Barber Behavioral Health Specialist Honored

Barber Behavioral Health Behavior Specialist Beth Vieira has earned the Pennsylvania Advocacy and Resources (PAR) 2024 "We Are Worth It" award for Behavior Support Professional of the Year! PAR receives a number of exceptional nominations across Pennsylvania. Beth will be honored at an awards ceremony later this month at the 2024 PAR Conference in Harrisburg, PA. This is the first time a Barber Behavioral Health staff member has received this honor.

Barber National Institute Behavior Specialists play a crucial role in enhancing the overall functioning and success of individuals with behavioral health challenges. Beth is one of Barber's most experienced Behavior Specialists having worked over 20 years in the field. She is known among her colleagues as a professional dedicated to life-long learning and developing best practices. She mentors new staff and helps all staff members develop skills to manage stress, build resilience and grow professionally.

She takes the time to develop genuine relationships and always goes above and beyond in supporting the individuals she serves. When supporting individuals with difficult behaviors, there is no one more gifted in collaborating with interdisciplinary teams as a leader in finding creative ways to support the person's vision of their future.

Beth was instrumental in helping one individual maintain her family and community relationships through many trying years. The client routinely had behavioral issues including aggression, property destruction and elopement. Her behavior jeopardized her community placement and law enforcement was frequently involved to maintain safety.

Beth developed an effective behavior support plan that helped bring stability to the individual's life. Beth worked alongside the individual's mom to strengthen her relationship and develop stronger ties to her daughter. Beth coached the mom in recognizing positive behavior and social skills and developing tools for coping with negative behaviors. Beth spent time mentoring other team members on appropriate interaction and steps to implement the support plan.

Through Beth's keen insight into her individual's behaviors over time, she initiated target behavioral interventions that lead to substantial behavioral outcomes including self-journaling, structured positive reinforcement plans and pictorial schedules.

Beth remains this person's longest-standing team member, besides mom, and continues to lead and meet with the team regularly to ensure success. Due to Beth's dedication and commitment, this individual enjoys interacting with her family and accessing her community.

Congratulations Beth on this well-deserved recognition!