Amanda Nicolson, Ph.D, BCBA-D received her M.A. in Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1998, and her Ph.D. from Florida State University in 2000. She became a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst in 2000. Early experience includes being the director for services for ABC School in Sacramento and the lead behavior analyst for Washoe County School District in Reno, NV. In 2006 Dr. Nicolson moved to Fresno, CA to accept a faculty position at Fresno State. Over 8 years as a professor in the Psychology department, she received two Provost awards, served as the coordinator for the Master’s program in ABA and founded the autism center at Fresno State. After receiving tenure and promotion and growing the Fresno State Autism Center to a booming clinical training center, Dr. Nicolson moved into community practice in the central valley developing 3 autism centers in the area over the past several years. Dr. Nicolson has also been a school consultant for over a decade, working in over 30 districts across the state to provide consulting services to school districts in several capacities including training for school teams and serving as an independent evaluator for districts and families. Dr. Nicolson has performed Independent Educational Evaluations in over 30 districts across the State of California in the areas of Functional Behavior Assessment and Behavior Plans, Autism, and evaluation for placement in least restrictive setting and IEP evaluation and consultation. In 2021, she founded Education Behavior Consultants (EBC) to bring together a diverse team of professionals with background and training that focus specifically on the needs of students in schools. The EBC team currently serves over 50 students in the public school setting. Dr. Nicolson has also been prominent in her professional community. She served on the California ABA Board of Directors and held the position of President for 2021-2022. She has published peer-reviewed articles, magazine columns, and book chapters and regularly presents at regional and national conferences. Dr. Nicolson has traveled to Bosnia, Jordan and the country of Georgia to work on autism projects in those countries. On a personal note, she is the mother of two, a huge movie buff, teaches yoga and fitness, and loves traveling!

Dr. Nicolson is not a licensed clinical psychologist. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, which is a qualification for a different specialty area of practice.