About Us
We celebrate collaboration.
Laura Worthen and Julie Burgess-Dennis (Founders of Under The Umbrella) are speech language pathologists with extensive backgrounds working with kids and their families to address delays in speech sound disorders, language processing skills, fluency, social cognition, voice disorders, and feeding challenges, A developmental model of treatment in the context of play and social learning is the foundation for the work at Under the Umbrella. The most effective communication-based treatment is engaging, encourages the imagination, and follows the interests of the child/client, in the context of play. Learning to communicate at each developmental level is the ultimate goal for achieving independence, confidence, and emotional regulation.
OUR
STORY
Creating a space friendly to communication was the driving force of this collaboration. Both Julie and Laura hankered to work in a lively, energetic therapy space, grounded in play and family, open to incidental social interactions between kids and their grown-ups. Not seeing it around, Julie and Laura decided to build it. Over the summer of 2014, the therapists, along with their families and friends renovated a unique space in the Ravenna/Bryant Park neighborhood.
The intention of the space was to create a welcoming environment that frames communication in the context of play and shared social problem solving throughout the day. The space offered the opportunity for Julie and Laura to evolve an innovative approach focused on competencies across relationships as opposed to the more traditional skills-based mastery approach. It is our belief that all meaningful interactions follow the lead of the clients, and here at Under the Umbrella we are committed to having fun, all the while doing the deep work of rigorous communication therapy.
Meet Laura & Julie
