n this episode of The Grow Together Podcast, Kate dives into the fascinating world of sensory processing and explains how understanding your child's sensory system can be a game-changer. From visual, auditory, and tactile senses to interoception—the internal signals that guide our feelings and physiological needs—this episode provides a comprehensive overview of how each sense influences behavior, emotional regulation, and daily functioning.

Kate shares practical examples, including a case study of a child who seeks more proprioceptive input during nap time, illustrating how sensory strategies like weighted blankets or active engagement can help regulate behavior and foster better self-control.

Whether you’re a parent, caregiver, or therapist, you'll learn how to recognize sensory cues and use this knowledge to create a calmer, more responsive environment. Discover how occupational therapists utilize sensory insights to empower individuals to live their best lives.

Key Takeaways:

• The eight sensory systems (visual, auditory, tactile, proprioceptive, vestibular, olfactory, gustatory, and interoception) and their role in daily life
• How sensory processing impacts behavior, emotional regulation, and learning
• Practical strategies to support sensory regulation in children
• The importance of holistic, brain-and-body approaches in occupational therapy

Want to deepen your understanding?
Join our community and explore resources to support your child's sensory journey. Remember, understanding the nervous system helps us unlock potential and foster confidence in everyday life.

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Episode Summary:

In this inspiring episode, Kate dives into the exciting growth and expansion happening at Grow with Kate and Grow Together Therapy. She shares her personal journey of reclaiming her professional well-being and emphasizes the importance of valuing your work as an occupational therapist. With the field rapidly shifting towards private practice, autonomy, and specialization, Kate encourages therapists to embrace entrepreneurship without leaving their profession. This episode sets the stage for a broader series aimed at helping OTs build fulfilling, autonomous, and financially rewarding careers.

Key Topics Covered:

• Recent Growth & Expansion: Exciting updates including moving into a new space with a nonprofit, accepting state insurance, and serving more families through Impacting Tomorrow.
• Personal Journey: Kate’s experience balancing motherhood and her career, and her realization that her professional self is vital to her well-being.
• Industry Insights: The OT field is growing by 13% (2021-2031), with outpatient therapy becoming a $20 billion industry. There's an increasing trend of OTs seeking autonomy, flexibility, and fulfillment through private practice.
• Empowerment of OTs: The importance of taking back control of your practice, niching into specialized areas, and the mental health benefits of working independently.
• Personal Success Story: Kate’s transition from feeling unfulfilled in previous roles to finding purpose, autonomy, and financial reward through her private practice, Grow Together Therapy.
• Upcoming Series: A comprehensive guide to launching and growing your own private practice, covering business skills, marketing, overcoming challenges, and maintaining autonomy.

Quotes & Highlights:

• "Your professional self is you taking care of yourself."
• "You do not have to leave OT to make money."
• "It is time for us to take back what we practice and own our roles."
• "Growing in private practice means more autonomy, trust, and fulfillment."

Resources:

• AOTA Sources
• BLS OT Outlook
• OT Satisfaction
• AOTA Practice and Revenue

• Subscribe to our Grow Together Members where we will send you weekly applicable templates to apply to and GROW your practice!
• Get Your All-In-One Hub for marketing with 180x2 -Course hosting, email list, automations, social management and MORE through my affiliate link! CLICK HERE
• If you are ready for 1:1 help, lets get started with a discovery call! Schedule here!
• Protect Your Practice Through My Affiliate Link HERE - USE CODE KATE for $$ off!
• Get my Resources For Private Practice HERE
• Visit Our Therapy Website for Grow Together Therapy!
• Pay Your Therapists with GUSTO (with my affiliate link :) )

Episode Summary

Welcome back to the Grow Together Podcast! In today’s episode, Kate dives into one of her all-time favorite topics: the nervous system—and how parents can better understand, regulate, and support themselves in the middle of their child’s big feelings and daily challenges.

Too often, pediatric therapy focuses solely on helping the child regulate—but what about the parents? How do we support you in the middle of the meltdown, when your own nervous system is running on empty?

Kate shares:

• A powerful analogy using the “ladder” model of the nervous system
• What fight, flight, freeze, and shutdown look like in everyday parenting
• The role of the prefrontal cortex, limbic system, and why your child’s reactions aren’t personal
• Why you might be dysregulated and how to prepare your own system for tough moments
• Simple, research-supported regulation tools you can use before, during, and after meltdowns
• A gentle reminder that your calm isn’t just helpful—it’s how your child learns to self-regulate

Whether you're in the car before daycare pickup or curled up with headphones after bedtime, this episode is your permission to pause, breathe, and remember: you're doing a beautiful job.

Key Takeaways

• The nervous system isn’t something to “fix”—it’s something to understand
• Fight/flight and freeze aren’t bad—they’re protective
• Children borrow regulation from calm adults—your presence matters more than perfection
• Parents need (and deserve) regulation tools just as much as their kids
• Transition time, grounding, and somatic breathing are powerful tools you can start today Mentioned in This Episode
• The Ladder Analogy for nervous system states
• Harvard Center on the Developing Child: Co-regulation as a foundation for self-regulation
• Somatic breathing and grounding techniques for daily nervous system support
• Sensory profile support with an OT to discover what drains vs. calms you

Resources + Links

• Impacting Tomorrow The nonprofit Kate mentions in this episode

Favorite Quotes

Tune In + Subscribe

If you loved this episode, share it with a fellow parent or therapist who needs the reminder that they’re not alone in the chao

• Subscribe to our Grow Together Members where we will send you weekly applicable templates to apply to and GROW your practice!
• Get Your All-In-One Hub for marketing with 180x2 -Course hosting, email list, automations, social management and MORE through my affiliate link! CLICK HERE
• If you are ready for 1:1 help, lets get started with a discovery call! Schedule here!
• Protect Your Practice Through My Affiliate Link HERE - USE CODE KATE for $$ off!
• Get my Resources For Private Practice HERE
• Visit Our Therapy Website for Grow Together Therapy!
• Pay Your Therapists with GUSTO (with my affiliate link :) )