Team

Stephanie is passionate about making a difference in the lives of children. She takes a great interest in each individual family and in choosing a therapy approach that targets the goals of the child while meeting each family’s needs. She loves seeing the joy in each child as they develop skills and achieve their goals. Steph has experience working with children with a range of differing disabilities within a paediatric setting. Her areas of interest include, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Down syndrome, genetic conditions (including chromosomal abnormalities), global developmental delay, learning difficulties, handwriting, toileting, sensory processing, self-regulation and functional fine-motor skills. In her spare time, Steph enjoys spending time with her family, water-skiing, travelling, and working in her garden.

Fiona loves working with children and seeing them grow and develop, both in skills and confidence. Fiona is trained in the areas of Autism, sensory processing, aquatic therapy, feeding therapy, wheelchair and home modification prescription, handwriting, self-regulation and physical movement difficulties including DCD; cerebral palsy, down syndrome and chromosomal deletions. As a mother of 3, Fiona understands the challenges that come with raising children and is practical in her therapy delivery as well as being loads of fun!

Lauren has a Masters in Occupational Therapy Practice and a Bachelor of Physiotherapy. She began working at The Therapy Place in 2018 and is passionate about working collaboratively with children, young people and their families, to reach their full potential. She aims to empower her clients to increase their confidence and abilities in order to engage in meaningful occupations. She has a particular interest in working with children and adolescents on social skills and life skills.

Bettina is an Occupational Therapist who joined the Therapy Place team in early 2021. She has worked previously with older adults but has loved her recent transition to working with children of all ages and abilities. She has key interests in handwriting and fine motor skill development. She prides herself on working to make therapy fun and engaging and is passionate about helping each child develop their confidence and independence whilst achieving their goals. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her boys, being outdoors, reading and baking.

Jacqui has had a passion for paediatrics her whole life, and has been working as an Occupational Therapist for 2 years prior to joining The Therapy Place in 2021. She has completed continuing education in Food Therapy, Reflex Integration and Handwriting. She enjoys working with a range of ages and abilities to help them to function as independently as possible in their daily lives. In her spare time Jacqui loves reading, spending time at the beach, and dancing.

Rebecca is an occupational therapist who joined The Therapy Place late last year. After several years of teaching children’s music classes, Rebecca found her passion in the field of paediatrics. She is looking forward to working with our families to help them achieve their goals. Rebecca believes in the importance of getting to know each child and their family holistically, to create therapy plans that match their unique needs. Additionally, Rebecca enjoys being active and is excited to be a part of our SPLASH swimming and SWISH basketball programs. She hopes that her work will enable more children to enjoy and participate in daily life to their full potential.

Upon completion of her Bachelor of Occupational Therapy at La Trobe University, Tania spent time working in the UK in various OT positions. On her return, she worked for many years in community health in the Yarra Ranges, specialising in the prescription of equipment and home modifications. Tania works in another role as the OT at The Aurora School for the Deaf, a specialist early education program. She loves to work with children of all ages, using her vast experience in the areas of motor skills, social-emotional development, and daily living skills. When she is not working as an OT, she enjoys spending time with her family, travelling and teaching yoga.

Amy completed her Bachelor of Occupational Therapy in 2018. Since graduating, Amy has worked in Community Disability and in the Special Developmental School setting prior to moving to private practice. Amy is passionate about working with children and their families to develop independence and confidence in their daily life and of course, making therapy fun! She has key interests and experience in sensory regulation, handwriting, functional independence and fine motor skills. Amy enjoys going to the beach and spending time with her friends and family in her spare time when she is not helping others at The Therapy Place.

I am passionate about helping children to grow and develop the skills they need to participate in their daily activities. I love working with families to support their children to reach their full potential. I value my relationships with my family, friends and colleagues as it helps me to understand how to work as a team. I love baking, taking photographs, going to the beach and hiking with my friends in my spare time.

Matthew completed a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy at Australian Catholic University and is a registered member of Occupational Therapy Australia. He has a passion for working with children, youth and their families following many years of experience running games and programs at a youth group and coaching basketball teams. Matthew is passionate about helping young people with achieving their goals in a holistic and friendly way with the aim of developing independence. When Matthew is not working at The Therapy Place, he is playing basketball, watching movies, or playing board games with friends.

Courtney is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD) and a La Trobe University graduate (Bachelor of Health Science and Master of Dietetic Practice). She has extensive experience in nutrition assessment, coaching and family intervention. Courtney's specialises in working with fussy eating, size-inclusive diets, ARFID, neurodivergent people and healthy growth curve establishment. Courtney operates as the head of our Multidisciplinary Feeding Clinic and Dietetics Team. Courtney enjoys swimming, singing, historic novels, TV shows (e.g. the Office, Brooklyn 99, Big Bang Theory) music (especially T-Swift and Broadway), and hanging out with her dog, Rosie.

