What is Positive Behaviour Support (PBS)?
"Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) is an approach aimed at assisting individuals to achieve sustainable changes and outcomes they value for their own lives. These changes typically involve comprehensive adjustments to the person’s environment, with the goal of improving and maintaining quality of life in the long term. Such changes are related to promoting social contexts that enhance access and participation in every-day community life, providing opportunities for genuine choice, facilitating skill development, eliminating and reducing restrictive practices that place limits on the persons freedom and human rights.
Indicators of successful PBS implementation include improvements in quality-of-life metrics, evidence of the person developing new interests and new skills, and the development or enhancement of social relationships, all through the lens of what is important for the person themselves.
PBS integrates a social and rights-based model of disability within the clinical framework of Applied Behaviour Analysis. It is an approach that can benefit anyone. In some contexts, PBS is used at a systemic level, most commonly in areas of primary and secondary prevention within educational settings. It is particularly beneficial for individuals with disabilities who experience disabling environments, which may lead to the person experiencing distressing behaviours.
The work of a PBS practitioner involves conducting detailed functional assessments—addressing an individual’s behaviours and their life circumstances—developing evidence-based, individualised plans, collaborating with families and carers, and implementing interventions that modify environments, strengthen support networks, and assist participants in developing meaningful skills aligned with their life aspirations and needs.
The broader the scope for assessing the person’s environment and co-developing interventions, the less precise and technical the intervention needs to be. Positive adjustments to disabling environments, typically create more opportunities for the person to access things that are most important for them." (Gusso & Lawson, 2025).
Reference:
Gusso, H.L., & Lawson, T. (2005). Definition of Positive Behaviour Support. In: Introduction to Positive Behaviour Support. PBS Together. https://pbstogether.com.au/course/intro-pbs
"Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) is an approach aimed at assisting individuals to achieve sustainable changes and outcomes they value for their own lives. These changes typically involve comprehensive adjustments to the person’s environment, with the goal of improving and maintaining quality of life in the long term. Such changes are related to promoting social contexts that enhance access and participation in every-day community life, providing opportunities for genuine choice, facilitating skill development, eliminating and reducing restrictive practices that place limits on the persons freedom and human rights.
Indicators of successful PBS implementation include improvements in quality-of-life metrics, evidence of the person developing new interests and new skills, and the development or enhancement of social relationships, all through the lens of what is important for the person themselves.
PBS integrates a social and rights-based model of disability within the clinical framework of Applied Behaviour Analysis. It is an approach that can benefit anyone. In some contexts, PBS is used at a systemic level, most commonly in areas of primary and secondary prevention within educational settings. It is particularly beneficial for individuals with disabilities who experience disabling environments, which may lead to the person experiencing distressing behaviours.
The work of a PBS practitioner involves conducting detailed functional assessments—addressing an individual’s behaviours and their life circumstances—developing evidence-based, individualised plans, collaborating with families and carers, and implementing interventions that modify environments, strengthen support networks, and assist participants in developing meaningful skills aligned with their life aspirations and needs.
The broader the scope for assessing the person’s environment and co-developing interventions, the less precise and technical the intervention needs to be. Positive adjustments to disabling environments, typically create more opportunities for the person to access things that are most important for them." (Gusso & Lawson, 2025).
Reference:
Gusso, H.L., & Lawson, T. (2005). Definition of Positive Behaviour Support. In: Introduction to Positive Behaviour Support. PBS Together. https://pbstogether.com.au/course/intro-pbs