I’m so excited to meet you.

Hi, I’m Emily!

I am passionate about providing exceptional, evidence-based, family-centered care to children and have been a pediatric OT for over a decade. I spent the first 8 years of my career at Seattle Children’s Hospital working on the inpatient rehabilitation unit while running the outpatient Constraint Induced Movement Therapy program. I moved to beautiful Bellingham, WA at the end of 2017 and thoroughly enjoyed working in early intervention until I launched my private practice in 2021.

When I’m not in the clinic I enjoy getting outside on my mountain bike or my skis and I am so grateful to live in a place where I can do both!

Education and Experience

Seattle Children’s Hospital Rehabilitation Medicine

  • Inpatient and Outpatient services- 2011-2021

Whatcom Center for Early Learning

  • Early Intervention - 2017-2022

Colorado State University

  • M.S. Occupational Therapy - 2011

University of Puget Sound

  • B.A. in Psychology - 2006

Special Training

  • Dynamic Movement Intervention (DMI), Levels A, B, C : DMI

  • Task Specific Electrical Stimulation (TASES): TASES

  • Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) : CIMT

  • Sequential Oral Sensory Approach to Feeding (SOS) : SOS Approach

  • Kinesiotaping in pediatrics : Kinesiotaping

My Philosophy

  1. I believe even the smallest victories are worth celebrating!

  2. I believe connection, trust, creativity, and an open mind are key to helping your child succeed.

  3. I believe your child will have better results when we collaborate with your child’s caregivers, school/daycare, and medical teams.

  4. Every child and every family is welcome here, regardless of race, religion, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age.

Publications

  • Kornafel T, Tsao EY, Sabelhaus E, Surges L, Apkon SD. Physical and Occupational Therapy for a Teenager with Acute Flaccid Myelitis: A Case Report. Phys Occup Ther Pediatr. 2017;37(5):485‐595. (pubmed)

  • YC Pan, B Goodwin, E Sabelhaus, KM Peters, KF Bjornson, KLD Pham, WO Walker, KM Steele (2020) “Feasibility of using acceleration-derived jerk to quantify bimanual arm use” Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation. (Steele Lab)

  • Brianna M. Goodwin, Emily K. Sabelhaus, Ying-Chun Pan, Kristie F. Bjornson, Kelly L. D. Pham, William O. Walker, Katherine M. Steele, (2020) "Accelerometer measurements indicate that arm movement of children with cerebral palsy does not increase after constraint induced movement therapy" American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74:5 (preprint: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/667246v1)         

Occupational therapists use play to help children expand existing skills and develop new ones.

I believe collaboration is crucial to helping children meet their goals.

We would love to help your child thrive! Contact us to request a free phone consultation.