why clinicians must care for the entire village supporting a child.This episode explores:How each senior team member found her way into behavior analysisThe personal experiences that shaped them as cliniciansWhy ABA should never be about “fixing” or changing who a child isThe importance of connection, trust, play, and emotional safetyNervous system regulation and co-regulationSupporting parents without judgment or shameThe unique challenges faced by parents of neurodivergent childrenHow behavior support can extend beyond autism and into schools, homes, and communitiesThe essential partnership between BCBAs, RBTs, educators, caregivers, and familiesWhy empathy and intuition are meaningful clinical giftsThe reciprocal healing that can occur between clinicians and the children they serveCreating independence while preserving a child’s individuality, joy, and sense of selfThe responsibility clinicians carry in shaping how children see and speak to themselvesAt the heart of the conversation is a shared belief: children do not need to be repaired, controlled, or transformed into someone more convenient for the world around them.They need to be understood.They need adults who recognize their communication, honor their nervous systems, build on their strengths, and give them tools that allow them to move through the world with greater confidence, autonomy, and self-love.This episode is for parents, educators, RBTs, BCBAs, therapists, caregivers, and anyone who believes support should feel compassionate, collaborative, and deeply human.Connect with The Play Base🌐 Website: www.us.theplaybase.com📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theplaybase/🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theplaybase