Founders
Applied Behavior Consultants, Inc. was founded in 1987 by Dr. Joseph E. Morrow and Brenda Terzich-Garland. Together they vendorized with the Alta California Regional Center to provide behavioral services, and what began as a small Sacramento practice grew, over more than three decades, into a California-wide organization serving individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities — and the home of The R.E.A.L. Model™.
Leadership Today
Brenda Terzich-Garland leads Applied Behavior Consultants as its President and Chief Executive Officer. A co-founder of ABC, she is the creator of The R.E.A.L. Model™ (Recreating Environments to Accelerate Learning; Terzich-Garland, 1996) — the generalization framework at the heart of ABC's clinical programming — and the author of The R.E.A.L. Model™: Rethinking Generalization (2020). She continues to guide ABC's clinical direction, its growth, and its commitment to caring, effective ABA.
Honoring Our Co-Founder
Dr. Joseph E. Morrow co-founded Applied Behavior Consultants in 1987 and, over nearly four decades, helped build it into a trusted leader in compassionate, evidence-based ABA — serving as President and later as Chairman of the Board. A pioneer in the field, he helped establish behavior analysis as a profession in California and mentored generations of practitioners. On his retirement in 2026, ABC's leadership honored his enduring legacy.