Smoky Mountain Occupational Therapy

02/02/2026

01/30/2026

When kids feel safe and connected, they feel free to be silly, expressive, and fully themselves. These playful moments — with big emotions and exaggerated expressions — build trust, regulation, and confidence.

01/29/2026

Our OT pockets are always full of treasures when we get home.
Greg Santucci, Occupational Therapist

I emptied my pockets when I got home from work.

Yep, a typical day at "the office".

What's in your pockets?

01/24/2026

Prepping for the storm by painting ice! Stay warm, SMOT Family.

01/22/2026

Please help us welcome our fieldwork student, Adie York!

Adie is here from Tennessee Wesleyan University (TWU) while earning her Master’s in OT. She’s been with us almost 3 weeks with 9 more to go, and we love her calm presence and eagerness to learn!

01/22/2026

Everyone in East TN is preparing for a weekend of cold, icy weather. Stay safe out there, everyone.

01/22/2026

Crawling is powerful! It builds core strength, coordination, and brain-body connection for kids AND adults.

Today it looked like an adventure: crawling across a “river” to stay safe on the boat.

Therapy can be super productive and still feel like play.

01/21/2026

Jamie and her friend played a good old fashioned game of Slap Jack this morning. That simple game can be helpful for visual motor, bilateral coordination, and impulse control! We also had fun changing it up to “Slap Queen” and “Slap King,” too!

01/20/2026

When a child feels overwhelmed, it often shows up in the body before it shows up in words.

For some children, overwhelm looks loud — yelling, arguing, getting silly, refusing, or melting down.

For others, it looks quiet — shutting down, going still, hiding, clinging, or becoming unusually compliant.

Same emotion. Different nervous systems. Different strategies.

Many parents assume overwhelm means “misbehaving,” “attention-seeking,” or “being dramatic.”

But underneath, it’s often stress, confusion, uncertainty, or too much too fast.

This is why understanding what your child’s body does under stress is so helpful.

It’s not about excusing behaviour — it’s about decoding it so you can respond with what supports rather than escalates.

If you’re noticing patterns in your child, you’re already doing the work.

(From my book Guidance from The Therapist Parent — available on my website www.thetherapistparent.com and Amazon.)

01/20/2026

Our college student clients are getting their calendars ready for another successful semester!