Elisa is an Accredited Practising Dietitian who has been working with children and their families since 1998.She brings extensive paediatric nutrition skills to The Therapy Place, having worked for many years at The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne and Monash Health Community. Her areas of interest include picky feeding, fussy eating, faltering growth, allergy and intolerance (including FODMAP’S), weight management, infant feeding, and general childhood nutrition. She is passionate about helping families establish happy mealtimes and healthy relationships with food. As a Mum of two Elisa understands the challenges of feeding a family whilst maintaining your sense of humour!

Lauren has a background in Early Childhood Intervention and has also worked extensively in the area of Autism Spectrum Disorder. With over 15 years in Paediatrics, Lauren is an experienced Speech Pathologist who brings creativity and innovation to her role! Lauren is particularly passionate about Social Thinking (TM) and Executive Function. She has experience in running school-readiness and school age social skills groups and also works with teens and young adults developing their functional literacy skills. Lauren enjoys integrating technology and AAC into her therapy and working collaboratively with her fantastic team! Lauren also conducts Autism Assessments and SOS feeding therapy. In her spare time Lauren enjoys dancing, yoga, doing puzzles and spending time with her nephews and niece.

Samantha graduated in 1998. She has worked in a variety of settings including schools, early intervention and private practice. Her special areas of interest are Early Intervention, Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) systems, Dyspraxia, language learning as well as social learning and thinking. Samantha is passionate about working with AAC and has experience with PODD, Proloquo2 Go and LAMP. She supports families from the introduction of AAC to clients with more advanced skills. Outside of work she enjoys gardening, learning languages and watching movies.

Sarah completed a Bachelor of Speech Pathology at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne and is a registered member of Speech Pathology Australia. She is passionate about working with children and families, and aims to support children to reach their full potential. Sarah has previously gained experience working as a Disability Support Worker which sparked her passion to work alongside families to ensure communication goals are functional and family centred. Sarah enjoys working in the areas of speech, language, early communication skills and social communication. She has a special interest in Alternative and Augmentative Communication (ACC). In her spare time, Sarah loves spending time with friends and family and going on trips to the beach.

Amy completed her Bachelor of Applied Science and Master of Speech Pathology degrees at La Trobe University. She developed her passion for working with children following six years of experience as a gymnastics coach. Amy is passionate about working with children and their families to support them in achieving their communication goals through holistic and fun therapy sessions. When she is not working as a Speech Pathologist, Amy enjoys going for walks, being upside down and relaxing with a good book or tv show.

Bethany graduated from La Trobe University with a Bachelor of Applied Science and Master of Speech Pathology. Bethany was born and raised in Malaysia, giving her an understanding of different cultures and backgrounds. She is also bilingual as she speaks both English and Mandarin. As a speech pathologist, Bethany understands that communication comes in different shapes and sizes. Hence, her passion lies in providing fun and functional therapy tailored for children. On the weekends, Bethany likes spending her time building mechanical keyboards, going on walks and playing badminton with her family.

Pippa is passionate about working with children, adolescents and their families in addressing sensory processing difficulties, expanding communication and social-emotional goals. Pippa has previously gained experience working with kids with variety of needs through swim teaching and respite camps. She plans on pursuing a Masters of Occupational Therapy to develop her skills. She prides herself on her ability to build a strong rapport with the children she works with and the ability to collaborate with their families to achieve outcomes. Pippa is passionate about empowering children to reach their full potential, and aims to do so in a supportive, fun, and engaging way.

Lisa thoroughly enjoys working at The Therapy Place in the role of Therapy Assistant. For the past twenty-five years she has worked as an Early Childhood Teacher of deaf and hearing-impaired children. Lisa has worked in a variety of educational settings within Victoria, interstate and overseas. She is passionate about supporting the learning and growth of each child through play, song, movement and reading books with engaging props. Lisa values the importance of working collaboratively with parents and care-givers; both in the home and in the clinic. Along with her husband and two children she enjoys bushwalking, camping and holidaying in Sydney to visit family.

Susan is a member of the administration team and is one of the friendly faces you will see when arriving at The Therapy Place. She has previously worked as an integration aide. Susan, along with the others in the admin team look after invoicing, receipting payments, answering the phones and any queries people may have. She loves getting to know all the families who come to the clinic. At home she enjoys bike riding, reading and watching too much TV.

Katrina is one of the administration staff at The Therapy Place. Katrina is married with four children. Given her family situation, she is very engaged with and interested in the types of therapies provided at the clinic, and has loved seeing the dedication and care of all our therapists and how well the team works together.

Marice is a dedicated member of our administration team who works remotely from her home in the country. Marice has been with The Therapy Place since it’s beginning and has remained a dedicated part of the team since. Marice's responsibilities include marking off payments and invoices so you may get a message from her if there are any payment queries. In her spare time, Marice enjoys reading, watching TV and looking after the farm animals!