Briana Mourao, M.A., BCBA, LBA
Briana Mourao, M.A., BCBA, LBA, is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst with nearly eight years of experience in the field of behavior analysis, including the last two years in her current role as a BCBA. She provides remote behavioral health services with Kinfolk ABA and Bright Achievements, delivering individualized, data driven treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families. Her career is rooted in Applied Behavior Analysis, where she designs and oversees behavioral intervention plans focused on skill acquisition, behavior reduction, and improved independence across home, school, and community settings. Briana holds a Master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis and is deeply committed to providing ethical, compassionate, and evidence based behavioral care.
Briana’s professional journey to becoming a BCBA was highly dedicated and nontraditional. She completed her entire master’s program, accumulated 3,000 supervised clinical hours, and passed one of the most rigorous certification exams in the country while simultaneously being pregnant with and raising two young children. She is currently 35 weeks pregnant with her third child, further reflecting her resilience and commitment to balancing family and career. She works remotely for two organizations, one based in North Carolina and one in New Jersey, allowing her to support diverse client populations across different geographic and environmental settings, from urban apartment communities to suburban residential neighborhoods. Her daily clinical work includes supervising behavioral technicians, developing intervention programs, reviewing progress data, and coaching families on everything from basic activities of daily living (ADLs) and motor skills to complex behavioral challenges. A core focus of her work is helping parents move from reactive responses to proactive strategies by teaching them to identify early precursors to challenging behaviors and intervene before escalation occurs.
Prior to becoming a BCBA, Briana spent six years working as a Registered Behavioral Technician (RBT), providing hands on behavioral support to children across the autism spectrum, including nonverbal children with significant functional needs as well as higher functioning children who may have been misunderstood without proper behavioral context. She worked with clients ranging from 18 months to 18 years old, helping support communication, mobility, feeding independence, and social development. Briana’s passion for behavioral health began in high school through her volunteer work with Best Buddies International, an inclusive program supporting children with developmental and physical differences. That experience inspired her lifelong commitment to serving individuals who need additional support to communicate and thrive. She later earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of North Florida in 2019, discovered ABA while working at the Florida Autism Center, where she was supported in obtaining her RBT certification, and later gained extensive clinical experience at Mandala Family Wellness, where she completed the majority of her supervised hours before becoming certified. Briana completed her Master’s degree from the Florida Institute of Technology in May 2023, one month before the birth of her son, and successfully passed her BCBA certification exam in January 2024. She remains motivated by the belief that many children who are mislabeled as “difficult” or “different” often have underlying cognitive and functional needs that, when properly supported, can be transformed into meaningful skill development and improved quality of life.
• Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA)
• Registered Behavioral Therapist
• Florida Institute of Technology - MS, Applied Behavior Analysis
• University of North Florida - BS, Psych
• Bachelor of Applied Science - BS, Psych
• Volunteer at
Best Buddies International
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my husband and my mother-in-law. I know that sounds emotional, and I'm 35 weeks pregnant so forgive the tears, but finding my husband at the time I did was truly by the grace of God. He supported me financially through school - I wouldn't have been able to even afford it without him. When I needed to stop working to finish collecting my hours and take care of our two babies, he told me, 'I know that you can do this, I know that you are very smart, and you've already proven how hardworking you are by finishing your program. You didn't come this far to only come this far, so we can buckle down, we can do it, we can get through it.' And we did - we sold his truck and went down to one family vehicle, I made chicken, rice, and vegetables every night because it was the cheapest thing, and he worked overtime shifts on top of his regular job as a sheriff's deputy, literally risking himself extra just to support our family. My mother-in-law has been equally amazing - she's retired and helped us with childcare so we didn't have to pay for daycare, which was huge financially. I know a lot of people don't have the best mother-in-laws, but mine is truly amazing. Just a few months ago, my husband and I were going over our finances and he said, 'I just feel like we made it. We took a deep breath,' and it was worth it. We suffered for those two years, but we made it through together. Without their sacrifices and belief in me, I wouldn't have been able to amount to anything. The people who do this on their own are even more admirable, because I barely made it through with help - I wouldn't have been able to do it without them.