About • North Shore Occupational Therapy

About North Shore Occupational Therapy.

North Shore OT is a paediatric occupational therapy service located on the Lower North Shore of Sydney. Our clinic is located in Artarmon and provides a fantastic therapy space complete with sensory gym. We are passionate about helping children to meet their full potential!

North Shore Occupational Therapy provides services for kids who may experience difficulties with:

Sensory processing challenges
Self-regulation problems
Clumsiness or poor coordination
Weak core muscles
Poor upper body strength
Fine and gross motor delays
Having difficulty attending and focusing in school
Difficulty relating to peers or making friends
Poor eye-hand coordination
Short attention span
Problems with expressing feelings and emotions
Poor or limited eye contact
Tantrums, stubborn and uncooperative behavior
Tires easily or hyperactive
Poor posture
Disregard for safety
Lacks age appropriate skills (such as dressing, throwing/catching)
Difficulty with planning and sequencing play ideas and/or movements
Unintegrated primitive reflexes
Transitioning between activities and events
Sibling relationships
Play skills

We are proud to be one of the leading North Shore Paediatric Occupational Therapy practices!

The Team.

Janie Echt graduated from The University of Newcastle in 2003. From the very beginning she was passionate about working with children to help them to meet their fullest potential and has worked in Australia and the UK refining her skills over the last 19 years.

Janie has attended numerous post-graduate training courses to ensure she is providing the most effective treatment options to her clients. Janie is a DIR-Certified clinician.

Janie currently evaluates and treats children with sensory processing challenges, motor and coordination issues, autism spectrum disorder, visual-spatial issues and school readiness concerns.

Janie is a mum of three and truly understand that life gets busy and it can be challenging to balance everyday life stuff while trying to best meet your child/rens needs. She enjoys partnering with families to help them problem solve how to fit therapeutic strategies and interventions into their daily lives whilst minimising the overwhelm!

Cheryl is an Occupational Therapist who feels strongly about person-affirming therapy. She graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS), South Africa, in 1996 with a BSC(OT) and has worked in the field of paediatrics ever since.

Cheryl has extensive training and years of experience with working with Autistic children, sensory processing and emotional dysregulation. She engages with her clients and their families using strengths-based strategies to support their sense of belonging and identity, to thrive as unique individuals.

Cheryl is a certified DIR/Floortime practitioner and values the importance of play and relationships. Cheryl is passionate about supporting her client’s family’s and carers/early childhood educators to have a deeper understanding about their child’s individual profile and behaviour used to communicate underlying challenges.

Cheryl provides external supervision to many OT’s supporting them to become confident and reflective OT’s providing neurodiversity-affirming therapy.

As a mother of three busy children, she also understands the constant challenge to find balance in life.

Stephanie has a passion for improving the quality of life for people with disadvantages and supporting children to reach their full potential. She is an engaging, patient, therapist and an excellent communicator. Stephanie has recently completed her Master of Occupational Therapy at the University of Sydney and prior to this completed her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbra. She has extensive experience in working and supporting children, teens and adults through her various roles as an Occupational Therapy Assistant, Occupational Therapy Student and Disability Support Worker.

Stephanie believes in working closely with her clients families, educators and supporting health professionals to deliver a holistic bottom up approach to therapy. Using evidence-based practice she ensures her sessions are fun and engaging.

Stephanie has a special interest in mental health and wellbeing, connectedness, relationships and diversity. She is looking forward to expanding her DIR/Floortime and sensory integration skills and knowledge to deliver individualised therapy programmes specific to her clients needs.

Jacqui is an empathetic and dedicated occupational therapist, who has worked with both children and adults on the NDIS since 2017. She completed a Master of Occupational Therapy at the University of Canberra, and has an undergraduate degree in Biology.

Most recently, Jacqui has worked in an animal assisted therapy clinic, where she discovered her love for paediatrics. Jacqui has a client-centred, fun approach to therapy. She meets the client where they are at, and sets 'just right' goals - so therapy is challenging without being overwhelming.

In her spare time Jacqui loves going to the beach and spending time outdoors in nature or with animals. She is excited to continue to learn and grow working at North Shore OT.

Shannon Pearse is a registered occupational therapist who graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Occupational Therapy) in 2003. She is passionate about working with children using a child-centred, strengths-focussed approach to help facilitate growth and change, allowing them to maximise their unique potentials and achieve their goals. Shannon understands the importance of family-centred practice, and believes in the importance of working with the child’s family, carers and educators to create a holistic and collaborative approach to therapy, goal development and strategies for home and other environments.

Shannon has a background in brain injury rehabilitation, where she has developed a wide range of transferrable knowledge and skills. She understands that every child and family is unique and tailors her sessions to what is best suited for the child.

Shannon is continuously working on increasing her professional development by attending workshops and webinars and is an active member of Occupational Therapy Australia, in order to ensure she remains up to date with current research for evidence-based practice.

Evelyn is a registered occupational therapist who graduated from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University with a Bachelor Degree of Science in Occupational Therapy in 2006 and has been working in the field for over 10 years.

During her career, Evelyn has worked as a Paediatric Occupational Therapist in both Hong Kong and Sydney, honing her skills in sensory integration and fine motor skills. She can speak both Cantonese and Mandarin. She has extensive clinical experience working with children who have difficulty processing sensory information, helping them to overcome the challenges in their daily life.

Evelyn’ approach to therapy is grounded in the belief that genuine and respectful communication between clients is the cornerstone of an effective therapy. Her passion for facilitating children maximising their potential has been a driving force in her career, and she takes great pride in seeing her clients make progress and achieve their goals.

In her leisure time, she loves spending time with her family and friends. She believes that quality time with loved ones is an essential part of maintaining a work-life balanced life.

Guiding Principles.

Strong Foundations.

At North Shore OT our therapy is strongly guided by our belief in the strengths of a developmental approach to therapy. We support children to develop their skills in their everyday activities, school tasks and social and emotional development by identifying weaknesses and gaps in component areas lower down in the developmental pyramid and working with the children and families to strengthen these areas.

Joyful Connection.

Parents, carers and other family members are an integral part of our therapy sessions. Through coaching and education we strive to support parents and carers to deepen their connection with their child. And it is within the context of these relationships that much progress can be made.

Play-based Therapy.

At North Shore Occupational Therapy play is an integral part of all our treatment approaches. Occupational Therapists are skilled at choosing activities that are a just-right fit for the optimal challenge to a child's skills, and the very best therapy sessions are those in which the child doesn't even realise that they are working hard!

Want to know more?

We are happy to answer your questions and to have a chat about whether our services would be a good fit for your child. Send us a message via the button below and we'll give you a call within the next few days to discuss.