Team

Molly is the Owner and Clinical Director of The Center for Childhood Development. She is celebrating 31 years of experience as an Occupational Therapist this year. She continues to love working as an OT and is very passionate about engaging with parents and caregivers, empowering them to build relationships with their children. She encourages parents and caregivers to be part of the therapeutic process, in order to maintain an understanding of their children’s respective developmental levels and personalities.

She has recently completed her Theraplay certification and has completed Deb Dana’s Foundation for Polyvagal Practice, Part 1. Both of these approaches have become integral to her practice as an OT. She continues to work closely with her dear friend Sheila Frick, OTR, on encouraging the use of Therapeutic Listening in the treatment of children. She never tires of learning about the brain, attachment, relationships, and, of course, anything to do with childhood development. In addition to her own continual learning, Molly is passionate about providing her therapists with supervision and continuing education in the DIRFloortime model – as it is the basis for the treatment provided at The Center. 

The Center was founded in 2004 and has since grown to three locations across West Michigan. Molly wholeheartedly believes in multidisciplinary, team treatment for children. She is super lucky to have a wonderful staff that loves what they do – as well as great therapy partners at Anchored Family. She has learned a lot about running a business, but the kids and their families continue to be her greatest teachers.

When she’s not at one of The Center’s locations, she loves to relax at her family’s cottage, have her nose in a book, or have discussions with one of her many friends about the brain and neuroscience. She loves to spend time with family and friends to play games, enjoy great meals, or engage in great conversation. She wants you to know that for her this is more than just a job; it is her passion. She feels lucky for that, and for all of the great families and people that she has met along the way. To them all: her greatest gratitude.

Libby loves using relationship and play-based approaches to build play and language skills with her clients. You will often find her playing and crawling on the floor, jumping on the trampoline, and acting silly with her clients. Libby values the importance of personalizing every session to each individual child, taking into consideration their individual needs, interests, hobbies, and talents, as well as making each session fun. 

In Libby’s free time, she is most likely baking treats (macarons, cookies, cupcakes, muffins, everything!), playing with her puppy, Pippa, or traveling and exploring with her family and friends.

Kaitlin has been working to improve the communication skills of children and young adults since 2015. She’s drawn to complex diagnostic and treatment cases; working with other disciplines to better understand each underlying communication challenge.

Her experience providing treatment to individuals and groups focuses on building off each client’s unique strengths. She finds joy in learning what makes each of her clients special and identifying creative ways to incorporate personalized preferences and priorities into the therapeutic process.

West Michigan has always been home for Kaitlin, where she lives with her husband Eric, son Ezra, and rescue dog and cats. In her free time, you will find her outside camping, hiking, or taking a river trip in their motorized canoe.

Wendi has almost 20 years of experience working as an occupational therapist, earning her Master of Science at Grand Valley State University. Prior to her work as an occupational therapist, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in the field of psychology, working with adolescents in a residential care setting. Wendi loves to make therapy a fun experience for all and feels relationship building is one of the keys to success. 

When Wendi is not at work, she enjoys spending time with friends and family. Wendi loves to travel, attend concerts, and enjoys being outdoors.

Katie earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Grand Valley State University in 2010 and completed a one-year pediatric physical therapy residency at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital.  She is certified in neuro-development treatment and uses the NDT framework to guide her hands-on treatment approach.  She strives to improve each child’s ability to function and participate with friends, family, and peers, and loves to work with each individual family to meet their child’s goals.

When Katie is not at The Center, you will find her with her family, cheering her kids at various dance and sporting events, going for walks in the neighborhood, or enjoying ice cream outside.

Elise has almost 30 years of experience as an Occupational Therapist. She is passionate about working with children and parents, and she is committed to continuous learning in order to provide the best possible services for families.  She has been involved with Camp Avanti for several years, an internationally recognized sensory-based therapy camp for children with special needs.   Utilizing her skills to support families in an interactive, fun, and attuned way is the most important aspect of her work.

When Elise is not at work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, two adult sons, and Labrador retriever in the outdoors. Gardening, cooking, hiking, and fishing are some of their favorite pastimes. Elise also loves getting together with friends, traveling, reading, and skiing.​

Juli is grateful to be in a career where she has been able to be an integral part of so many children’s lives. She truly enjoys seeing the positive changes that children make through a relationship-based approach to treatment. In other aspects of her life, Juli adores a good book, loves to cook delicious food, and can be found taking walks around town with the family, checking out fun parks, or trying out a restaurant. 

Katie has been a pediatric speech-language pathologist for nearly 20 years. She loves engaging with children in motivating, child-led play. She encourages those moments of smiles and connection to best promote functional, relationship-based communication. She highly values collaborating with a child’s family, strongly believing that the more we understand a child’s entire developmental profile, the better we can treat the concerns. Katie seeks out the expertise of fellow OTs, PTs, and mental health professionals to best apply an integrated therapy approach for children. When not at work, Katie enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, rock climbing, hiking, reading, and cooking!

Stacey earned her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from Western Michigan University.  She completed her undergraduate degree in Exercise Science at Grand Valley State University. 

Stacey is very passionate about incorporating play and the child’s interests into her sessions in order to promote diverse opportunities for all children. She doesn’t mind spending her days in the clinic cooking, making fun obstacle courses, and playing silly games to reach each child’s goals! In her spare time, Stacey enjoys being outside, planning her wedding, going to hot yoga, and taking her dog, Ford, to the park.

Lauren believes that through play, children can achieve anything they set their minds to. Her clients’ interests and joys fuel her passion for OT and her clients’ progress for goals. Lauren’s focus is based on a holistic approach, not only considering the child but their family, support systems, and the world around them.

