Occupational Therapy Parent Coaching
You don’t have to work this out on your own. Let’s look at it together, through an occupational therapy lens.
Dedicated time with a paediatric occupational therapist to make sense of what is happening for your child, and to find practical next steps that fit the family you actually have. By video call, anywhere in Australia.
When your child has a physical, developmental or neurological difficulty, everyday activities can require far more thought, planning and support than other people realise.
Sometimes you know exactly where your child is struggling.
Other times, you can see that everyday life is harder for them, but you are not quite sure why.
Occupational Therapy Parent Coaching gives you dedicated time with an experienced paediatric Occupational Therapist to look at what is happening, understand the factors contributing to your child’s participation, and work out practical next steps for your family.
This is not general parenting advice.
It is an Occupational Therapy coaching approach grounded in understanding your child’s development, nervous system, sensory processing, executive functioning, motor abilities, environment, relationships and the everyday activities they need and want to participate in.
From joining the waitlist to your first session
Six steps, and you can stop at any of them. Nothing is committed until you have seen the times, the fees and the service agreement in writing.
Join the waitlist
A short form about your child, what is feeling hard at the moment, and how you would be looking to fund sessions. It takes a few minutes. It is not an assessment, and it does not commit you to anything.
I read it myself
Every form comes to me personally. I check whether telehealth parent coaching is a reasonable fit for what you have described. If it is not, I will tell you honestly and point you towards something more useful.
I email you when a place opens
You will hear from me with the times I have available and what the first session involves, so you can decide whether the timing works for your family. There is no obligation to take a place when it is offered.
Service agreement and consent
Before we begin, you receive the service agreement and consent forms to read and sign. They set out fees, privacy, cancellation, and what coaching does and does not include, so that everything is agreed in writing first.
Your first session, with room to move
An extended initial session of 60 to 90 minutes. I set aside two hours for it, so there is time to read any reports you send through beforehand, hear your family’s history properly, understand what a week actually looks like, set goals in your words, and plan what comes next. One parent or both of you are welcome.
Ongoing sessions, shaped around your family
Sessions of 45 or 60 minutes, weekly or fortnightly. Research on this approach commonly uses blocks of around six to eight sessions, and fortnightly spacing gives you a real fortnight of ordinary life to try something in. At fortnightly spacing a block of that size runs across roughly three to four months. The pattern that suits your family is decided with you, not set in advance.
A note on session times. Every session includes 15 minutes of clinical review and documentation on top of the time we spend together — writing up notes, recording your goals and progress, and preparing what we agreed you would try. That time is part of the session and is included in the fee.
We look beyond the behaviour.
Occupational Therapists are interested in participation.
That means rather than simply asking “How do we stop this?” we look at:
What is this child trying to do?
What skills does the activity require?
What might be making it difficult?
What can we change within the task, environment or support around the child?
Your child does not exist separately from the world around them.
Their ability to participate is influenced by the interaction between:
their developmental abilities, sensory processing, regulation, executive functioning, motor skills, communication and individual strengths
what they are being asked to do, such as dressing, eating, playing, transitioning, learning, sleeping or participating in family routines
the physical space, sensory demands, people, expectations, relationships, timing and supports around them
Understanding that interaction helps us identify where change may have the greatest impact.
Parent coaching may support you with areas such as:
My role is to help you develop a clearer understanding of your child and identify changes that are realistic for your family.
The aim is to find the just-right fit between your child, what they are being asked to do and the environment around them.
Who is this for?
Occupational Therapy Parent Coaching is designed for parents and caregivers of children with physical, developmental or neurological difficulties who would benefit from an Occupational Therapy perspective.
Your child may have an identified diagnosis, be undergoing assessment, or have developmental differences that are already impacting everyday participation.
You may be looking for support because your child is finding particular parts of daily life difficult, or because you want help understanding how their developmental profile affects the way they participate at home, school, early learning or in the community.
You do not need a diagnosis, a referral or a funding package to join the waitlist.
Families usually get in touch for reasons like these:
If you are exploring NDIS early intervention funding, the eligibility requirements are set out by the NDIS at ndis.gov.au. Eligibility is decided by the NDIA, not by me, and joining the waitlist is not an application for funding.
You know your child. I bring the Occupational Therapy lens.
