This is it. The end of 2025. And if you've made it through this year—through the sessions and the paperwork and the hard conversations and the moments of doubt and the small victories and everything in between—you've earned a moment to stop. Not to plan. Not to prepare. Not to get ahead. Just to stop. So here's what I want to say to you as we close out this year: you have permission to pause for ABA professionals and for yourself as a human being. What Permission to Pause for

I attended Dr. Shane Spiker's webinar recently where he said something that stopped me in my tracks. He said: "Self-care isn't me first, it's me too." I hadn't heard it phrased that way before, and it landed differently—cleaner, truer, and far more compassionate than the standard "take time for yourself" advice that so often feels impossible. For years, I've coached parents on supporting their children, and almost always, part of that work includes encouraging parents to supp