Behavioral therapists who are highly stressed do not seem to be as effective at emotionally connecting with children with autism.

This study was designed to determine how behavioral therapists cope with the stress of working with the families of children with autism. The study also tried to determine which part of the behavioral therapist job was most stressful. The authors found that the two most stressful things for a behavioral therapist were feeling overworked and having trouble meeting the goals of everyone involved in the child's therapy. In particular, behavioral therapists were stressed when they did not have a good relationship with their supervisor. The authors recommend that behavioral therapists receive training to help them cope with these two stressful components of their job.