When a child is struggling academically, socially or while engaging in daily activities, a parent may experience feelings of fear, guilt and concern. What course of action should the parent take?

When the parent looks for professional support in addressing the child’s challenges, they should locate a practice that:

has many years of experience working with a variety of developmental issues,

has a warm, dedicated, and qualified staff who have exposure to a wide range of issues,

offers convenient options for therapy times and settings,

will help their child not just adapt to their challenges but surmount them, and

accepts most major insurance plans.

In short, they’re looking for a practice like The Therapy Place.

The Therapy Place was founded by Leah Gross, an occupational therapist who has over 10 years of experience. The Therapy Place was initially established in Lakewood and has grown to three locations in Ocean County. It currently has a staff of 20 therapists and services students in 50 schools.

Three years ago, at the request of administrators of Yeshiva Shaarei Tzion of Middlesex County, The Therapy Place began providing services to the yeshiva’s students. The Therapy Place gradually developed a broad client base and branched out throughout Central New Jersey. In the fall of this year, The Therapy Place established a central office in Highland Park. The practice now provides services to clients at multiple schools: Shaarei Tzion (in the boys school, the girls school and the preschool), Netivot, the Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva and in the Jewish Educational Center.

The Therapy Place provides occupational and speech therapy services for children struggling with swallowing, social interactions, voice issues, reading comprehension, developing writing skills, articulation, tongue thrust, executive functioning, processing sensory information, expressive and receptive language, mobility, and functionality at home and in the classroom. The Therapy Place’s therapists collaborate with parents and teachers to solve the challenges children face on a daily basis.

Their occupational therapy department works to improve gross motor skills, which aid and strengthen a child’s ability to walk, run, climb, jump and move about. These abilities facilitate a more successful and enjoyable recess! In many cases, the therapists work with behavioral and attention difficulties. These therapies concentrate on improving the ability to follow multi-step directions, executive function, auditory processing and sensory regulation.

The speech therapy department at The Therapy Place works with children to solve communication challenges—both expressive and receptive—that cause children to have difficulty with verbal communication. They also treat oral motor concerns such as chewing and swallowing, as well as articulation, auditory processing and social skills.

One of the things that makes The Therapy Place unique is that it offers two treatment options: an in-school model and an out-patient model in their offices. They offer both weekday and Sunday appointments that suit the schedules of busy families.

Drawing on the depth of their staff and years of service, The Therapy Place has experience with complex situations, spectrum diagnoses and more focused challenges. They recognize that in each situation the parents, the environment and the emotional needs of the child are different, and solutions must be tailored to address those factors.

Initial evaluations typically take about one hour and are done in the practice’s offices. This is followed by a more thorough assessment that includes observation of the child in school settings, input from teachers and other criteria. Gross stresses that while therapy plans are specific, there is constant reassessment as treatment proceeds and new factors become evident.

The goal of each treatment plan is to help the child reach age-appropriate skills and become as self-sufficient as possible. “We treat to heal, not just to manage,” said Gross. The Therapy Place provides parents with recommendations and simple exercises for the child that can be easily implemented at home. If the parents make sure their children complete their take-home activities regularly, the exercises reinforce the therapy plans and accelerate the necessary adaptations.

“Our relationship with The Therapy Place is a triple win for us,” said Meryl Silver, service coordinator at the Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva. “Providing services on site is a major convenience for our working parents. Our students receive therapy during the school day, so they can march right back into their classrooms and employ a new strategy. And our teachers love the collaborative spirit of our wonderful therapists who provide immediate and relevant suggestions for them to use in the classroom on a regular basis. Who could ask for more?”

The Therapy Place accepts most major insurances. For 2019, they are in network with all Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans (i.e., Horizon, Horizon Omnia, Empire, Care First and others), Oscar and Qualcare.

To learn more about The Therapy Place, visit the website at www.therapyplacenj.com or 732-813-4263.