Toward a further understanding of assent

Abstract

Arranging assent opportunities is an increasingly common strategy for involving clients in therapeutic decisions within behavior analysis. Recent behavior-analytic articles have helped create a basic behavioral definition and conceptualization of assent, but much more guidance is needed for practitioners and researchers interested in embedding assent into their practices. The purpose of this article is to advance the conceptualization and understanding of assent and assent practices by refining previous definitions and conceptualizations of assent and providing six essential considerations for embedding assent into practice. The six considerations consist of determining the applicability and feasibility of assent, assessing assent-related skills, arranging assent procedures and teaching assent-related skills, arranging fair choices, selecting opportunities to assess assent, and informally assessing assent. Following the discussion of the considerations for assent practices, we issue a call for specific topics of research on assent.

Keywords: assent; choice; client‐centered services; consent; ethics.