Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Vandervalk.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Katie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I always joke that my husband was my first client, but neither of us knew it. We met in college, and I was immediately fascinated by his ability to live in the moment, without much thought or worry about what would happen later. It didn’t occur to me at the time, but over the years it became obvious to both of us that he definitely has ADHD. I mention this because throughout my years working as a Speech/Language Pathologist (SLP) in the public schools, I often had students on my caseload who reminded me of the kind of kid my husband must have been: a smart, disorganized, kind, impulsive, fun-loving, sometimes disaster of a kid. While in the schools, I noticed that kids like this would often have academic supports for reading, writing, or math, but that their executive functioning (EF) issues were not typically addressed. I also noticed that, depending on the severity of the EF weaknesses, sometimes a classroom assistant would be assigned to help those kids keep track of their assignments or give them reminders to stay on task. I would watch and wonder to myself, “What if, instead of doing it for them, we taught them how to do it for themselves?”
Also, throughout my years in the public schools, I observed students who, while thriving academically, could not quite navigate the social expectations of the school day. This was especially true as students got older because, certainly, what a second-grade peer is willing to overlook changes significantly in fourth, sixth, or tenth-grade. I noticed that those students with social communication challenges would struggle during the less structured parts of their school day, like recess or lunch, and their peers would become tired of dealing with their big reactions to small problems or their fixation on Pokémon or Mindcraft. I felt like those socially challenged kids needed different supports, ones that included direct coaching to learn how to put themselves in another person’s shoes and to learn how to think and wonder about the people around them!
So, at the end of the 2012/2013 school year, I “retired” from the public schools, and started seriously thinking about opening a private practice. It took some time to gather my nerve, but in the summer of 2015, I opened Through the Trees, LLC hoping to provide real, functional, and evidence-based coaching to those kids, tweens, teens, and adults with executive functioning or social communication challenges.
Has it been a smooth road?
It’s been both easier and harder than I imagined. It was hard to make the final jump, but easy to commit to it once I decided. I tell clients all the time that I’m a fantastic clinician, but a terrible business person! The hardest parts for me have been learning the business end of things, from the big stuff, like how to advertise, or what to do about insurance; to the little things, like cancellation or paperwork policies. As a small business owner, there are so many decisions that have to be made without the benefit of a team, and I definitely experience “analysis paralysis” at times. Ask my husband. The amount of time I took just coming up with the name Through the Trees was ridiculous!
The easy parts for me have been the therapy and coaching. That part is absolutely my strength, and I love doing it. I love the tiny “aha moments” when a client realizes that a strategy, like learning to make REAL to-do lists, is going to work for them. And, there’s nothing better than when I’m able to make a connection with a family who has been struggling to find a place where their kid can fit in and feel good about themselves, all while also learning about social communication concepts (like, did you know that 93% of communication is non-verbal?!) So, (hint, hint) even if you are sitting in class, not saying anything, you’re still sharing space with other people, and those people are likely noticing you and reading/interpreting your body language. What message do you want to send?
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Through the Trees specializes in three types of clients; those with executive functioning deficits, those with social communication challenges; and a combination of both.
We prefer to do our EF coaching in a 1:1 setting, at least initially, focusing on the client’s specific needs. We schedule our face-to-face appointments for one hour, but the work doesn’t end there. During that hour, we make a plan and introduce possible strategies for success, but we don’t expect a client to do everything on their own – yet. So, if a client makes a plan to finish a report by 3:00 tomorrow, we text or call or email to make sure that they are able to make that plan actually happen. Essentially, we provide that much needed external motivation and accountability, but as a coach, not as a parent or spouse!
With our “social” clients, it makes sense to do the coaching in a group setting so that the learning can be applied in the moment. We tend to keep groups small, and whenever possible, we like to co-treat with another professional, either our occupational therapist, Jennifer Richards, or our social-work student, Emily Blood. We work through our sessions with the expectation that when everyone feels ready, we’ll take the “show on the road” and head into the community for dinner or a movie or some other event that can then provide opportunities for carryover into the real world.
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