Behaviour Bits

Zac Demopoulos, a specialist behaviour support practitioner and Chief Operating Officer at Step 2 Allied Health, joins the podcast to discuss what new positive behaviour support practitioners need to know when starting out in the NDIS.

The conversation explores the steep learning curve facing new practitioners, from managing uncertainty and imposter syndrome to understanding that positive behaviour support within the NDIS operates under a specific legislative and regulatory context. Zac reflects on how even highly experienced professionals can feel like beginners again, and why psychological safety within a team is essential for people to raise concerns before they reach crisis point.

Zac and Jenn discuss what good practice looks like in action, including genuine informed consent, biopsychosocial assessment beyond only ABC data, and working from principled processes. The episode includes advice on maintaining a regular cadence of support, keeping caseloads balanced, and assigning each recommendation to one accountable person.

For those new to the profession of behaviour support practitioner or considering a change, this episode offers a grounded look at what sustains good practice over time: clear frameworks, honest communication, realistic expectations of uncertainty, and systems of support that prevent burnout and protect the quality of the work being delivered.

00:00 Introduction
00:39 Zac's Path into Behaviour Support
09:46 PBS Within an NDIS Context
12:51 Imposter Syndrome and Self-Doubt
21:59 The Power of Informed Consent
30:34 Building a Clinical Framework
50:50 Principle Over Prescription
1:00:24 Cadence of Support and Sustainable Practice
1:07:05 Closing Thoughts

About the Guest

Zac Demopoulos is a social worker and specialist behaviour support practitioner who has spent his career building and leading behaviour support teams across the disability sector. He entered the field via out-of-home care before moving into NDIS behaviour support roughly seven years ago, and is currently Chief Operating Officer at Step 2 Allied Health in Geelong.

Key Takeaways
New practitioners need to become comfortable with uncertainty and not having all the answers, since human behaviour and the systems around it involve too many moving parts for certainty.
Imposter syndrome is common even among experienced practitioners, and often shows up as self-doubt that persists despite clear evidence of good work.
Genuine informed consent, explaining plainly why someone has been referred, builds trust more effectively than dancing around a difficult topic.
Good assessment needs to be biopsychosocial rather than a narrow episodic ABC focus, taking in health, history and broader context.
Working from principles rather than a rigid prescriptive process leads to simpler solutions, illustrated by an example where simply asking a person what they wanted resolved a supposed behaviour of concern.
A regular cadence of support, consistent touchpoints with every person on a caseload, prevents people falling through the gaps and protects practitioners from becoming purely reactive to crises.
Resources Mentioned
Right Direction
Spectrum of Participation
PBSP model by Dr Alinka Fisher
Ross Greene's collaborative and proactive solutions approach
Google Scholar
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission practice guides

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at info@specialistbehaviour.com

Clinical psychologist and specialist behaviour support practitioner Dr Zoe Perry unpacks the often murky distinction between psychology and positive behaviour support, and what genuine interdisciplinary collaboration looks like in practice.
The conversation covers the concept of “the missing middle”- people who are too complex for mainstream services, yet not eligible for public mental health or disability supports, and how this gap influences and shapes service delivery.
The discussion moves into practical territory, examining where scope of practice and scope of role diverge, whether positive behaviour support should be considered therapy, and how formulation skills can sharpen rather than blur professional boundaries. Real world examples illustrate how psychologists and behaviour support practitioners can work in a genuinely interdisciplinary way, including practical tools like shared formulation and simple memoranda of understanding, and strategies for advocating to the NDIS when clients need both disciplines working together rather than one substituting for the other.
Anyone working alongside psychologists and behaviour support practitioners in disability and mental health settings will recognise the tension between staying within scope and responding to genuine unmet need. This conversation offers concrete language and tools for navigating that tension while keeping the person at the centre of a coordinated, evidence-informed interdisciplinary support team.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
01:03 A Career in Complex Behaviour
06:16 The Missing Middle
10:36 Psychology vs Behaviour Support
15:21 Is PBS Therapy?
22:33 Psychologically Informed PBS
36:52 Multidisciplinary vs Interdisciplinary Teams
43:06 Practical Strategies for Collaboration
53:55 Advocating for NDIS Funding
1:01:19 Closing Thoughts

About the Guest

Dr Zoe Perry is a clinical psychologist and advanced specialist behaviour support practitioner. She is the founder and director of Journey Health Solutions, a multidisciplinary practice of behaviour support practitioners, psychologists and occupational therapists based in Melbourne.

