Feeding Therapy in the Chicago area – Empowering Lives

We’re proud to offer clinicians that are trained and certified in evidence-based feeding therapy to our families in the Chicago area. Our occupational and speech therapists have undergone extensive training in the SOS Feeding Approach. Through this approach, we offer individual and group feeding sessions to support a child’s growth with exploring and learning different properties of food. This approach allows a child to interact with food in a playful, non-stressful experience.

The child may begin by just working to tolerate the food in the room and in front of them, to then managing the smell of challenging foods, learning about body awareness and how to interact with foods through their hands and mouth, and finally supporting tasting and consumption of new foods. This feeding therapy in the northwest suburbs of Chicago is a wonderful initiative, helping parents learn the right approach. A skilled therapist will be there to support that feeding experience and nurture their food journey. This specific approach supports all age ranges of pediatrics. This approach can be used for adolescent and adult individuals.

Great Approach Toward Healthy Life

Per the SOS Approach to Feeding website, this approach is “…the only results-driven feeding program with 30 years of proven clinical experience helping children learn the skills they need to eat well… the SOS Approach to Feeding program is an effective way to assess and address problematic feeding behaviors in a variety of settings and populations.”

We’re proud to say that many of our therapists have received direct training from the founder of the SOS Approach to Feeding, Dr. Kay A. Toomey, PhD. Contact for consultation on feeding therapy in Chicago area.

For more information on the SOS Approach to Feeding please follow the attached link for more information: https://sosapproachtofeeding.com/

The below therapists at In2Great Pediatric Therapy have completed the full training form and receive their certification. Click on their picture to read their individual backgrounds!
Angie
Dr. Angie: Owner and Founder of In2Great!
Melissa Donegan
Dr. Melissa Donegan, OTD, OTR/L. Director of Transitional Programming and Marketing/PR
Claire Hadley
Claire Hadley, MOT, OTR/L
Lindsey Martinez
Lindsey Martinez, OTR/L Director of Occupational Therapy
Gwen Reily
Gwen Reily, M.A., CCC-SLP/L Clinical Director

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Dr. Angie: Owner and Founder of In2Great!

Dr. Angie Harisiadis has been a practicing occupational therapist for over 17 years. She was the first occupational therapist to receive her doctorate degree in Occupational Therapy in the state of Illinois from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is passionate about her work, sensitive to every family’s needs and is always willing to go above and beyond to make sure her clients are satisfied and getting the quality therapy they deserve. Dr. Harisiadis knows first-hand the difficulties in raising children with regulatory challenges, and so she understands parents’ concerns and worries. She and her staff are trained in the field of pediatric therapy. Their goal is to improve the physical, emotional, developmental and social needs of their clients, all while engaging them in a playful and motivating environment. Dr. Harisiadis believes that a child’s primary occupation is to play! Learning is best accomplished in a playful and supportive environment. Dr. Harisiadis is proud and confident in her team and in the quality of their work. Opening her own clinic in Buffalo Grove has been one of her most rewarding accomplishments, and she looks forward to continuing to meet the needs of many more children and their families.

Dr. Melissa Donegan, OTD, OTR/L. Director of Transitional Programming and Marketing/PR

Dr. Melissa Donegan is a recent graduate from Midwestern University and received her clinical doctorate in occupational therapy. She received her bachelor’s in kinesiology with a focus in exercise science and health promotion at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Her doctoral project focused on establishing evidence through program evaluation and research to demonstrate the value of occupational therapy’s role in community mental health-based practice.

During her time at Midwestern University, she received the Tiered Occupational Therapy (TOT) Scholarship, a 1-year training program designed to prepare occupational therapy scholars to address the mental health needs of children and youth. The TOT Scholarship strived to prepare scholars to engage in holistic and trauma-informed care practice. Melissa is dedicated to performing evidence-based, client-centered treatment with a passion for inclusivity, advocacy, and addressing mental health. She hopes to combine her passion for the pediatric-based practice and program development to create groups that can address the needs of the community of Buffalo Grove and the surrounding areas.

Melissa loves traveling and embracing new cultural experiences. While in undergrad, she traveled and lived in Dublin, Ireland completing a sports psychology research program at the University College Dublin. During graduate school, Melissa traveled to Belém, Brazil to research occupational therapy’s role in community-based practice. When not in the clinic, you’ll find Melissa enjoying a morning run, board games, yoga, and a good meal with friends.

Claire Hadley, MOT, OTR/L

My name is Claire and I am a licensed Occupational Therapist. I graduated from St. Louis University with my Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy and had always dreamed of working in pediatrics. I am passionate about relationship-based therapy and I love getting to know each and every child I work with to find out what makes them special and unique! I am a firm believer that people learn and grow the best when they are having fun, so I make it a priority that the children I work with look forward to coming to In2Great!. Some areas that I specialize in
are sensory processing disorders, fine and visual motor delays, and feeding. Additionally, I am certified in Therapeutic Listening, Astronaut Training, and trained in Handwriting Without Tears. I use a bottom-up approach in my treatment planning to ensure that no stone is left unturned in a child’s development, and I love collaborating with the parents of my clients along the way. In my free time, I love to play the piano and the guitar, draw, read, and spend time with my dog Lola!

Lindsey Martinez, OTR/L Director of Occupational Therapy

Coming soon…

Gwen Reily, M.A., CCC-SLP/L Clinical Director

Gwen Reilly, Licensed Speech and Language Pathologist, has been a practicing clinician for the past 20 years. She received her master’s degree from Northern Illinois University and specializes in working with children on the Autism Spectrum. Gwen has experience working with a diverse population, and a variety of speech and language disorders, including language disorders, apraxia of speech, speech sound disorders, social-pragmatic disorders, and regulation disorders of sensory processing.

Gwen embraces the DIR (Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-Based) Model. Using this model, she brings a genuine and positive therapeutic approach to her clients to help them feel empowered by all forms of communication and build on the strengths of their own and unique developmental foundation. Gwen believes that therapy is an individualized process and loves to help others grow in all capacities of life.

Gwen has received her Trainer Certificate in the Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-based Model through Profectumä. In addition, she is trained and certified in Therapeutic Listeningâand bone conduction, Interactive Metronomeâ, PROMPTã, and Lindamood-Bell’s Visualizing and Verbalizingã.

Gwen enjoys spending time with her family and friends whether it is at home or on a vacation adventure to some warm place. She loves to travel, watching football, gardening, coffee, Pilates, and going for long walks (especially on a beach). Her favorite thing to do though is spending time with her two best girls, her daughters, Claire and Paige.