Anna celebrates 7 years with the Lizard Centre!

I am a behaviour support specialist in Melbourne and recently celebrated my 7-year anniversary with the Lizard Centre. This prompted me to reflect on my time working with Lizard and what I love about it.

Discovering the Lizard Centre
I was someone who never knew what I wanted to do for a career. I had never heard of ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis) or the Lizard Centre.

While at university in Sydney, I was studying several different subjects and trying to figure out what my interests were.

I heard about Lizard through a presentation in a 3rd year psychology lecture. It captured my attention because I enjoyed working with kids, helping others, and because I was interested in the science of learning and behaviour and how to apply it.

At the time, I was considering going down the honours/masters academic pathway in psychology because that was what everyone else was talking about doing. Instead, I decided I would prefer to get some work experience and took on three different casual jobs. One of these jobs was as a behaviour therapist at Lizard.

Lizard Career Progression
I realised I loved the job and took on more work until I was working with four different clients; almost working full time hours as a behaviour therapist. I loved being able to support the children I was working with in their homes, schools and in the community.

When it became available,I took a role as a “Lizard Behaviour Therapist” which meant being employed by the Lizard Centre rather than working as an independent therapist. During this time, I decided this was the kind of work I wanted to pursue as a career. I was offered to complete a senior behaviour therapist internship and started working at the Lizard Centre Sydney clinic.

Being in the centre, I learned about the career progression options in ABA and enrolled in a Master of Education in Applied Behaviour Analysis through Monash University. I also started training within the Lizard Centre for the behaviour support specialist role. I was excited to learn how to design therapy programs, supervise other Lizard behaviour therapists to implement the programs, and work closely with families to help support them.

Since then, I have completed my masters program, worked as a full time behaviour support specialist, accrued hours towards board certification and transferred to join the Lizard Melbourne team at the start of this year.

What I love about the Lizard Centre
At the Lizard Centre, we have an amazing team of clinicians with knowledge in many different areas. We are always learning from each other and supporting each other.

The nature of the role means there is always a new learning opportunity, as every child has different strengths and challenges.

No two days at work look the same – we might be working in the centre, in client’s homes or schools, or out and about in the community. It is always interesting! Most importantly, it is so rewarding to see the children we work with achieving their goals and to help to make meaningful changes in the lives of our clients and their families.

If you’d like to find out more about becoming a behaviour support specialist at Lizard, please complete our Careers Application and we will be in contact with you soon!