Get to know us!
All of our Occupational Therapists are registered and in good standing with the College of Occupational Therapists of Nova Scotia.
Hillary Carr
Hillary is an experienced Pediatric Occupational Therapist with a special interest in helping children with emotional regulation and sensory processing difficulties, developmental trauma, and developmental delays to increase their confidence and independence in play, learning, and self-care activities (including toileting, feeding, and dressing).
Hillary is not currently accepting new clients. Please see the below therapists availability!
About Hillary
Hillary graduated from Dalhousie University in 2016 with her Master of Science Degree in Occupational Therapy. Hillary's special interest lies in helping children with emotional regulation difficulties, Autism, Sensory Processing Disorders, and developmental delays to increase their confidence and independence in play, learning and self-care activities. She believes that therapy must be targeted towards the child’s developmental level and building on their strengths to achieve their maximum potential. Hillary follows a sensory motor framework as well as uses play and emotional connections to support the development of motor, behavioural, cognitive, and social skills.
Hillary has the following professional development trainings/certifications:
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DIR Floortime 202 - “DIR Floortime Proficient Certificate"
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DIR Floortime 201 - "DIR Floortime Basic Certification"
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DIR Floortime 101 - Introduction to Floortime
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3 Steps to Improving INTEROCEPTION, led by Kelly Mahler with additional webinars for Toileting, Interoception, & Nutrition and Theory of OWN mind.
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Lego®-based Therapy
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Zones of Regulation led by Leah Kuypers
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Autism Level Up - Supporting emotional and sensory regulation
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Developmental Trauma in Children & Families - Beacon House
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The Body Keeps the Score - A Deep understanding of the effects of trauma on brain development and attachment systems
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The SCERTS Model for Autism, Two day course led by Emily Ruben
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Therapeutic Listening : Listening with the Whole Body - Vital Links
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Therapeutic Listening: Quickshift: Revolutionising the use of sound in Sensorimotor integrative treatment - Vital Links
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Transitioning to Adult Care for Youth with Chronic Health Conditions and Disabilities
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Basics of Paediatric Feeding and Swallowing
Nick Lauder
Nick is an Occupational Therapist with a passion for assisting adults reach their functional goals, facilitate independence, prevent injuries, and promote healthy living.
About Nick
After receiving his Bachelor of Kinesiology from Acadia University, Nick graduated with a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from Dalhousie University in 2016.
Nick assists clients with in-home assessments for equipment and/or home adaptations, wheelchairs, as well as office ergonomics.
Allie MacEachern
Allie is an occupational therapist with a passion for helping individuals reach their occupational goals through evidence based practice and patient-centred care. She is eager to bring this passion to the pediatric population. She will focus on treatment for sensory processing differences, emotional-regulation needs, handwriting skills, as well as adolescent mental health needs, all of which improve confidence with self-care, learning/development, and play/socialization.
About Allie
Allie received her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy at Dalhousie University, where she graduated in 2020. She was fortunate enough to gain clinical experience with the IWK Children’s Hospital during her degree, which sparked her interest for pursuing a career with the pediatric population.
Allie’s will be working with children who have different sensory, motor, and emotional needs to help ensure they are able to reach their goals. This includes independent play and playing with others, learning and development in the school and home setting, and self-care needs such as dressing, feeding, and toileting. Allie is certified in several mental health treatment modalities such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (best practice for treatment of anxiety and depression), and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy. Allie plans to use these treatment modalities to provide mental health services to adolescents (age 10-19), who are experiencing depression, and anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, and social anxiety.
Chantelle Capone
Chantelle is an Occupational Therapist who enjoys helping and working with both children and adults. She has a special interest in supporting individuals with sensory processing differences and emotional regulation challenges that have an impact on a person's ability to participate in meaningful activities.
She is passionate about health promotion, prevention, education, and therapy provided to a wide variety of populations through client and family-centered care, evidence- based practice, with a focus on occupation.
