The Therapy Village
Helping Early Intervention Occupational Therapists lessen the overwhelm to become confident parent coaches so children and families achieve better outcomes.
Ask yourself these questions...
Do you wish you were more confident in your parent coaching and Early Intervention skills?
Are you overwhelmed with planning your therapy sessions because you’re confused about how to embed coaching principles into everyday routines?
Are you tired of spending all your free time scrolling the internet for resources and parent education handouts?
Do you wish you could consistently chat with a mentor to discuss challenging cases and other field-related concerns?
Do you want to learn in the comfort of your own home on your own time and not have to take off days from work to learn new skills?
Do you want to make a bigger difference in your client’s life?
Did you answer YES to any of the above questions?
Then, The Therapy Village is for you!
Imagine a program where you:
Get mentorship about your specific caseload so that you feel inspired and confident.
Grow your Early Intervention expertise through masterclasses, guest interviews, mini-lessons, and mentorship.
Save time and provide better quality OT with done-for-you resources.
It’s the place to find new ideas, ask questions, and find inspiration for your EI Occupational Therapy practice...without any judgment.
Who is the Therapy Village good for? Occupational Therapists …
Who serve children from birth-5 years using a family-centered approach or that want to transition to a family-centered approach.
Who are new to Early Intervention practice and want more support with their caseload, questions, and learning.
Who want to increase skills from the comfort of home.
Who want to save time finding solutions and resources.
Who are passionate about a holistic approach to intervention and want to meet each family “where they are at”.
Basically, if you’re a passionate Early Intervention OT and you’re looking for resources and support to elevate your practice, you’re in the right place. From new grad to experienced clinician — we all need support and new ideas. The main criteria is to leave judgment at the door and enter with an open mind.
“I recently had the privilege of being mentored by Melanie in using the parent coaching model of providing early-intervention/pediatric therapy. It was a new concept to me, even with 10 years experience in this setting. Thanks to her guidance and inspiring example of the effectiveness of this model, it is now my primary approach to care. I’d recommend any opportunities to learn with Melanie! ”
Here’s what you get inside The Therapy Village:
Masterclasses, Mini-lessons, and Guest Interviews
Delivered by Melanie and experienced EI practitioners in various niches (Pre-recorded so that members can access it at their convenience).
Our EI masterclasses give you enough information to be able to apply concepts in your practice without the overwhelm! The focus is on increasing your confidence to problem solve with families to find do-able strategies. You set the pace and choose which masterclasses are most important to your practice!
Some of our masterclasses include:
How to help picky eaters
Parent coaching
Behavior 101
Sensory Processing
Some of our guest interviews include:
Autism with guest speaker Meg Proctor, MS, OTR/L from Learn Play Thrive, LLC
How to use green screen in EI with Kylie Jeffrey from Play Spark Toys
Reflexes with guest speaker Christine Robenault, PT from Sweet Pea Pediatric Wellness
Breastfeeding/Bottle Feeding with guest speaker Meredith Pollaro, OTR/L, IBCLC from Nourish Nevada
Some of our mini-lessons include:
Writing daily EI notes
Getting started with sensory interventions
Working with medically fragile children
Considerations for children with sleep disturbances
Engaging children with limited attention/play skills.
Flexible 1:1 mentorship
Seriously, I wish I had this when I was a new therapist! Learning the material is one thing, but putting it into practice is another. How often have you attended a continuing education conference, thought it was great, and then never implemented a single thing into your practice? I’m guilty of it a thousand times over! I’ve grown the most professionally when I’ve worked alongside experienced therapists so I could ask loads of questions, receive feedback, and collaborate. A huge part of learning how to effectively coach parents is experiencing it for yourself. This is what I model in our 1:1 sessions. We are better together! Mentorship is available with Melanie via phone most mornings from 7-8 am EST or 4-5 pm EST when you schedule at least 24 hours in advance.