Key Takeaways
The missing middle describes clients too complex for public mental health or mainstream disability services yet not eligible for adequate private support, a gap that predates the NDIS
Positive behaviour support is not therapy, but practitioners can sometimes do short, contained, person led work if they have relevant training, supervision and a clear rationale
Around 30 percent of behaviour support practitioners are psychologists, which further complicates any attempt to draw a hard line between the two disciplines
Learning formulation skills does not expand a practitioner's scope, it clarifies it by helping identify which parts of a presentation belong to behaviour support and which need another discipline
The NDIS previously suggested clients could only access psychology or behaviour support, not both, which created confusion and led some services to swap one for the other inappropriately
Simple tools such as a shared table outlining each team member's role, or a brief memorandum of understanding, can prevent duplication and scope creep in interdisciplinary teams
Resources Mentioned
NDIS
Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme
Journey Health Solutions
British Psychological Society formulation guidance
Zones of Regulation

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at info@specialistbehaviour.com

This episode explores positive behaviour support (PBS) principles in dementia contexts with Dr Alinka Fisher, Senior Lecturer in Disability and Community Inclusion at Flinders University. Drawing on her research across disability, acquired brain injury and dementia, Alinka discusses why behaviour should be understood as communication rather than a symptom of diagnosis, and how PBS frameworks apply flexibly to support people living with dementia and their families. The conversation unpacks the critical distinction between managing behaviours and understanding the complex interactions, neurological changes, personal history and environmental factors that influence how people communicate their needs. Alinka shares insights from education programmes delivered to families and residential aged care staff, highlighting what foundations of good support actually look like in practice.

Understanding behaviour as communication opens up fundamentally different possibilities for supporting people with dementia and their families. Whether you're a behaviour support practitioner, aged care worker or allied health professional, this episode offers practical perspective on how PBS principles translate into real-world practice, the importance of collaborative, family-centred approaches, and how to build workforce capability when time and resources feel stretched. Alinka's work demonstrates that person-centred, evidence-informed practice isn't reserved for ideal circumstances but can be flexibly applied in every situation.

Resources:
Fisher et al. (2022). Positive behaviour support for people with dementia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.5844
Fisher et al. (2023). The acceptability and usefulness of positive behaviour support education sessions for frontotemporal dementia families. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1177/08919887221090214
Fisher et al. (2024). "It's opened my eyes to a whole new world": PBS training for staff and families in aged care. American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias. https://doi.org/10.1177/15333175241241168
Fisher et al. (2024). PBS-P Framework for flexible, rights-based practice. Disability and Rehabilitation.https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2024.2402079

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at info@specialistbehaviour.com

This episode explores cultural reflexivity in behaviour support practice with Anika Tabassum, a specialist behaviour support practitioner with over a decade of experience supporting culturally and linguistically diverse children and families.
Anika examines what cultural reflexivity is- including the critical distinction between cultural awareness and cultural reflexivity, and explains why many well-intentioned practitioners and teams recognise culture as an important factor in behaviour support, but may find challenges in integrating true culturally reflexive practice.

The conversation covers practical strategies for approaching cultural reflexivity by replacing assumptions with curiosity, and provides concrete examples of how practitioners can reframe goals and strategies to align with collectivist family values without compromising outcomes or NDIS accountability.

This episode offers essential insight into how practitioner’s and service system’s own cultural lenses shape the way behaviour is interpreted, priorities are set, and therapeutic relationships are established.
Cultural reflexivity isn’t an additional training box to tick- it’s an active, ongoing commitment to understanding the cultural context of the people and families receiving support, and recognises that the pathway to meaningful, positive outcomes requires humility and collaboration.

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at info@specialistbehaviour.com

Co-design in behaviour support means working alongside people to develop plans and supports rather than creating them solely from the professional’s perspective and presenting them as finished products.
Tarnya Bruinier discusses how involving people in understanding their own triggers, strengths, and needs leads to greater buy-in, ownership, and sustainable outcomes.
Tarnya is a Specialist Behaviour Support Practitioner, AuDHD woman, mother of neurodivergent children and the Director of Wildfire Wellbeing. She shares practical examples, from a woman who created her own de-escalation plan to a young person who identified a safe space to regulate at school, demonstrating how curiosity and person-centred collaboration fundamentally reshape behaviour support practice. The conversation also explores how traditional assessments can incorporate co-design, how tools like Vista trigger cards build self-awareness, and the importance of shifting mindsets from managing behaviour to addressing unmet needs.
Co-design is particularly valuable when supporting people with behaviours of concern. It honours autonomy, builds agency, and recognises that people are the experts in their own lives. By slowing down, asking questions, and genuinely listening, practitioners create plans that reflect what actually matters to the person, often leading to better outcomes.

Complex FBA & BSP Workshop - Melbourne CBD
Thursday 26 November 2026.

Six interactive hours building confidence with complex presentations: real de-identified cases, functional hypotheses, planning, risk and restrictive practices.
Templates you will use, plus a certificate mapped to the NDIS Behaviour Support Capability Framework.
Register now at https://specialistbehaviour.com/event/complex-functional-behaviour-assessment-fba-behaviour-support-planning-bsp-workshop/

Looking for practical, flexible learning that goes beyond the podcast?

The All Access Pass gives you unlimited entry to all of our self-paced online courses, early access to new content, exclusive member discounts, and our ever-growing library of downloadable resources, templates, and clinical tools. I
t's all grounded in evidence-based, person-centred practice, designed to support you at your own pace, in real-world ways.

Visit https://specialistbehaviour.com/all-access-pass/

Questions, comments, feedback?
Email us at info@specialistbehaviour.com