TLDR: Two decades of experience. Tax-exempt donations under Section 501(c)(3). Clinically grounded. Creatively driven.
Mission Statement:
Behavior Buffet empowers individuals with disabilities and trauma histories to live meaningful, values-driven lives through compassionate, creative, and evidence-based behavior analytic services.
Meet the Person Behind the Plate
Let’s be real: Dr. Lexy Silva Halpen didn’t set out to open a buffet, but when you’ve spent nearly two decades collecting ingredients, from youth camps and LGBTQ advocacy to higher education and clinical behavior analysis, you eventually realize you’ve got quite a spread to offer.
With a Bachelor’s in Human Development (plus minors in Gender Studies, Theatre, and Leadership, because life’s too short to pick just one), a Master’s in Higher Education Administration, Graduate Certificate in Behavior Analysis, and a PhD in Behavior Analysis from The Chicago School, Dr. Lexy’s career has always been about one thing: meeting people where they are and helping them get where they want to be because one size fits none.
Before she was Dr. Lexy, (or even Board Certified as a Behavior Analyst), she wore many hats: a camp counselor who noticed how kids lit up with the right support, a resident advisor who saw firsthand how environment shapes behavior, an LGBTQ youth services coordinator who learned that safety isn’t a given but something you build, a home-based behavior technician supporting individuals with disabilities, often sitting on living room floors, figuring it out together. She’s facilitated challenge courses, coordinated multicultural student services on college campuses, coached youth rock climbing, and yes, all of that shows up in how she practices today.
Today, as a Doctoral-level Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) and CEO of Behavior Buffet, Lexy brings nearly two decades of experience working with individuals with trauma histories, disabilities, and complex behavioral needs. But more importantly, she brings genuine curiosity, creative thinking, and a deep belief that the people she serves are the experts on their own lives.
So Why “Buffet”?
Behavior Buffet isn’t about a pre-fixed menu or a one-size-fits-all treatment plan. It’s about choice, collaboration, and building a support plan that actually works for your life, not the other way around. Some days that looks like behavior technicians on the frontlines working with youth with disabilities. Other days it looks like clay on a pottery wheel and figuring out what values-directed living means for you when the world hasn’t made it easy.
What’s on the Menu Lately
We’re thrilled to share that Behavior Buffet now has finances being managed by a fiscal sponsor that is recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3), so donations to Behavior Buffet qualify as tax deductible, a major step toward expanding access to creative, trauma-assumed behavior analytic services. And coming very soon? A partnership with a newly opening pottery studio to offer therapeutic clay classes.
Think: hands-on, messy, grounding, and impressively effective. (Yes, there will be clay. Yes, you can get your hands dirty. Yes, it’s backed by behavior science.) Dr. Lexy’s PhD dissertation explored using Acceptance Commitment Therapy with clay to increase values-directed behavior in adults with psychological distress, and now that work is finding a home off the page and into the studio.
We’re currently seeking donations to support this new programming. Because everyone deserves access to services that honor their whole story, and sometimes, that story needs to get a little muddy.
Clinically grounded. Creatively driven. And yes, there will be seconds!