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Over 45 Years
Serving Our Communities

BMC THROUGH THE YEARS

How it Began – 1980

Pioneers in the Field of ABA

In 1980, it was not easy to see that our small startup, Behavior Management Consultants, would foreshadow what is commonly accepted today as the professional practice of Applied Behavior Analysis. Founders Jon Bailey, PhD and Maxin Reiss, PhD started when they were contracted to provide active treatment in residential and work training settings for individuals with developmental and other disabilities. As a result, their Behavioral Systems approach made life calmer and more productive for residents and staff alike.
Many people played important roles in the beginning of this process, including Martin Ivancic, Mary Riordan, Duke Schell, Al Murphy, Tony Gelabert, Phil Adams, to name a few. 

Our First Consultation

How It Started

In the mid 80’s Ray King from Leon County Schools (Tallahassee, Florida) approached Dr. Reiss with a very specific request for one student. The child’s needs were met and BMC’s consulting work with public schools was solidified.
Now, BMC consultants provide thousands of consulting hours each year to public, private and charter schools throughout more than 15 school districts in North Florida and Southern Georgia. Whether working with individual students to better meet their academic and behavioral goals, or whole classrooms or schools serving children with challenging behaviors, BMC has demonstrated that Behavior Analysts are needed and effective in school settings.
It’s really a very large list of BMC consultants past and present that have grown our school consultation division but some of the staff in the earliest years included Phil Adams, Ken Bauman, JoAnne Bauman, Maria Lynn Kessler, Connie Taylor and Steve Taylor.

The 90s

A Growing Team

By the 1990’s BMC was working with typically developing children, adults with developmental disabilities, and an increasing number of children with Autism and, of course, their parents and caregivers.
Behavior Analysis has come a long way and BMC has been on the forefront of this movement for over three decades. Our doctoral level clinical directors and consultants make certain our clinical services are provided in a professional, effective and caring manner. Together, they represent more than 75 years of work experience with BMC.
After all these years, we remain excited about our future and the prospect of solving real and challenging behavior problems, making life better for those we serve.

Our Team Today

The 21st Century

Today we have over blank number of BCBAs and BCBA-Ds all dedicated to serving individuals across the lifespan. 

    A Legacy of Quality And Professionalism

    A Tribute to Dr. Maxin Reiss

    Beginning in 1979, Dr. Maxin Reiss began a career of serving others through behavior analysis. At the time, she did so in community developmental disabilities facilities and state hospitals in Florida and Georgia, residential programs for adjudicated adolescent females, and family homes. She specialized in the assessment and treatment of significant learning and behavior challenges. In 1980 she and Dr. Jon Bailey founded Behavior Management Consultants, a company exclusively focused on solving behavior problems, teaching skills and changing lives for those with a wide range of challenges.

    Dr. Reiss was a trailblazer for behavior analysis consultation work, especially in school systems in the early 1980’s. Over the course of her career she grew BMC to a company serving thousands of individuals, schools, residential facilities and businesses across the southeast. This was her life’s work – helping others live better and happier lives. This also included the years of leadership, mentorship and guidance of young behavior analysts and students who now serve across all areas of the country and world.

    Professionally, she was a researcher and an incredibly sharp practitioner. She saw things other people could not when assessing a behavior or a challenging situation. She taught others to ask better questions, to be more inquisitive, and to stay grounded in the research. Students and PhD behavior analysts alike always wanted to impress her and respected her feedback as the gold standard of how something should be done. “What would Max do” was a statement often thought by those she trained and with whom she worked. She did not waver in her drive to “do what is right” to preserve the dignity of each individual she touched.  She constantly fought for those she served, fought against insurance companies, and fought for the chance for behavior analysts to make a change where others had failed. It is for that reason, many did and will always refer to her as Dr. Reiss, out of the respect for her work – not only what she did, but how she did it.

    She was both a charter member of the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis (FABA), and a charter certificant of the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB). She later became the President of FABA, a member of the Practice Board for the Association for Applied Behavior Analysis, and on the editorial board for several publications in the field. She was awarded the FABA Public Service Award for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis in the Community for her contributions not only to the field but to those she served. Max’s professional legacy is her team at BMC, those who she mentored across the country and the world, and the incalculable number of families who credit her work and leadership for the improved lives of their children, siblings and parents.

    BMC will always continue to uphold her legacy of service and quality behavior analysis.

    A Tribute to Dr. Maxin Reiss

    A Legacy of Quality And Professionalism

    Beginning in 1979, Dr. Maxin Reiss dedicated her career to serving others through applied behavior analysis, working across community developmental disability facilities, state hospitals, residential programs for adjudicated adolescents, schools, and family homes throughout Florida and Georgia. A specialist in the assessment and treatment of significant learning and behavior challenges, she co-founded Behavior Management Consultants (BMC) in 1980 with Dr. Jon Bailey—one of the first organizations exclusively focused on behavior consultation, skill development, and meaningful life change. A trailblazer in school-based consultation during the early 1980s, Dr. Reiss grew BMC into a respected organization serving thousands of individuals, families, schools, residential facilities, and businesses across the Southeast. This work reflected her life’s mission: helping people live better, happier lives while mentoring generations of behavior analysts who now serve nationally and internationally.

    Dr. Reiss was both a rigorous researcher and an exceptionally skilled practitioner, known for her ability to see critical variables others missed and for holding herself and others to the highest ethical and scientific standards. Her guidance—often summed up as “What would Max do?”—shaped countless professionals, who viewed her feedback as the gold standard. A fierce advocate for dignity, access to care, and effective services, she fought tirelessly for those she served and for the role of behavior analysis where others had failed. A charter member of FABA and the BACB, former FABA President, and recipient of the FABA Public Service Award, her legacy lives on through BMC, the professionals she mentored, and the many families whose lives were profoundly improved by her work. BMC remains committed to upholding her enduring legacy of service, integrity, and excellence in behavior analysis.