You bring an enormous amount of knowledge about your child, your family and what everyday life actually looks like.
I bring Occupational Therapy clinical reasoning, developmental knowledge and years of experience working alongside children, families and educators.
Together, we make sense of the problem and identify what may help.
Because good Occupational Therapy should not just exist inside a therapy appointment. It should help everyday life work better.
Sally Galloway, Occupational Therapist
I am an occupational therapist registered with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia, with more than sixteen years of experience across early childhood, community, schools and leadership — including a previous role as National Manager of Occupational Therapy at Goodstart Early Learning. I am the founder of Regulation Rituals®, the professional learning program I teach to early childhood educators around Australia.
Registration number OCC0001747854. You can verify the registration of any health practitioner in Australia through the public register at ahpra.gov.au.
What the research tells us
The approach I use is called Occupational Performance Coaching. It was developed by Dr Fiona Graham with Professor Sylvia Rodger and Professor Jenny Ziviani through research at the University of Queensland, and it has been studied with families across several countries. Three things from that research shape how I work.
The change starts with you
In studies of coaching parents of children with sensory processing differences, it was the parents who changed — they came away understanding more about their child, feeling more confident, and feeling less stretched by it all (Allen, Knott, Branson & Lane, 2021). That matters, because you are the one who is there for the morning, the meltdown and the bedtime. Not me.
It is meant to end
Across the research, coaching runs for around four to eight sessions, weekly or fortnightly, with the number shaped by the goals the parent chooses rather than fixed in advance (Graham, Rodger & Ziviani, 2013; Chien et al., 2020). It is built as a short block on purpose. The aim is that you leave with the thinking, not with a standing appointment.
By video, and that is not second best
Research on coaching delivered by video call reports outcomes comparable to sitting in a room together. Which means no waiting room, no car park, and no getting your child out of the house on a morning that is already hard — and it means we are looking at your home, where the real week happens.
What research can do is tell us what has helped other families. It cannot tell us what your child will do next, and I will not pretend otherwise. What I can tell you is that you will always know what we are doing and why.
What it costs, and how families pay for it
Sessions are charged at the occupational therapy hourly rate set out in the current NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits. Private clients are charged the same rate as NDIS-funded clients — no more, and no less. All fees include GST, and the current rate is confirmed with you in writing before your first session.
Ways families fund coaching
- Private fee. No referral or diagnosis needed.
- NDIS, where your plan is self-managed or plan-managed. Parent and carer coaching is generally funded under Capacity Building — Improved Daily Living.
- Medicare, under a Chronic Disease Management plan or a Mental Health Care Plan referral from your GP. You pay the full session fee and claim the rebate from Medicare. Your GP determines eligibility.
- Private health insurance rebates may be available depending on your fund and level of cover. Please check with your fund directly before booking.
It is worth confirming what you are eligible to claim before you book, so there are no surprises.
The practical terms
- Your extended initial session runs 60 to 90 minutes live, with two hours reserved for it in total.
- Ongoing sessions are 45 or 60 minutes live, plus 15 minutes of clinical review and documentation for each session.
- Invoices are issued by email after each session, and payment is due within seven days.
- Reports, letters and documentation beyond the time included in each session are charged at the hourly rate and agreed with you in advance.
- Fees are reviewed annually, with at least 30 days’ written notice of any change.
The full terms are set out in the service agreement you will receive before your first session.
Join the Occupational Therapy Parent Coaching waitlist
Bring the things that currently feel difficult, confusing or stuck. We will look at them together through an Occupational Therapy lens and identify practical, achievable next steps that support your child’s participation and your family’s everyday life.
The form takes a few minutes. It is not a clinical assessment, and joining the waitlist does not commit you to anything.
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Prefer to ask a question first? Email [email protected]. I usually reply within two business days, and I do not respond to clinical messages on weekends or after 6pm.
Consent and parental responsibility
Arranging occupational therapy for a child is a decision for the people who hold parental responsibility for that child. By joining the waitlist you confirm that you hold parental responsibility for your child and have authority to arrange occupational therapy services for them.
Where another person also holds parental responsibility, I ask that they are aware coaching is being arranged, and I encourage you to make this decision together where it is safe to do so.
Please tell me if there are parenting orders, or a family law or child protection matter on foot, and send me a copy of any orders that affect decision-making or access to information about your child.
