Local therapy center opens state-of-the-art facility for kids

IDAHO FALLS — A rock wall, jungle gym, and hands-on activities make up an interactive way for children to receive professional treatment at a new state-of-the-art facility. Connections Therapy Centers has been around for 16 years, but it finally has a home base of its own design.

“We’ve always been in a place where we’ve just made due,” CEO Michelle Dahlberg says. “We’ve never had a place that’s specifically designed for pediatric therapy — we’ve always just been in an office. This has been kind of like a vision of mine for a long time, but also has just turned into this amazing thing.”

Dahlberg was inspired to start her practice based on the growing need in the community for pediatric services. Before Connections Therapy, she worked independently as a speech and language pathologist helping kids in an infant/toddler program.

“The kids would turn 3 and would either go to the public school, a preschool program, or they would not receive services,” Dahlberg says.

She says she was surprised to see how many kids were on waiting lists for services. After seeing this, she wanted to provide a place where any child could receive continuing therapy while providing treatment they would look forward to.

“I felt like there was really nothing in our town, or nothing that offered really awesome things at therapy. It was just kind of the same old thing or not really a lot of great technology or supplies or materials or games or things like that,” Dahlberg says.

When Dahlberg decided to break out on her own, she had two other members on her team. What was then The Speech and Language Clinic has since transformed into Connections Therapy Centers with a team of 75.

“Last summer we rebranded and we went from The Speech and Language Clinic, and Peaks to Planes, to just Connections Therapies,” Dahlberg says.

She says her therapy center has always offered speech, occupational, and physical therapy for both children and adults, although the emphasis was originally on kids. Inside the new facility, all of these services are offered to families seeking quality care.

“We try to offer services at one location so that it makes it really awesome for families,” Dahlberg says.

Dahlberg says there’s purpose in the unique and colorful playground designs and rock walls for indoor and outdoor therapy.

“It looks like play, but every single item that we purchased, or we got or designed to be on our building was actually specifically designed for working on fine or gross motor skills or speech and language skills,” Dahlberg says.

Brian Olson, director of occupational and speech therapy, said it’s vital for certain kids to stay active to receive the best type of treatment.

“We try to keep the kids moving throughout the day while we’re here for their treatment sessions, working on heavy work, which is helping to (get) them calm, or to be more focused on what they’re working on,” Olson says.

The facility has various pullout areas for kids who struggle in peer settings or are transitioning to a school setting to learn to collaborate with other children. It also has quiet places for kids who need to decompress, as well as interactive areas for hands-on learning and motor skills progression.

Dahlberg says this therapy center is unique to east Idaho, and she’s seen nothing else like it in the West.

“There was really nothing in California, Arizona, Oregon, Colorado — anywhere around that I could find that would have something that had outdoor therapy plus indoor therapy that was specifically designed for therapy for pediatrics,” Dahlberg says.

She says the community has been overwhelmingly positive about the new location. Connections also has other locations in Blackfoot, Rigby and Rexburg. To know more about Connection Therapy Centers and the services it offers, click here.