When she’s not at The Center, you can find Lauren challenging friends to games, traveling, snuggling her dogs, and exploring and cooking new foods with her husband.

Emily enjoys tapping into a child’s world through their individual interests to make therapy meaningful for each child. She believes that children have an innate understanding of their needs and places importance on watching and listening to those cues in order to elevate their unbounded potential. She loves working with children and families to give them tools they can use to feel successful and have fun together!

Outside of work, Emily enjoys spending time with friends and family. You can often find her traveling or exploring new niches in Grand Rapids with her husband, daughter, and German Shepherd. Her ideal day includes being cuddled up with her family on a rainy day watching movies or listening to a good podcast.

Amy earned her Master’s degree in Speech and Language Pathology from Calvin University and is very excited to start her career at The Center – one of her four internships was here!

Amy prioritizes a patient-centered approach where each child feels heard, and cared for, and is the center of each treatment session. She believes in following the child’s lead and incorporating treatment into play – this could be exploring outside, playing board games, or doing arts and crafts, etc.

In her free time, you could find her playing outside, spending time with family and friends, planning her wedding, and crocheting.

Laura has a special place in her heart for quirky, misunderstood kids. She loves building speech and language skills through songs, play, and silliness. She can never quite get her banjo in tune but tries nonetheless. Laura likes to draw, dance in the kitchen, and sing loudly whenever she can. She has two wonderful children and sleeps best after a day of helping quiet voices become just a little louder and watching wild ideas take flight.

Through the use of play-based approaches, Hannah loves meeting kids at their level in order to form relationships, engage in their world, and support them in growth and development. She believes in the power of developing meaningful relationships through play as well as following the child’s lead, using their interests and abilities as the basis for speech and language expansion.

In her spare time, you can always find Hannah outside hiking, kayaking, or playing yard games. When she is not outside, Hannah enjoys playing any kind of card or board game with her friends and family.

Jennifer graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Occupational Therapy and has spent the last 22 years putting that degree to good use with a wide variety of pediatric clients. Her creative energy and expertise help Jennifer utilize children’s interests to motivate them towards achieving their goals.

Jennifer strives to help families build the foundations for social-emotional growth and forming relationships to help them succeed and grow in everyday life.

When she’s not blowing bubbles, singing rhymes, and swinging, you can find Jennifer spending time with her husband and two children. They enjoy weekends on the ski slopes, family time at the cottage, hiking, camping, traveling, and exploring new places.

Megan has experience working in both school and outpatient pediatric settings. She has also worked as part of a multidisciplinary feeding team and received training in clinical feeding evaluations and video swallow studies with medically complex diagnoses. She enjoys working in a team environment and strives to deliver quality evidence-based care to children and their families.

Megan lives in Grand Haven with her husband Jake, daughter Olivia, and Goldendoodle Kona. In her free time, she enjoys reading in the sun, traveling, trying new foods, and boating.

Christina earned her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from Western Michigan University. She completed her undergraduate degree at Michigan State University, majoring in Physiology and minoring in Mathematics.

Christina is passionate about finding what brings kids joy and building relationships with them to encourage growth through play and having fun. She enjoys working with both children and their families to determine individualized needs and goals, then finding ways to achieve these through therapy and home programs.

Outside of work, Christina enjoys doing all things active and outside. She is a competitive runner and cyclist and enjoys training and racing throughout the year. She also enjoys backpacking with her fiancé and dogs, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.

Karli loves how play-based therapy allows you the opportunity to get into each child’s world, see it through their eyes, and establish a relationship. You will find Karli running, jumping, crafting, bouncing, and exploring inside and outside to find those moments where play and language intersect to create communication in the world.

When Karli is not at work, she loves spending time with her family, baking anything with chocolate, and exploring new places to be outside. 

Kate has been working as a speech therapist since 2009. She has spent over 12 years specializing in pediatric feeding and has worked on a transdisciplinary team to help children with complex feeding histories meet their nutritional goals. She is passionate about helping families to feel heard regarding their children’s feeding difficulties as these struggles can often feel very isolating.

She utilizes a play-based approach to improve communication and build language opportunities. She values the importance of connecting and collaborating with children and their families.

Kate lives in Zeeland with her husband, three boys, a dog, and many chickens and ducks. When she is not at The Center, she enjoys spending time outside, boating, traveling, and planting flowers.

A degree in Business and Early Childhood Education helped Tonya direct a large childcare center for nearly 25 years. She also dedicates her time to her husband and their three children. Her passion for working with children and families brought her here to The Center to work as our office coordinator for the Jenison location.

When Tonya is not at work, she enjoys watching her kids play all their various sporting activities and train their 4-H animals for the fair each year. She loves to watch her children learn and grow in so many ways. She also loves to take walks and spend time with her family up at Silver Lake at her family’s cottage.

Laura is the intake coordinator and provides office support at The Center. Having graduated from WMU with a Bachelor’s Degree in OT, Laura has over 30 years of experience working in various settings including 15 years in a school setting. Laura is passionate about helping others and enjoys meeting all of the children and parents at The Center.

In her spare time, Laura enjoys camping, connecting with friends, and spending family time with her 3 grown boys, daughter-in-law, girlfriends, and a new granddaughter.

Brenda began her involvement at The Center as a parent of one of our favorite kids. She quickly moved up to Billing Specialist, Office Manager, and The Center’s MVP. She uses her experience, both professional and personal, to bridge the communication between the therapists and the front office. She also handles any and all billing/insurance matters. Brenda and her husband Greg have 3 children that she loves dearly. Together, they enjoy spending time outdoors, swimming and going to the races. On weekends, you can find her cheering on her daughter at her softball tournaments; just as she is there to support all of her friends, family, and coworkers. We are so lucky to have her.