The partners of Integrated TherapyWorks, which offers occupational therapy (OT), speech-language pathology, physical therapy, and mental health therapy in one building, put a lot of thought into the name. Integrated: it means focusing on the whole person, not one isolated issue. It means coordinating schedules so that clients can receive multiple therapies in a single visit, and it means collaborating with families, schools, and the broader Missoula community.
Integrated TherapyWorks, which was founded in 2011, opened its current Higgins location in 2020. The waiting room boasts toys, books, plants, and art created by a client. Inside, visitors encounter a climbing wall, a punching bag, various swings, a ball pit—and that’s just in the downstairs gym. In addition to outdoor space, a second gym upstairs and plenty of rooms where 19 therapists can see clients and get paperwork done, the building also has a kitchen where clients are exposed to different sensory textures and work on fine motor skills.
The eight partners in Integrated TherapyWorks, plus their employees and independent contractors, have a standing Wednesday lunch meeting. The atmosphere is familial as five of those partners, founder Michael Crews (speech-language pathology), Melissa Voller (pediatric speech therapy), Margaret Gainer (speech-language pathology), Abbey Guza (mental health), and Drew Iaderosa (OT) immediately begin to finish one another’s sentences.
Let’s get started by discussing the overall nature and goals of Integrated TherapyWorks.
Michael: Integrated therapy… works. I know I’m going to help a client reach their goals more efficiently if we work together.
Margaret: An added benefit for families is they can come to one place…a lot of the families that come here see multiple therapists.
Abbey: We work tirelessly to coordinate so families aren’t in and out of here a hundred times a week. We can then work separately with the parent while [a] child is here.
Could someone speak to how it benefits an adult or child to be able to access related services under one roof?
Michael: An adult who had a traumatic brain injury was seeing me and struggling with managing her life because of the challenges she has with exec function, as well as meeting the needs of a young daughter with ADHD. The daughter then started with mental health services.
Abbey: And I was able to support her and the mom through that perspective, then realized the child needed more sensory support, so, I referred her for OT. The child has since terminated services and is doing very, very well.
How do you encourage parental involvement in therapy for a child, and in what ways is this involvement considered an investment in their well-being?
Drew: I’m a big homework guy. I don’t consider OT just sprinkling some magic on top of someone for an hour and hoping everything changes.
Margaret: We all know the real progress happens at home.
Melissa: What we all do naturally is meet the parents where they’re at.
Abbey: For example, a single parent who desperately needs a break. In a perfect world, she would be in on our sessions with her kid, but it turned out the more important goal was that she get a break during the kid’s session. Then, I met with her separately at a different time.
What long-term benefits do you believe your services provide to children and their families in terms of their overall growth and development?
Drew: A lot of people come to us and they’re at a loss. They don’t know what to do, they feel like they’ve tried everything. I assure you that feeling is not there when it’s time for us to discharge.
Margaret: We want the therapy to be fun and functional so when they get home they can carry it over into their everyday lives and be successful.
Have you invested efforts in advocating for better access to therapy services on a broader scale?
Michael: Years ago, there was a cognitive code that was not covered by Montana Medicaid. I advocated for it, and I finally got that code to be covered. Now, we’re in a battle for the state to recognize that sensory integration, plus speech and language, is critical to many of our patients and support why that should be covered.
Melissa: Reimbursement at the Medicaid level is extremely low. Many providers limit the number they will take.
Drew: We offer sliding scales, we’re going to find a way to make it work. I can’t think of a client we’ve turned away.
Any final thoughts to sum up what Integrated TherapyWorks does or is?
Drew: This place is a microcosm of what makes Missoula great. It’s a lot of folks working together to help people out.
Abbey: We all see it as such a gift to be able to do this work. We all feel gratitude to the families that we serve.
Michael: We’re invested in each other, the families, the treatment clients need to engage in their world. We collaborate with each other as therapists as well as with families, medical providers and other agencies in town to help meet the needs of our clients.
"An added benefit for families is they can come to one place…a lot of the families that come here see multiple therapists." - Margaret
"A lot of people come to us and they’re at a loss. They don’t know what to do, they feel like they’ve tried everything. I assure you that feeling is not there when it’s time for us to discharge." - Drew