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best piece of advice I've ever received is to compartmentalize things. Don't look at the overwhelming journey from A to Z and think, 'Oh my god, that's going to be so hard.' Instead, separate it into smaller increments. Break it down into a simple, step-by-step plan. I remember telling my supervisor once that I was struggling because I had so much to do and didn't know how to get it all done, and they said, 'Okay, well, let's break it down.' It was like a lightbulb moment - it just makes everything feel so much more accomplishable when you break it down to the simplest form. This applies to anything in life, not just work. If my house is a wreck and I'm overwhelmed, I ask myself, 'What can I do right now? Well, first, let me just do the dishes.' I'm very Type A and I have to have a plan to get things done, or I get so overwhelmed that I end up doing nothing. I'll just say, 'I'll do it tomorrow,' and then it never gets done. So breaking things down into manageable steps has been absolutely crucial to my success.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't wait. The field is constantly changing. They actually just came out with new, updated requirements starting for the 2027 year, and they're always updating and changing rules, regulations, the amount of hours required, how you can obtain them, and all these fine print things that matter. I was reading over the new requirements recently, and if they had been in place when I was going through the process, I probably would have been like, 'Oh my god, can I do this?' because they're just making it harder. I think it's good in some ways because it keeps people accountable and makes sure our field isn't getting a mass influx of people who just want a quick-fix job, but at the same time, it is harder. So don't wait, because if these are the new requirements now, what are they going to do again in another 4 years? The field used to allow you to collect indirect and direct hours by working as an RBT or even just providing support for a family with behavior issues, and now it's like, nope, you can only do X, Y, and Z, and these are the only things you can do. They're making it a lot more strict and stringent, which makes it harder on the applicant. So my advice is: if you're interested in this field, start now. Don't put it off, because the barriers to entry are only getting higher.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge in my field right now is adequately preparing yourself and following the strict rules of the board. A lot of people don't take it seriously enough, and then they pay for it in the long run by not being able to pass the exam. The BCBA exam is actually listed as equally, if not harder, than the LSAT exam to get into law school, and you can only take it a total of 8 times. If you fail it 8 times, they discredit all your hours and everything, and you have to start over from scratch. I'm on a lot of Facebook pages from when I was going through the process, and I see people posting things like, 'I just took it my seventh time and failed. I don't even know what to do. I can't fathom if I fail again.' It's heartbreaking because people spend 3 to 4 years going through their program and collecting hours, and then they have nothing to show for it. The exam itself isn't just straightforward questions - it's analytical and scenario-based. You have to really know the material, understand it, and be able to apply it to real-life situations. Rules are there for a reason, not just to cause issues or make it harder, but people aren't taking it seriously. There are companies like Study Notes ABA that have created programs to help people pass, and I used them and did pass, so they can help. But the bottom line is that you have to put in the work and really commit to learning the material, not just checking boxes to say you've done something.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me in my work and personal life are perseverance, being humble, and working hard. Perseverance is huge for me - my biggest thing that I always tell myself, my family, and my kids is that I don't like hearing 'I can't.' You can say it's hard, you can struggle, you can say it's frustrating, but I don't accept 'I can't.' You have to keep pushing through. Being humble is equally important to me. I'm never looking for a pat on the back or bragging rights. Quite frankly, no one in my family really knew how well I was doing in my career until my mother-in-law saw my W-2 this year when she was submitting our taxes. She said, 'Brianna, do you realize how much you made this year, or what you did?' And I was like, 'I'm not over here slaving away working non-stop for nothing,' but at the same time, it's not like I walk around telling people. How do you just put that on a t-shirt? You know, it sounds cliche, but stay humble and work hard. Those values have carried me through everything - through having two kids while completing my master's program, through passing one of the hardest exams in the country, and through building a career I truly love while still being present for my family.