Thrive Therapy

Are you concerned about your child’s development? Wondering if your child would benefit from one of our therapies? We are here to help! Schedule your free consultation today to learn more about our services.

We offer a free 15 minute consultation to provide an opportunity for you to meet with a therapist to discuss your concerns, ask questions about our approach to therapy, and to determine if our services are right for you.

Book today at www.thriveotns.com

Lego Therapy is back at Thrive for the summer 😄. This group will run at our Halifax Clinic!

The Lego group runs for 6 weeks. Groups of students will be between 3-4 children with the cost of the group being dependent on the number of participants. Lego therapy is great for children ages 6-12 years who have social communication difficulties. Groups are created based on children of similar ages and abilities.

If you are interested, please contact us at [email protected] or call us at 902-943-2621 to reserve your spot! 🥳

Thrive Therapy welcomes Aisha to our team 😊. Aisha is a Speech Therapist with additional training in voice, pediatric feeding, and Gestalt-Language Processing.

Aisha works with clients who may benefit from the following services:

🔹Improving the functional voice use of people who have voice disorders or those who may be at risk of developing a voice disorder (e.g. singers, teachers, actors, etc.).

🔹Having a safe space to explore and develop a voice and communication style that aligns with one’s gender identity.

🔹Increasing functional communication and self-advocacy skills for autistic clients of all ages and people who stutter.

🔹Early language development, feeding and swallowing support for caregivers and their preschool-aged children.

🔹Increasing intelligibility and language skills of school-age children and adolescents.

🔹Improving communication for those with acquired brain injuries and their communication partner(s).

You can book online with Aisha at our Halifax location or contact us to learn more!

Thrive Therapy welcomes Aisha to our team 😊. Aisha is a Speech Therapist with additional training in voice, pediatric feeding, and Gestalt-Language Processing.

Aisha works with clients who may benefit from the following services:

🔹Improving the functional voice use of people who have voice disorders or those who may be at risk of developing a voice disorder (e.g. singers, teachers, actors, etc.).

🔹Having a safe space to explore and develop a voice and communication style that aligns with one’s gender identity.

🔹Increasing functional communication and self-advocacy skills for autistic clients of all ages and people who stutter.

🔹Early language development, feeding and swallowing support for caregivers and their preschool-aged children.

🔹Increasing intelligibility and language skills of school-age children and adolescents

🔹Improving communication for those with acquired brain injuries and their communication partner(s).

You can book online with Aisha at our Halifax location or contact us to learn more!

Check out our newest blog post about strategies for encouraging children to play and talk! https://wix.to/uluSoNZ

Strategies for Encouraging Children to Play and Talk Encouraging children to play and talk can sometimes feel very challenging. A Speech Therapist can be a great resource to help provide individualized support to you and your family to address these concerns. Here are some Speech Therapy tips that you can try at home! • Turn off all distractions (e....

Meet our Speech and Language Therapist, Mary Niamh!

Mary Niamh graduated from Dalhousie University in 2022 with a Masters of Science in Speech Language Pathology. Mary Niamh has worked in a variety of settings including the public school system, virtual-based telepractice, as well hospital inpatient and outpatient settings.

Mary Niamh can assess and support the following:
🔹Speech Sound Development
🔹Early Communication Development
🔹Pre-school Language Development
🔹School-age Language Development
🔹Motor Speech
🔹Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
🔹Early and School Age Literacy
🔹Gestalt Language Processing (GLP)

Meet our Speech and Language Therapist Mary Niamh 😊!

Mary Niamh graduated from Dalhousie University in 2022 with a Masters of Science in Speech Language Pathology. Mary Niamh has worked in a variety of settings including the public school system, virtual-based telepractice, as well hospital inpatient and outpatient settings.

Mary Niamh can assess and support the following: 
🔹Speech Sound Development 
🔹Early Communication Development 
🔹Pre-school Language Development 
🔹School-age Language Development
🔹Motor Speech  
🔹Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) 
🔹Early and School Age Literacy 
🔹Gestalt Language Processing (GLP)

🎙️📢 Announcement: Introducing Speech Therapy Services at Thrive Therapy!

🌟 We are thrilled to announce the addition of Speech Therapy Services at our Bedford location, to support children of all ages to unlock their full potential in communication.

🌟 Get Started Today: If you are a parent concerned about your child’s speech development, we’re here to help you succeed!

📞 Contact Us: Call us at 902-943-2621 or visit our website for booking details at our Bedford location.

Additionally, to better reflect the services we offer, Thrive OT will be modifying it’s name to ‘Thrive Therapy’. This slight change will help to align us with our goals and mission of becoming a multidisciplinary practice, and to encompass all service offerings including Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and Sleep Consulting.