Done-for-you resources
Resources will focus on helping Early Interventionists to become confident using the coaching model and using everyday items during their sessions (so you can finally feel confident ditching that therapy bag!). There are resources to help educate parents, target developmental skills, and ideas for in-person, and teletherapy sessions. There are also many themed digital resources to use during teletherapy sessions. These will save you so much time and prevent you from re-inventing the wheel! This resource will grow over time and group members are encouraged to share resources or submit ideas for needed resources too! You will have access to all the new resources as a Therapy Village member.
Private FB Group
This group is meant to establish a strong sense of community to ask questions, seek clarification, encourage each other, and collaborate with other group members to gain additional support and resources.
The place where you can feel safe asking questions and get REAL answers from Early Intervention therapists.
“I had the pleasure of working with and learning from Melanie when we worked together in a birth-3 program in Colorado. Melanie is a phenomenal, well- rounded Occupational Therapist. She works hard to provide individualized therapy to the children on her caseload and guides parents on successful strategies for their child’s development with ease. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to any family in need of services. Melanie is an asset to families and therapists alike.”
“Thank you so much for starting this group. It really came as a wonderful resource and support when I made a transition in my career. I am so thankful.
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“Just wanted to let you know how thankful I have been for the Therapy Village!!! Just hit my one year mark as an OT in July and I could not have made it without the EI resources and support I found, and was so helped out by this community you have created.”
FAQ’s
What happens after I sign up?
You will receive a unique password and username to access the member site. You will get access to all of the masterclasses, guest interviews, mini-lessons, digital products, resources, and parent handouts immediately. This is NOT a course so content does not need to be viewed in a specific order. Choose the topics that are of interest to you and that you want to learn about first.
What is included in The Therapy Village?
Content of the membership includes short pre-recorded masterclasses, mini-lessons, guest interviews, digital products, therapist resources, and parent education handouts. Content is pre-recorded so you can listen to it at home from your laptop, on your way to work on your mobile phone, or while multitasking around the house. As long as you are a Therapy Village member you have access to the content so you can go back and listen as many times as needed. Masterclasses, mini-lessons, and guest interviews will ONLY be available for viewing as long as you are a Therapy Village member. Digital products, resources, and parent handouts CAN be downloaded and kept forever! Ideas for new resources and parent handouts are always encouraged! You will also be invited to schedule a monthly mentorship call with Melanie where you can further your learning, ask questions, and seek additional resources. In addition, you are invited to join our private Facebook group to have access to Melanie and other Therapy Village members to ask questions and share EI field-related topics.
Can students join the membership?
Absolutely! This membership will cover topics that probably were not covered at your university. The information and support from other OTs are invaluable for any student who is hoping to practice in Early Intervention after they graduate. It's also an awesome thing to put on your resume when applying for that first job!
Are scholarships available?
Yes! Limited, sliding scale scholarships are available for new EI practitioners (new grad or experienced OT new to EI). If this sounds like you, please message me with some details about you at melanie@growinglittlebrains.com.
How do I request accommodations for special needs?
Email me at melanie@growinglittlebrains.com to discuss your needs before registering and I will work with you to provide needed accommodations per ADA.
Can I share a subscription with a friend?
No. Each subscription is for one therapist only. Sharing of subscriptions is strictly prohibited. This is an incredible offer at an unbelievably low price.
How long will I have access to the membership content?
As long as you are a good-standing Therapy Village member you have access to all the masterclasses, guest interviews, and pre-recorded videos. The parent handouts and activities can be downloaded for use with your caseload only and are yours for lifetime access once downloaded. The masterclasses, pre-recorded videos, and guest interviews are NOT permitted to be downloaded or saved.
Can I cancel my membership at any time?
Yes. You may cancel at any time. We are happy to refund your money within 30 days of initial purchase if you feel The Therapy Village is not the right fit for you. We only ask that you complete a short survey to give us feedback on how to improve the membership before issuing your refund. But..we think you're gonna love it and stay for a while :)
Who do I contact with additional questions?
Contact Melanie at melanie@growinglittlebrains.com.