Rachel Yosick, PsyD, BCBA-D

Program Director, Psychologist

Assistant Professor, Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics

Rachel Yosick, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist and board-certified behavior analyst at the doctoral level. Dr. Yosick serves as the Clinical Director for the Skill Acquisition program at Marcus Autism Center and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine.

The Skill Acquisition program expanded to include three sites within the Atlanta area in 2020 and 2021 and currently serves more than 80 children and their families. In her role as Clinical Director, Dr. Yosick oversees the work of teams of behavior analysts, registered behavior technicians, psychologists and various trainees who provide intensive therapeutic services to children with autism to improve social communication and foundational learning skills.

Dr. Yosick's research interests include teaching strategies for promoting early language, play and social skills, as well as the dissemination of best behavioral intervention practices to a wide array of professionals. She is involved in ongoing projects investigating challenges and barriers to naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention (NDBI) implementation and adoption in clinical settings and is passionate about advancing the field of applied behavior analysis to provide neurodiversity-affirming and trauma-informed care. She also has several projects investigating ways to reduce significant learning barriers in children significantly impacted by autism, such as having very few interests and reinforcers.

Representative Publications

• Yosick, R. and Gerencser, K.R. (2025). Assessment of Intervention Outcomes of Minimally Verbal Autistic Children: Challenges and Opportunities. Mind, Brain, and Education. doi:10.1111/mbe.70029
• Yosick, R., Argueta, T., Hodnett, J. and Gerencser, K.R. (2024). Reinforcer Testing for Minimally Verbal Children with Autism. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities. doi: 10.1007/s10882-024-09993-1
• Pickard, K., Islam, N., Green, N., Chatson, E., Kuhn, J., and Yosick, R. (2024). The Challenges Associated with Unlearning: Barriers to Implementing Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions in ABA Settings. Behavior Analysis in Practice. doi:10.1007/s40617-024-01011-2

Speaking Engagements

• Green, N., Gerencser, K., Yosick, R. Jimenez-Gomez, C., Sansing, E., Silbert, A., and Argueta, T. (2025). “Comparison of Pairing Procedures to Establish Conditioned Reinforcers” poster presented at the Women in Behavior Analysis Conference, Atlanta, Georgia.
• Verdun, V., Yosick, R., Naresh, A., and Conine, D. E. (2025, May 24-26). “Incidental Bidirectional Naming and the Emergence of Listener and Tact Relations” presentation. Teaching Tacts and Naming Relations in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Symposium. Association for Behavior Analysis International, Washington, D. C.
• Verdun, V., Schexnayder, L., Yosick, R., Naresh, A. and Conine. D. E. (2025, May 24–26). “Emergent Listener and Tact Relations Among Children Using Speech-Generating Devices” presentation. Teaching Tacts and Naming Relations in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder [Symposium]. Association for Behavior Analysis International, Washington, D. C.
• Pickard, K. and Yosick, R. (2024). “Strategies to More Efficiently and Effectively Deliver NDBI in ABA Clinic Settings” oral presentation at the NDBI Connections virtual conference.