Ms. Heather Gonzales

Dr. Gonzales is a doctoral-level behavior analyst with 14 years of experience and currently serves as the Chief Clinical Officer of Alamo Behavior Analysis. She has early-career experience in general education, holding an MAT in early childhood education from Trinity University (class of 2008), along with an M.Ed in Special Education with a specialization in autism and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities from UT Austin (2011) and Ph.D. in the same discipline, also from UT Austin (class of 2016). Dr. Gonzales received the designation of Summa Cum Laude for all of her graduate degrees.

Dr. Gonzales has had a well-balanced career as a direct ABA practioner (now called an RBT), as a supervisor of RBTS, as a supervisor of BCBAs, and as the co-founder and Chief Clinincal Officr of Alamo Behavior Analysis, an ABA company targeted to work with hard-to-place individuals, such as those who are teens and adults with complex presentations, like co-occurring SMI, court-ordered treatment or contact with law enforcement, psychiatric hospitalizations, and intellectual/developmental disabilities.
Her strong philosophical beliefs about ABA inform her practice and include the following principles:

- ABA must be neurodivergence-affirming, with practitioners listening to criticism and dissent from autistic individuals.
- ABA must not aim to make autistic individuals “appear” neurotypical.
- Stimming is natural and should not be suppressed.
- Assent can be withdrawn at any time.
- Forced compliance is damaging and wrong.
- ABA should be playful and gentle, not rigid.
 
Dr. Gonzales’s work-related interests encompass promoting meaningful social interactions for learners, forming strong connections and relationships with them, training families to support their children’s needs, mitigating anxiety-related symptoms, teaching coping skills, fostering self-determination and self-concept, and teaching adaptive behavior.
Her research interests include autism, anxiety, primate models of anxiety (and their potential application as diagnostic tools for nonvocal individuals), motivating operations, choice and preference, and self-injurious behavior.

Dr. Gonzales is a passionate advocate for maternal mental health support. She has started a blog discussing the challenges and rewards of being a mother while navigating mental illness. Additionally, she wrote and illustrated a picture book for new mothers titled *“You’re Doing a Great Job, Mama”*, available on Amazon in Kindle format for $5.99.
She also seeks to educate others on how life can be rich, fulfilling, and successful, not despite but often because of, living with mental illness.
Dr. Gonzales authored and self-published a children’s book titled *“Leo Let Go”*, which is also available on Amazon in hardcover and Kindle formats.

Her hobbies include visual art (acrylic painting, drawing, and digital art), writing poetry, reading (traditional books and audiobooks), community service, and participating in recreational camping for individuals with developmental and physical disabilities.