40 Hour International Behaviour Therapist Training (IBT) course

Become an International Behavior Therapist

IBT 40 Hour Certification Training

The IBT credential, overseen by the International Behavior Analysis Organization (IBAO), is the entry level certification for anyone delivering behaviour analytic services under the supervision of a qualified behaviour analyst, anywhere in the world. Therapia’s IBT 40 Hour Training gives you every hour of instruction required to sit the IBT exam. You will join live weekend classes with an experienced behaviour analyst, then reinforce what you have learned through guided, self paced activities during the week. No sitting through a static video course alone.

Our program is aligned to the IBAO IBT Required Educational Objectives (REOs), covering all seven required content areas in full: Disabilities, Behavioural Basics, Data Collection, Assistance in Assessment Procedures, Teaching Skills, Challenging Behaviours, and Professionalism.

Why Train With Therapia

A flexible program schedule.

Full topic decks are delivered live, with narration, demonstration, and the chance to ask questions in real time. The matching workbook and quiz for that same content is then completed in your own time across the following week, so learning is reinforced rather than rushed.

Recorded Sessions. Life happens. If you miss a session, or simply want to revisit a demonstration, the recording is there.

Skills you can actually use, not just theory. Live time is reserved for the parts that benefit most from a real instructor: discrete trial teaching, natural environment teaching, functional behavioural assessment, and challenging behaviour case discussions. Reading heavy content is delivered through professionally narrated async decks, so live sessions stay interactive.

A clear, structured path from enrolment to exam eligibility. You always know what is being covered, when, and how it builds toward the next stage, including the other requirements of IBT certification such as supervised practice and Candidate Skills Testing.

Course Structure

The IBT 40 Hour Training runs across four consecutive weekends, combining live online classes with self paced coursework.

Each weekend, the full slide deck for that week’s topics is presented live, with narrated instruction and hands on demonstration. Across the days between sessions, you complete the matching workbook activities and quiz for that content at your own pace. From Week 2 onward, each Saturday opens with a short recap of the prior week’s work before new material begins, so nothing gets left behind.

Because the IBT is an internationally recognised credential and participants join from right across the globe, live sessions are timed to work for most of Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific region. A short break is scheduled roughly halfway through each session.

What You Will Cover, Week by Week

Week 1: Disabilities and Behavioural Basics

Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder, intellectual disabilities, Down syndrome, and ADHD, followed by the foundations of behaviour change: increasing and decreasing behaviour, extinction, establishing operations, discriminative stimuli, schedules of reinforcement, and conditioned reinforcers and tokens.

Week 2: Data Collection and Assistance in Assessment Procedures

Behavioural definitions and measurement, frequency, duration, latency, partial and whole interval recording, permanent products, and graphing, followed by preference assessments, functional behavioural assessment, and language and functional skills assessments such as the ABLLS, VB-MAPP, and AFLS.

Week 3: Teaching Skills

ABA protocols and plans, discrete trial therapy, natural environment teaching, verbal behaviour (echoics, tacts, mands, and intraverbals), task analyses, choice and discrimination learning, prompting strategies, generalisation, and maintenance.

Week 4: Challenging Behaviours and Professionalism

Functions of behaviour, antecedent modifications, differential reinforcement (DRO, DRI, DRA), functional communication training, and extinction in practice, followed by ethical guidelines, the role of the IBT, confidentiality, professional boundaries, supervisor relations, and client and family relations.

Every section of the IBAO’s IBT Required Educational Objectives is covered in full, with hours split between live instruction and self paced practice.

Beyond the 40 Hour Training

IBT certification has several additional requirements administered directly through IBAO once your training is complete: registering a candidate account at www.theibao.com, signing the Ethics Agreement, choosing and signing an agreement with a qualified Supervisor, completing 300 hours of supervised practice with 10 hours of supervision, passing two Candidate Skills Tests, and sitting the IBT online exam. Therapia’s training satisfies the 40 hour education requirement; the remaining steps are managed through your own IBAO candidate dashboard.

Who This Course Is For

This training suits anyone preparing to work as an International Behavior Therapist, including:

• Aspiring IBTs entering the ABA and disability support sector for the first time
• Support workers, teacher’s aides, and allied health assistants looking to formalise their skills
• Parents and carers of children with autism who want a deeper, credentialed understanding of behaviour analytic practice
• Staff at ABA providers, early intervention services, and schools around the world who need IBT certification to progress in their role

No prior ABA experience is required. You will need reliable internet access and availability for live sessions on Saturday and Sunday afternoons across four consecutive weekends.

Enrolment and Pricing

Course enrolment includes all 40 hours of IBAO aligned training across the four week program, live sessions with recordings, all workbooks, quizzes, and instructor support. Registration, supervised practice, Candidate Skills Testing, and the IBT exam are arranged separately through IBAO once the 40 hour training is completed.

Course price

$550 AUD, including GST.

Early bird offer

Save 15% when you enrol by 1st November 2026. Early bird enrolments pay $467.50 AUD, including GST. Use Code: IBT-Early Bird at checkout.

Upcoming cohort dates

Saturday 9 January, Sunday 10 January, Saturday 16 January, Sunday 17 January, Saturday 23 January, Sunday 24 January, Saturday 30 January, and Sunday 31 January 2027.

This training program is designed to meet the IBAO 40 Hour Training requirement for IBT certification. This training is offered independent of IBAO.