About Chantelle
Chantelle graduated from Dalhousie University in 2020 with her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy. Chantelle has worked with both pediatric and adult populations, with a focus on individuals with severe to profound intellectual disabilities, including Autism Spectrum (ASD) oftentimes in combination with mental health diagnosis and challenges. She also has experience in assisting individuals with physical injuries, chronic pain and traumatic brain injuries, including concussions.
Chantelle is passionate about evidence-based practice and has future goals to contribute to occupational therapy literature, or aid organizations to ensure they are maintaining current evidence-based occupational therapy practice/are exploring new therapies through empirical process.
Alana Murphy
Alana is an occupational therapist with a special interest supporting children and adolescents experiencing emotional regulation and mental health challenges. She uses evidence-based modalities such as the Zones of Regulation and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy within her practice. She is passionate about enabling participation in self-identified areas of meaningful occupation.
About Alana
Alana is a graduate of Acadia University (2012) and obtained her Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy at the University of Alberta (2015). She began her career as an occupational therapist in Alberta before returning to the Maritimes in 2018.
Alana has experience working with children both in group and one-on-one settings. She has supported individuals with a range of diagnoses including Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Williams Syndrome and various developmental disabilities/delays. Her previous work varied from supporting motor task development, building independence, emotional regulation, community skill building for older students, completing sensory profiles, working on playground skills as well as communication skills.
Megan Spears
Megan has worked in the field of pediatrics for the past 9 years supporting families, schools and communities. Prior to working in the field of pediatrics, Megan also spent a portion of her occupational therapy career working in acute mental health settings.
Megan’s professional learning has concentrated on evidence-based programs and practical training to inform her approach to intervention such as Zones of Regulation, The SCERTS Model, Handwriting Without Tears, SOS Approach to Feeding and Social Thinking.
About Megan
Megan received her Masters in Occupational Therapy from Dalhousie University in 2013.
Megan has previous experience providing services to children in schools with various developmental, learning and medical needs. Megan has consulted to school-based teams and families with an emphasis on routine-based intervention with strategies focusing on learning and success through everyday activities and routines. Areas of need addressed have included (but not limited to): sensory and emotional regulation, motor learning, feeding and picky eating, executive functioning as well as social and play skills. Intervention has been provided using direct intervention, targeted groups, virtually, parent and school team coaching as well as information sessions, universal whole class sessions, and through resource development and distribution.
Heather MacNeil
Heather is an experienced Occupational Therapist who enjoys seeing children flourish, no matter what they are faced with. She understands the importance of working within each child's abilities and pulling and maximizing on their strengths when working with them. She is skilled in identifying barriers to activity participation and supporting individuals to increase their independence. Her focus is client and family centric.
About Heather
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. 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.
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.
Faith Wiley
Faith is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist who enjoys working closely with families as well as other professionals to meet the therapeutic needs of her clients. She has worked with children with a wide array of strengths and challenges, including Autism, ADHD, motor challenges, sensory differences and sensitivities, and emotional regulation challenges.
Faith enjoys working with children who face both physical and emotional barriers, finding accommodations and changing the environment as well as working on skill development to allow for success and greater independence.
About Faith
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.
Jenny Tiller
Jenny is an Occupational Therapist who enjoys working with clients to help them reach their occupational goals through client-centered care and evidence-based approaches. Her practice will focus on sensory processing, emotional regulation and motor skill development to help facilitate independence and satisfaction in the areas of self-care, learning, and play.
About Jenny
Jenny graduated with a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2021 and has been practicing as a Registered Occupational Therapist since 2022. 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. She is committed to her professional development and continues to develop her skills through ongoing education and practice.
Katy Palaic
Katy is an Occupational Therapist who enjoys supporting her clients to achieve their goals. She uses a family and client centered approach to therapy and is eager to apply her skills to working with the pediatric population. She is passionate about life-long learning, using evidence-based treatments within her sessions, and collaborating closely with her colleagues.
Katy has a background in theatre arts and is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT200). She brings these elements into her sessions to support the development of body awareness, emotional regulation, and play skills.
About Katy
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.