MEET OUR STAFF
ABBEY
Abbey is the owner and creator of Kids Thrive. A graduate of Tufts University, Abbey has practiced Occupational Therapy for over 30 years. She began her career working with neurologically involved clients and worked at New York Hospital until 1994. Abbey was an Adjunct Professor in the graduate program of the Occupational Therapy department at New York University for 16 years specializing in Perception and Cognition. With an extensive background in sensory processing disorder, Abbey has also given basic and advanced workshops to schools and at conferences. She has advanced training in Sensory Processing, the Safe and Sound Protocol, Integrated Listening, Therapeutic Listening, Rhythmic Movement (RMTi), Neurodevelopmental Treatment, Handwriting without Tears and many more.
BARBARA
After many years working in New York City hospitals (NYU/Rusk Institute and New York Hospital and Cornell Medical Center), I worked in Westport, CT where I had my own practice for 12 years.
What I do for fun: Lots of individual sports including skiing, bike riding, cooking, spending time with my husband, 2 adult children and 2 elderly dogs.
My superpower is: EMPATHY
CAROLINE
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Experience: Caroline has clinical experience in a variety of settings and loves working at KidsThriveNYC.
She has completed training in the Safe and Sound Protocol and approaches in Interoception.
CINDY
Cindy is the Office Manager at KidsThrive. She has been with KidsThrive for over three years, starting as a student shadowing after receiving her BS in Exercise Science. Cindy aspires to become an occupational therapist as she is very passionate and driven to help others.
EMILY
Emily has over 3 years of experience in outpatient pediatric, home-based and school-based services. She has specialized training in Therapeutic Listening®, primitive reflex integration and sensory integration. Emily is deeply passionate about working with children, aiming to enhance their confidence and help them become the most successful and functional versions of themselves.
She believes that the best outcomes are achieved by building strong, individualized relationships with each unique child and maintaining open communication with parents and caregivers, ensuring continued success beyond the therapy sessions.
As a former gymnast, Emily understands the critical role that movement, just-right challenges and diverse environments play in a child’s physical, cognitive and emotional development. She values client-centered interventions that incorporate both fun and play!
ERIN
Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, I moved to New York in 2021 after graduating with my OTD degree. I work full time at The McCarton Center, a non-profit organization in the Bronx serving families with autistic children. I have 3.5 years in Early Intervention work, both in a center based setting as well as home settings. I have a DIR 101 as well as SSP certification, and my current work focuses on polyvagal theory and sensorimotor integration as a means to regulation and independence. I use a play-based and relational approach in my therapy and believe that connection above all else will support progress.
HALEY
Haley has been working as an OT for over 10 years!
In addition to the fun she has at KidsThrive, she also works at a school for students with special needs in NJ. Haley has completed continuing education in Handwriting Without Tears, Keyboarding Without Tears, Brain Gym, Alert Program, iLs and SSP.
MAGGIE
I have been working as a pediatric OT since 1992. I began my career at a Blythedale Children’s Hospital which is a pediatric rehabilitation hospital. I moved from there to Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC where I worked in acute care pediatrics including the pediatric ICU, cardiac ICU and NICU. I also spent 5 years working at an Early Intervention. CPSE preschool as the supervisor of the OT’s and PT’s.
Since having my children, I have worked at Kids Thrive and have had a private practice of my own.
MARY
Mary has been working as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist since 2018. Mary is our lead neurofeedback therapist.
In addition to being a therapist at KidsThrive, she also works at The Quad Preparatory School in lower Manhattan. Mary has a specialty Certification in Ayres Sensory Integration. She has also completed continuing education in Astronaut Training, Handwriting Without Tears, Interoception, and Safe and Sound Protocol.
MELISSA
Melissa has been working with children since earning her master’s degree in Occupational Therapy at New York University in 2002. Her first job was at Rivendell School in Park Slope where she worked for 14 years. She has also worked in a variety of other private and public preschool and elementary schools as well as other private practices.
She has specialized training in Handwriting Without Tears, Therapeutic Listening, the Safe and Sound Protocol, and the Focus System as well as in a variety of sensory motor and developmental based courses.
NICOLE
Nicole has been associated with KidsThrive for the past 7 years, starting as a student shadowing, and continuing to work and stay connected to the practice as she got her Doctorate at BU, and worked at her first job at a Skilled Nursing Facility in Westchester.
Nicole is currently a pediatric OT at a special education preschool in the Bronx. She has also completed continuing education in Handwriting Without Tears, and Safe and Sound Protocol.
REBECCA
Experience: I am a native New Yorker working as a pediatric OT since 2017. I work full time at the Rebecca School , a therapeutic day school for students ages 3-21 with neurodevelopmental delays in relating and communicating. I hold an advance certificate in the DIRFloortime® model and have additional training in sensory integration. I also worked two year in Early Intervention, helping families support their child within their natural environment.
TAYLOR
Taylor has been working as a pediatric occupational therapist (OT) since 2020 and practiced in hospital and clinic settings in Toronto, Canada before moving to New York. In addition to being a therapist at KidsThrive, Taylor works as a lower school OT at The Churchill School in Midtown, Manhattan. Taylor is passionate about helping children develop the regulation skills needed to thrive at home, school and on the playground. Prior to becoming an OT, Taylor worked as a special education teacher in a therapeutic preschool.
XAVIER
I have been working in the field of occupational therapy since February 2017. My pediatric experience spans from a sensory gym carrying over treatment plans from a child’s IEP when the typical school structure was not a good fit for them and their bodies to the acute care setting at NYP Weill Cornell Medical Center, where I treat medically complex pediatric patients from infancy to teenage years whose lives are often also complicated by a learning disability, genetic disorder, or mental illness.