Cherish Pope

MS, OTR/L

Role:

Occupational Therapist

Year I joined CPT:

2020

Favorite thing about CPT:

The one-on-one relationships I get to have over a period of time with the children I see and their families is one of my favorite parts of my job. I love getting to know and love the kids and find specific ways to build their self-esteem and help them see how capable they are to do hard things.

Favorite intervention area:

I enjoy problem-solving with kids and doing things on a trial-and-error basis ex: shoe tying or putting in a shirt for a kiddo with limited range of motion in their upper extremities. It shows kids that I don’t always get things right and I don’t expect them to either and we can laugh about it, but it is truly amazing when problem-solving ends with a child being able to do something independently that they couldn’t before.

Why occupational therapy?

When I was a student and first shadowed an OT, I had already shadowed many other health professions. I knew I wanted to help people in a special way. When I first saw and learned what OT was, it felt like a profession specifically catered to my personality and interests.

Outside of CPT:

I am married to my husband, Eric, and together we have 1 child! I’m from Elberfled, IN where my parents still live in the house I was raised in. My husband is a full-time teacher in the EVSC and an associate pastor at our church in Chandler. We regularly spend nights of the week with our church family and hosting youth group at our house.

What I wish more people knew about occupational therapy:

How BROAD it is!! We OTs can help with so many different things from feeding to handwriting to social skills and so much more!