Applying RFT in Early Childhood
A deep dive for behavior analysts working in early childhood intervention—go beyond the basics with Dr. Siri Ming
In this in-depth, on-demand course, you’ll learn to apply RFT in early childhood settings (ages 0–6) in a developmentally grounded, functional way, with a focus on case conceptualization, assessment, and training. Designed for behavior analysts with prior RFT exposure, this self-paced course includes tools for integrating RFT with verbal behavior programming, real-world case examples, and expert support.
Meet your instructor
Siri Ming, Ph.D., BCBA (she/her)
Siri is a leader in the field and our resident expert on applying Relational Frame Theory (RFT) to early intervention—and a trusted guide for behavior analysts seeking to bring clarity, purpose, and compassion to their practice. A peer-reviewed ACT trainer, behavior analyst, coach, and educator, Siri grounds her training in over 30 years of experience in the field in roles ranging from direct intervention and family consultation to quality assurance.
She is the co-author of Understanding and Applying RFT and the Using RFT to Promote Generative Language handbook series, as well as numerous peer-reviewed publications on RFT and early language intervention. But more importantly, she’s spent over 15 years doing RFT-based work on the ground—collaborating with caregivers and professional teams to develop assessment and teaching plans, solve problems, and apply principles in real-world early childhood settings.
Known for making complex ideas practical, Siri has been teaching and mentoring behavior analysts around the world throughout her career, emphasizing humility, collaboration, and socially meaningful outcomes. In addition to her courses with Constellations, she co-facilitates our practitioner lab and provides coaching and consultation for professionals and teams working in early language development.
Her work is grounded in values of rigor, generosity, and kindness—and a commitment to supporting professionals who are ready to go deeper in their practice.
Learn more about Siri’s work at www.siriming.com.
About the Course
If you’ve dipped your toes into the waters of Relational Frame Theory (RFT)—read a few books, attended a workshop, tried out some protocols—but still find yourself asking, “How do I actually apply this in my day-to-day programming?”—this course is for you.
Designed for behavior analysts working with young children (0–6), this in-depth on-demand course helps you move beyond the basics and truly integrate RFT into your practice—even if your current programming is grounded in Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior. Whether you’re unsure how to support generative language without relying on a rigid curriculum, or you’re ready to approach programming from a more developmentally aligned, functional perspective, you’ll find both clarity and practical tools here.
Led by Dr. Siri Ming—co-author of Understanding and Applying RFT and the Using RFT to Promote Generative Language handbook series—this course draws from decades of clinical experience, research, and hands-on application. You’ll explore advanced conceptual foundations of RFT in early intervention and gain concrete tools for case conceptualization, assessment, and programming.
What’s included:
A self-paced course packed with practical, research-informed content
A developmentally grounded framework for applying RFT in early childhood
Tools to bridge RFT with verbal behavior programming
Case conceptualization tools and protocols for assessment and intervention, with demonstrations
Asynchronous expert support through an online community—ask questions, get feedback, and join the conversation at any time
This course provides 8 BACB Learning CEUs.
As a course within our Constellations community, the Applying RFT in Early Childhood course has been created to serve three functions, with activities carefully designed for you to:
Learn: In every module, Siri presents educational and informational content to you through a variety of short video presentations and readings to teach you the conceptual core of that week's topic. Extra bonus content in the form of curated articles, podcasts, blogs or videos, gives you the opportunity to take a deeper dive into the technical aspects of each topic as your time and interest dictate.
Apply: Practical and experiential exercises will have you immediately putting the concepts to work for you in your own professional and personal practice. You’ll also get a course handbook to help you with preparing for the course, guiding your experience of it, and integrating what you have learned into your practice.
Connect: The course is designed to create community, and to foster connections that spark new ideas and forge new relationships. An asynchronous discussion board and threaded lesson discussions are available to you for getting your questions answered or simply posting your thoughts for discussion. You will also have access to a trial membership in our community of practice and practitioner lab, where you can carry the momentum from the course forward, both asynchronously and by joining our live meetings to discuss all things RFT, ACT, and ABA.
What participants say…
What to expect
The course is divided into five modules, each of which is designed to take two weeks to complete. In every module, you'll see five-six sequential lessons to complete that consist of short videos, readings, and asynchronous discussion activities; you should anticipate spending about 15-20 minutes per lesson on these instructional activities (i.e., about an hour and a half to two hours per module), although a few are longer. You'll see in the overview for each module what to expect in terms of lesson timing and commitments needed. Each module also has a variety of application activities that you should expect to spend more time on, with your clients or in your organization, such as developing your case review process, assessing clients, trying out teaching protocols, and so on. You will always be able to come back to these materials, so you can feel free to try things out as you go along, and then come back again to deepen your understanding later.
Here is an outline of the course material:
Module One—Getting Oriented: Case Conceptualization in EIBI
Getting started
RFT Review: Basic principles
RFT Review: Typical development and relational framing repertoires
RFT Review: General sequence of relational training programs
Psychological flexibility in EIBI programs: Defining psychological flexibility
Case conceptualization
Module Two—Early Learners: Foundations and assessing for early DRR
Early learner skills
Early language skills
Generative processes
Assessing, training and capitalizing on coordination/equivalence
Psychological flexibility in EIBI programs: Foundations for self-ing
Case conceptualization and goal-setting
Module Three—Same/Different: An exemplar of curricular sequencing
RFT Review: Non-arbitrary vs arbitrary relational responding
Non-arbitrary same/different relations
Arbitrary same/different relations
Psychological flexibility in EIBI programs: Foundations of psychological flexibility
Case conceptualization and goal-setting
Module Four—Early Relations: Comparison, opposite, spatial & temporal relations
Comparison relations
Opposite relations
Spatial relations
Temporal relations
Case conceptualization and goal-setting
Module Five—Increasing Complexity: Deictics, analogy/metaphor, and rules
Deictics
Analogy and metaphor
Rules
Psychological flexibility and the dimensions of relational framing
Case conceptualization and goal-setting
Learning Objectives
Experiential Objectives
Assess relational responding repertoires with respect to (a) coordination (equivalence), (b) difference, (c) comparison, (d) opposite, (e) spatial, (f) temporal relations, and (g) deictics.
Develop or refine a case conceptualization/case review process for your practice that (a) integrates RFT and (b) integrates a consideration of psychological flexibility.
Technical/Educational Objectives
Define and describe the function/purpose of case conceptualization within ABA.
Define and give examples of generative processes including stimulus generalization, response induction, recombinative generalization, exclusion, observational learning, and relational framing.
Define and give examples of the properties of relational framing with respect to (a) coordination (equivalence), (b) difference, (c) comparison, (d) opposite, (e) spatial, (f) temporal relations, and (g) deictics.
Define and give examples of analogy and metaphor as relations between relations.
Define and give examples of rule-governed behavior.
Define and describe the dimensions of relational framing and their relation to psychological flexibility.