Where parental responsibility is shared, either parent may request access to the records I hold about your child, unless a court order says otherwise.
I do not prepare reports for family law or other legal proceedings, and I do not act as an expert witness. If a disagreement arises between people with parental responsibility about whether coaching should continue, I may need to pause the service until it is resolved.
If any of this is complicated for your family, please say so on the form or email me. It does not stop you joining the waitlist, and it is much better discussed early than after we have started.
Frequently asked questions
Do you work with my child, or with me?
With you. That is the defining feature of coaching. Your child does not need to be present for the whole session, and often the conversation is more useful when they are not. There will be times we want to look at something together while your child is with you, and we will plan that in advance.
Can both parents attend?
Yes, and you are both very welcome. One parent or both of you can join any session, including the initial one — whatever works for your household. Some families find it useful for both to attend the first session and then alternate.
Do we need a diagnosis first?
No. You do not need a diagnosis, a referral or a funding package to join the waitlist. Many families come while an assessment is still underway, or with no diagnosis at all.
How long will I be on the waitlist?
I open one day a week for parent coaching, so it depends on how many places are free at the time. I will email you when a place becomes available, with the times I have and what is involved, and you can decide then whether the timing suits your family.
How many sessions will we need?
It is decided with you rather than set in advance. Research on this approach commonly uses blocks of around six to eight sessions, with the number shaped by the goals you set. At fortnightly spacing, a block of that size runs across roughly three to four months.
What if telehealth does not suit my child?
Then I will tell you. Video suits many paediatric occupational therapy goals, particularly those that involve coaching parents, building daily routines, supporting regulation and adapting environments. It suits hands-on intervention and in-person standardised assessment poorly. We talk honestly about fit early, and I will help you find an in-person provider if that is what your family needs.
Can you talk to my child’s kindy, school or other therapists?
Yes, with your written consent. Consultations with your child’s team are arranged separately and charged at the standard hourly rate.
Is this the same as Regulation Rituals® at Home?
No. Regulation Rituals® at Home is an educational program for families — general professional education, not individual therapy. Parent coaching is an individual occupational therapy service, provided to you and your family, with clinical records, consent and a service agreement. You are welcome to do either, or both.
What happens to the information I put in the waitlist form?
It is treated as health information, stored securely in my practice management system, and used to work out whether this service is a reasonable fit for your family. It is not shared with anyone else without your written consent, except where the law requires it. You can read the full Privacy Policy before you complete it.
What if I need to cancel a session?
With more than 48 hours’ notice there is no charge and we reschedule. With less than 48 hours’ notice, or non-attendance, the full session fee is charged. If your child is unwell, a session can often still go ahead as a parent-only conversation — get in touch and we will work it out.
What if I want to stop partway through?
You can end our work at any time, for any reason, and you do not owe me an explanation. If it is useful I will provide a brief discharge summary and help with a referral elsewhere.
Other ways I can be useful to your family
These are educational resources and programs rather than individual therapy. They are open to anyone, and none of them require an enquiry.
Regulation Rituals® at Home
The same occupational therapy science I teach to educators, translated for family life. Join the waitlist to hear when it opens.
Join the waitlistThe 8 Senses Quiz
A short, free way to start thinking about what your child’s sensory system may be looking for across the eight senses.
Take the quizFree resources
Guides, tools and articles on regulation, sensory processing and the ordinary hard moments of family life.
Browse resourcesSally Galloway — Occupational Therapist, registered with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia. AHPRA registration OCC0001747854. Trading as Your Early Education OT. SG OT Holdings Pty Ltd, ABN 51 669 041 829. PO Box 209, Buddina QLD 4575. Services are provided by telehealth only.
The information on this page is general in nature and describes a service. It is not clinical advice about your child, and reading it does not create a therapeutic relationship. Individual advice can only be given within a coaching engagement, after intake and consent. Outcomes differ between families, and no result is promised or implied.
This service does not provide crisis or emergency support. In a life-threatening emergency call 000. For urgent support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or your GP or paediatrician.
Concerns about this service are best raised with me directly at [email protected], and you also have the right to contact AHPRA on 1300 419 495 or at ahpra.gov.au. See also the Privacy Policy, Professional Scope & Disclaimer and Complaints & Feedback policy.