Thrive OT is excited to welcome Katy! Katy has recently moved to Nova Scotia from Ontario and we are thrilled she has joined the Thrive Occupational Therapy team 😁!

Katy graduated from Queen’s University with a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (MScOT) in 2020. She has experience working in community and hospital settings, with a wide variety of diagnoses and disabilities. Katy has been trained in various modalities including Motivational Interviewing, Supportive Communication strategies and Neuro Developmental (NDT) strategies for the upper extremity and hands.

Transitions occur when individuals must leave an environment or stop an activity to move to another. Kids are required to transition between activities/environments multiple times a day, and for some children this can be especially difficult. This can lead to resistance, avoidance, inattention, bargaining, or an emotional meltdown.

Helping a child learn how to transition without dysregulation is a fundamental life skill that often requires strategies provided by the adult to help to ensure success. An Occupational Therapist can help families navigate which strategies are right for them during difficult transitions!

Thrive Occupational Therapy is thrilled to welcome Alicia to our team, as well as to announce our new service offering - Sleep Consulting! 🚨😴 🛌

After working for almost 14 years in healthcare, and becoming a mom to three children, Alicia decided to combine her passion for sleep, helping others, and children, and received her certification as a Sleep Consultant in 2022.

Alicia believes that sleep has a significant impact on virtually every aspect of your life, and the lives of your children. When her first daughter was born, sleep became a real pain point for Alicia and her husband. Her daughter would only sleep if she was being held (contact napping) or in a moving vehicle. Alicia and her husband were exhausted, frustrated, and desperate for a solution. Due to the sleep challenges Alicia experienced as a new parent, she became passionate about the importance of great sleep for every member of the family 🌙 ⭐️.

Alicia offers a range of sleep packages, including a free 15 minute discovery call. You can find more information about Sleep Consulting services on our online booking page through the Bedford Clinic location 😃.

Welcome to the Thrive Occupational Therapy team, Jenny! 😁

Jenny graduated with a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2021. Jenny has worked with children to support the development of fine and gross motor skills to enable participation in daily activities 🥣👕🛁🚽.

Additionally, she has supported clients dealing with physical and mental health difficulties, including environmental adaptions, chronic pain, and concussion recovery.

Jenny’s therapy approach is rooted in collaboration - she strives to work with families to reach common goals and objectives. With special interests in emotional regulation and motor skill development, she is passionate about contributing positively to the lives of children and their families 🙌🌈.

Happy Valentine’s Day 🩷 & if you are in Halifax, NS, a snow day ⛄️!

Holiday’s can be a great time to try some new activities to help kids develop a range of skills.

Here are some Valentine’s day themed activities that are fun but also double as skill building activities for fine motor skills, bilateral hand skills, regulation/concentration and more! 😀

Don't forget to also follow us on Instagram to see more : )

Thrive Therapy

We are super excited that we're starting 2024 off by adding a new service to our team in order to better serve our clients 🙂.

Any guesses what service this could be? We will give you a hint ⭐️🌛🛏️

Keep an eye out on our social, website, and booking page. More details to come!

Toilet training post:

Learning to use the toilet can be challenging for children 🚽.

The task of toileting involves many steps and skills 🧻🚽🧼 . Therefore, it can be particularly challenging for children with additional needs and therefore take a long time. Every child is different, however, here are some ideas/tips to think about when you and your child starts the toileting journey!

Occupational Therapists can help families achieve toileting goals, please reach out to us if you have any questions or are interested in support! 😊

Thrive OT is looking for an OT to join our team! This position will start off part-time but steadily develop into full-time as the caseload grows.

The successful Occupational Therapist will be hired as a contractor and the caseload will primarily be working with the pediatric and adolescent population (ages 1- 18 years). There will also be opportunities to work with the adult population; however, this is not a requirement. Applicants must have access to a reliable vehicle and be willing to commute up to 2 hours outside Halifax (travel time is paid).

More information can be found on our online website, LinkedIn, and Indeed. The job posting will remain active over the holidays! Successful candidates will be contacted in the New Year to arrange interviews.

For questions or to apply, please send your resume to [email protected].

Thrive OT is so excited as LEGO® therapy is returning in the New Year on Monday evenings!

LEGO® therapy is a fun and dynamic group that uses LEGO activities to support the development of social skills. Groups run for 6 weeks in length starting January 15th at our Mumford Rd location.

Contact us for more information and to register for this next session 😃

https://www.thriveotns.com/lego-therapy

For new clients, Thrive OT offers a free 15-minute virtual / telephone consultation. This consultation can be helpful to discuss any questions you may have related to your child, whether Occupational Therapy may be a good fit, and/or which of our assessment options would be the most appropriate!

