I began my career as an SLP in both a skilled nursing facility and a rehabilitation hospital. I loved my caseload of adults with brain injury and stroke and young children who I saw through the hospital's outpatient clinic. Christopher and I used to commute to work together, and the drive home was a "decompression session." Christopher, a former Director of Outpatient Rehabilitation, was my sounding board for the challenges and successes I was facing in my first job.

The department I worked in consisted of three other SLPs including a supportive, knowledgeable supervisor named Gina, who taught me the importance of recognizing the needs of the people you supervise. Despite the many positives in this setting, I struggled with the limited time available to plan therapy and produce quality assessment reports. I took unfinished work home almost every night and frequently felt challenged by the high productivity requirements. As I learned more about working with insurance companies, I became a more effective advocate for my patients. One of my favorite patients was a stroke survivor in his mid-fifties named Dick who, though cognitively intact, struggled with a severe verbal apraxia. A former teacher who had a tremendous work ethic, Dick could work up a sweat in his effort to express himself! My frustration with the restrictions of insurance and the high productivity expectations reached a new level when I had to group him with other patients in order to meet the needs of the whole caseload. These compromises were limiting the success of my patients.

Around this time, I received my first request for services from a tiny school in New Hampshire's ski country. With the school year already underway, they were in dire need of an SLP for four students: one with CP, one with hearing loss, one on the autism spectrum, and one with a specific learning disability. I'd heard horror stories about school-based therapists with huge caseloads and little time to do the planning and consultation necessary for the best quality services. I believed that, as a contracted service provider, I could find a better way. I tackled the steep learning curve of school-based therapy, learning from my first principal, Mary, and the wonderful team of teachers in this small school. One of the first students I worked with, a fourth-grade boy with autism, was on my caseload through his high school years. He succeeded again and again, most recently moving into his own apartment and enrolling in a Culinary Arts program.

Once I was established in the schools, the schools started to find me. Within a few months, I signed my first "big" contract (about 30 hours per week) with an Assistant Superintendent for Special Education who continues to be a client of Boothby Therapy Services 11 years later. I began to receive more requests for school-based services than I could staff on my own. Christopher had taken on all the accounting and back office work for the business, not to mention the role of head cheerleader! He encouraged me to begin partnering with other clinicians. The first therapist to join our company, Laura, still partners with us today. Laura has witnessed a lot of growth and many improvements in the company. As her life has changed - she has her first baby and has moved into her first home - we've together shaped her professional career to fit her personal life.

Working with other therapists has been my most rewarding experience professionally. My work as a therapist has grounded me as a business owner; I know therapists must be able to deliver high quality services in order to feel truly satisfied in their professional careers. Through my work in many schools, I came to understand I needed a tool to show administrators their total speech and language need. I developed the Data Driven Needs Analysis to ensure that students receive the services they need and therapists have the time needed to provide those high quality services. The Data Driven Needs Analysis is the foundation for every engagement Boothby Therapy Services has with a school.

As the company grew, Christopher assumed full-time duties as Vice President of Business Services. The company is greatly enriched by his long history in healthcare administration. Christopher leads a Business Services Team devoted to marketing individual therapists, resolving the needs of the schools, searching out new and exciting opportunities, handling all business administration tasks, and building what we believe is the best infrastructure and operations in the industry.

One of the unique achievements of Boothby Therapy Services is the creation and implementation of the Life Empowerment Program, a tool we developed to support both the personal and professional aspirations of the therapist. Today, the Life Empowerment Program is enhancing the lives of the therapists with whom we partner by building professionally rewarding careers that support personal life goals. Boothby Therapy Services minimizes distracting obligations. Our therapists are empowered to Help Children Succeed because they are able to focus on what they are passionate about... providing quality therapy and making a difference in the lives of their students.

If you want to practice with passion every single day and if you want to provide the highest quality therapy you possibly can, please contact us! You can reach me directly at mboothby@boothbytherapy.com or Christopher at cboothby@boothbytherapy.com. Or if you prefer, contact us through our office at (603)-524-9090.