Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Beussman, MOT, OTR/L.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
When I was 10 years old, I was hired to be a “play partner” – someone to come play with a very special boy while his Mom was doing things like laundry, etc. My very special bond with this boy and family opened my eyes to the world of neurodiversity. I knew early on that I wanted to help people.
My wonderful father was a 3rd-grade teacher in public schools for over 30 years, my big sister is an ECSE teacher in public schools, and my big brother is a college professor. With all the education in my family, and seeing their stories and paths, I wanted to help others differently.
After completing my Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Occupational Therapy at the College of St. Catherine, I knew I wanted to specialize in the pediatric world. I had opportunities to work at several clinics throughout the Twin Cities Metro, but always felt that something was missing from my specific “calling” to help people – I had not yet found my “niche” in the settings I was a part of.
Aimlessly walking the aisles of a used bookstore, I came upon a book written by Dr. Stanley Greenspan and Dr. Serena Wieder. Already interested in working within the neurodiverse world, I was instantly absorbed in the philosophy and ideas that were described within the DIR®/Floortime program. As I started my long journey of classes, training, certifications, and proficiency tests to become a specialized OT within the DIR®/Floortime world, I realized that what I wanted to do as a pediatric OT was not going to work within a traditional clinical setting.
After my husband and I learned that we were expecting our 1st child, and after many conversations with those I loved, I decided it was the right time to end my chapter working in clinical settings for other people and to open my practice and provide the OT skills in the way that I deeply believed in. Now, 10 years later, here I am being interviewed and sharing my unique story, journey, and practice philosophies!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t believe that working for something you truly believe in can ever be a “smooth road,” because if it’s too easy, then, perhaps, it wasn’t worth fighting so hard for. For me, between the bureaucracies and politics of the health insurance programs, the ability to shift the way of thinking within the then-current “OT” world and expand perspectives, as well as starting this all up right when my husband and I became first-time parents made this a very arduous journey. Laborious? Yes. But I knew what I was trying to do was necessary.
When I started my private practice 10 years ago, it was nearly impossible to become an “In-Network” provider with any insurance company. Despite my appeals, providing more than 20 written testimonials from parents pleading to accept me into various networks, I continued to be denied. Ten years later, no changes have been made in terms of private health insurance companies opening their networks.
What is difficult in my situation is that there are a plethora of pediatric OT, Speech, and PT clinics throughout the metro area. And this is fabulous for families and children. But when I am attempting to offer a more unique OT philosophy and treatment approach that is NOT found anywhere else in the metro area, it is frustrating the number of families I have had to disappoint by not being able to offer them “in-network” benefits. I am blessed to have the ability to serve the children that I do, but I know I could help so many more.
We’ve been impressed with EBN Pediatric Occupational Therapy Services, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am a nationally and state-certified pediatric occupational therapist. My specialty is providing developmentally-based OT services with a framework guided by the DIR®/Floortime model, which emphasizes working with abilities and passions, strengthening developmental capacities, respecting individual differences, and supporting important relationships. I am a DIR®/Floortime Advanced Provider, but I am an occupational therapist first.
I have a strong passion for a more developmentally-based occupational therapy practice, with a strong passion to emphasize the importance of direct family, caregiver, and school staff involvement; coaching; understanding each child’s and family’s needs; and providing kind, meaningful, caring, and compassionate direct therapy.
I created E.B.N. Pediatric Occupational Therapy Services to follow my dream to work more directly with families and caregivers in relation to their child’s unique processing and motor needs and to provide a unique service for children and families in the Twin Cities Metro area. I provide OT services within the home, private school settings, and daycares, and have offered my own developmentally supportive OT-based camps in the past.
This sets me apart from most of the larger (and smaller) clinical settings in the area. I have so much respect for those types of settings, but what I found from my experiences in the past is that often, I would see a lack of communication, follow-through, and even parent understanding and confidence regarding their child’s therapeutic program as parents typically would drop their children off or wait in the waiting room.
And while the clinical setting can offer so much in terms of fancy equipment, space, and other opportunities, I found that parents would struggle with how to incorporate OT-based activities within their settings. I also have found that being within the home, private schools, and daycares, I can see dynamics and struggles “in real time” to offer support, suggestions, and goals versus a child coming into a separate setting.
E.B.N. Pediatric OT services are unique within the Twin Cities area, as I provide family-focused OT services, which can enhance a family’s ability to be more active and present within the entire OT treatment plan and give parents and caregivers an empowered feeling to carry over suggestions within the home. Using these developmental principles inspired by the DIR®/Floortime philosophy, the focus of OT sessions is on developing goals that are meaningful to the child and family.
The DIR®/Floortime Approach is an effective treatment approach that focuses on the interactive process with the child. There is an emphasis on the interaction between the child and the parent/caregiver, with the goal being directed toward developing attention and regulation, mutual engagement, purposeful interaction with gestures and problem-solving, elaboration of ideas, and building bridges between ideas.
This approach recognizes that a child’s functional emotional capacities and individual differences influence development, including motor development, motor planning, and overall processing skills. I think what I am most proud of and what I would want readers to know about me is that I offer a unique occupational therapy experience that encompasses a developmental, “bottom-up” approach to a child’s struggles.
Instead of just working on the “issue” that warranted a parent/caregiver to seek OT services in the first place (as I call a “top-down” approach), I want to get to the “why” we are seeing those struggles to begin with. I want to provide a therapeutic program that offers direct support and teaching for the caregivers, as well. I want to be able to demonstrate and teach families that they, too, can be just as active in OT programming.
I want to make sure that it is known that each and every child is unique and individualistic in their processing, emotions, development, and growth and to celebrate those individualistic differences. I want to make sure that “OT with Erin” feels fun, playful, and safe for the child while making sure we are addressing the specific goals each time we meet. I want the entire family who comes to work with me to feel supported. For me, that is what being an effective, kind, and caring OT is, and that is what I strive to be every day.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I am so blessed and lucky and appreciative of all my mentors, supporters, and cheerleaders in my journey to a successful private practice. Not a day goes by I am not grateful and humbled by my journey so far. From the most supportive and loving family growing up to my biggest cheerleader of a husband, to past therapeutic coworkers I still work with and refer to often, and clients from the past and present, I can’t even list all that I would give credit to for the success of EBN Pediatric OT Services.
Anyone who knows me personally is aware that I come from a very close family and I am so blessed by their encouragement and support. My husband has never told me “this isn’t a good idea” in the countless hours of my agonizing business decisions. My children, who are impacted by Mommy gone working, answering emails and texts, and writing reports and planning sessions, are so patient and accepting of my work-home balance.
And of course, I have to include my original “little friend” that I started working with when I was 10 and his family. Though he is now an adult and navigating his own life, I will always be grateful for my time with him and his family’s trust in me to care for their very dear son. They are the reason I went on the path that I am on. Sitting here and thinking about this question has made me so aware and indebted to ALL of the support I have had, do have, and will continue to have.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ebnpediatricot.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ebnpediatricot/