To book, head to our website, www.thriveotns.com and click “Book Now”. This will take you to our online booking site! Please select “Book an Appointment at Halifax” and then choose the “Free Consultation” session.

Children can have difficulty getting to sleep if they are not in a routine or have difficulty ‘switching off’ at night. Sensory sensitivities can contribute to challenges feeling regulated and calm to fall asleep. Lack of sleep can cause social and behavioural difficulties and can affect learning and development. Improving sleep patterns can improve daytime functioning and decrease stress.

We have some exciting Monday news! We are excited to introduce Faith as the newest member of the Occupational Therapy Team 😃

Faith graduated from Dalhousie University with a Master’s in Occupational Therapy in 2019. She began her career as an occupational therapist at a children’s rehabilitation clinic in Alberta, where she developed skills in pediatric assessment and treatment before returning to the Maritimes. Since 2019, Faith has had the opportunity to work in public and private settings with adults and children. Most recently, she has been working in community mental health with adults and brings knowledge of trauma and attachment and mental health conditions to her work with children.

Faith is committed to continuing education in order to provide better services to families. Since she obtained her Master’s, Faith has undertaken a range of professional development activities, including an Autism workshop with Kim Barthel, a postgraduate CBT certificate at Wilfred Laurier University, and ADHD training with Peg Dawson. She continues to build skills in pediatric feeding and infant milestone acquisition through self-directed coursework.

She will be seeing clients out of our Mumford and Bedford Clinic! 🙌🏾

PSA 📢🚨

October is Occupational Therapy month in Canada. Why should we spot light OTs one may ask?

Occupational Therapists (OTs) work with individuals and families to improve the underlying skills which enable participation in every day "occupations.". "Occupations" for a child include self-care skills, such as toileting 🚽, dressing 👔, and feeding🍽️; playing and socializing with friends👯‍♀️👯; leisure activities⚽️🏟️🔭; functional mobility🦯🦽🚶‍♀️ and learning activities such as writing ✍🏿and reading 📖.

An OT can support and provide recommendations for challenges of everyday life which are encountered at home, in the community, and/or within the school setting. OTs work with individuals of all ages! 🙌🏾

Please join us in celebrating Occupational Therapists across the province and Canada 🫶🏼

Its back-to-school season! 📚 ✏️ 🏫

While an exciting time of year, the transition back can come with some challenges. This is particularly true for children with additional needs.

Back to school season can be stressful as it requires dropping summers fun and flexible routine to a much more rigid one. Additionally, it often means several changes for your child. For example, the new school year typically means new teachers, classmates, and schedules.

Here are some tips you can try to help ease the transition back to school.

Attention South Shore!!! Thrive OT is thrilled to announce the newest member of our Occupational Therapy team, Heather 😀.

Heather is based in the South Shore of Nova Scotia and will be seeing clients in surrounding communities such as Bear River, Yarmouth, Digby and Annapolis Royal 🙌🏼👏🏼.

Heather received her Bachelor of Science (Occupational Therapy) from the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in 2005. She has been working since then in New Zealand and Canada helping people work towards their personal goals, particularly in community settings.

During her occupational therapy training, she enjoyed her time supporting children with their learning and personal care goals in a school setting, as well, supporting adolescents and adults with additional needs in community settings. She started her career supporting individuals with their return to work goals, and then branched out to working in an inpatient brain injury rehabilitation unit. When she moved to Canada in 2008, she found a love for concussion management when working with adolescents and assisting them towards their return to school, sports and learning goals. She has worked extensively with individuals with traumatic brain injury, mental health difficulties and chronic pain.

Lego therapy is back this fall! Located at our clinic space at the Mumford Professional Centre. Groups are starting Monday September 18th from 5:00-6:00pm. Email us at [email protected] to register or find out if this program would be right for you!

Lego therapy is back this Fall!! Contact us to learn more!!

On our one year anniversary of opening, we want to take a moment to say a huge thank you to all those who have supported and worked with us over the last year.

It has been a pleasure returning home to work with Nova Scotians to provide client centred services to enable independence in occupation 🛝✍️🚽🍽️🍼

We look forward to continuing to provide support for children, youth, and adults in our communities!

Spent a beautiful morning seeing some kiddos in Digby

Thrive Occupational Therapy continues to expand to meet the growing need for OT services across Nova Scotia! We are hiring again! Please send your resume and cover letter to [email protected]

Occupational Therapist - Pediatrics - Halifax, NS - Indeed.com Thrive Occupational Therapy