What does teletherapy look like?

Before a teletherapy session, your child’s therapist will email you a secure link you can use to log in at your scheduled time. During the session, your child will work on the same goals they target during in-person sessions while participating in fun activities designed for the home environment. Here’s a peek at what a virtual session may entail:

Physical Therapy

“We work on improving skills we’ve already started learning in weeks prior,” said Grace Schibi, TPP physical therapist. “We may identify dynamic surfaces to work on within the home and create fun activities like obstacle courses with pillows, painter’s tape, and objects within the environment. It’s also a great opportunity to chat with families regarding goals and progress, as well as provide resources for community play and physical activity.”

Occupational Therapy

“Because all of our goals in OT need to be based on a functional activity/routine (teeth brushing, feeding, community engagement, play, etc.), it’s really easy to find strategies to address them in the natural environment,” said occupational therapist Courtney Van Alstine. “Teletherapy can be a wonderful way to problem solve together with families on their most challenging routines by looking at the natural environment together to see what could be modified. Some of our favorite activities are scavenger hunts, virtual escape rooms, and virtual trips to the zoo!”

Speech Therapy

“For many of my kids, teletherapy looks a lot like in-person therapy,” said TPP speech therapist Amy Wolcott. “We target skills that have already been introduced alongside fun activities like virtual snowball fights, building a monster, or ‘I Spy.’ With younger clients, teletherapy is a great opportunity to help parents identify how they can support their child’s progress in the home environment or discuss observations and questions they may have.”

Mental Health Therapy

“I think most counseling goals lend themselves well to being addressed virtually,” said TPP counselor Emily Stocking. “The change from in-person also allows us space to talk about how sometimes things in life don’t go as we expected them to, or how sometimes we have to do things differently than we planned. If we’ve been working on coping skills, we then have space to talk about how we can cope when things are different. If we are working on communication, we just adapt to practicing communication in a different way. My favorite thing to do is play an indoor scavenger hunt! They can search for a variety of things: a soft toy, a yellow toy, their favorite toy, something that makes them happy, etc. This really allows us to get a glimpse into what they find comfort in.”