Trusting the Fit: Parent Intuition, Dysphagia & Relationship-Based Care with Theresa Richard, PhD, SLP

<p>What happens when your experience as a clinician collides with your experience as a parent?</p><p>In this episode of <em>Rooted in Connection</em>, Erin sits down with Theresa Richard, SLP, dysphagia leader, educator, entrepreneur, and mom, for a conversation about the experiences that have shaped how she thinks about care, connection, and what it really means for therapy to fit a child and family.</p><p>Theresa shares her path from realizing the school setting wasn’t for her to finding her place in dysphagia, building a mobile FEES company from the ground up, launching <em>Swallow Your Pride</em>, growing the Med SLP Collective and Med SLP Education, and pursuing her PhD while navigating enormous changes in her personal life.</p><p>But some of her most important lessons about being a clinician came from becoming a caregiver herself.</p><p>Erin and Theresa talk candidly about raising a child with complex needs, navigating an overwhelming therapy schedule, recognizing when a therapist simply isn’t the right fit, and learning to trust parent intuition. They explore caregiver capacity, therapist regulation and emotional intelligence, sibling dynamics, grief, advocacy, and why supporting a child sometimes means doing <strong>less</strong>, not adding another therapy hour.</p><p>Throughout the conversation, one message keeps coming back: <strong>fit matters. </strong>We hope this episode gives permission to say “this isn’t working for us” “or this isn’t a right fit” without needing a specific reason or excuse. Because sometimes you just know and that is okay. </p><p>This episode is an invitation for clinicians to approach families with more curiosity, flexibility, and humility, and for caregivers to trust what they know about their own children. </p><p><br></p>