Professional Therapies, Inc is a therapist owned certified rehabilitation agency started in 1984 by Jan Jessee, PT, who is one of the current owners.  Her agency merged with an agency owned by William Mercer, PT in 1987.  Ronald Greer, OTR/PT joined as an owner in 1988.

     Professional Therapies, Inc. (PTOR) started at the merger with two offices and currently has 8 locations including two in the New River Valley, one in Christiansburg and one in Blacksburg.  We anticipate opening an office in Shawsville soon.  PTOR currently has over 100 employees. We provide occupational, physical and speech/language pathology services to infants through adults.  Children ages 0 to three are typically served through local early intervention programs.  PTOR serves children in four different Early Intervention programs.  PTOR currently provides therapy services for eight different school systems and five private schools.  The type of service provided for each school system varies depending on the need of the local school system. 

      Currently, Professional Therapies provides Aquatic Therapy at our home office in Roanoke and at our Vinton Office at the Lancerlot sports complex.  PTOR is recognized as a leader in the provision of aquatic therapy.  We are pleased to announce our recent collaboration with the Christiansburg Aquatic Center, which allows our therapists to provide our patients this added treatment modality of aquatic therapy.  We currently have both pediatric and adult patients using the therapy pool at this facility.  One reason we are so excited about the ability to provide our patients with aquatic therapy is explained below.

      When a therapist looks out, they see not only a place of laughter and splashing, but also an open playing field.  It is a place where goals can be set and met; a place where confidence is built, strength is regained or gained.  It is a place of endless possibilities.  This is how a physical, occupational or speech therapist views a pool.  It is called aquatic therapy, which is the coupling of rehabilitation therapy with water.  When these two connect, great things can happen. Why the water, you ask? Water's natural buoyancy helps those people working on balance and walking as it "surrounds them" and often allows them to move in ways not possible out of the water.  Water helps overcome muscle tightness and lets a tight limb float and be supported as it is gently stretched.  Moving against the resistance of the water provides ways to gain strength, endurance and coordination.  Water provides a perfect medium for strengthening; whether it is kicking legs with a noodle, moving arms attached to floats, walking up and down ramps or stairs, or picking up small floating objects and squeezing them before throwing them. 

     Children with poor awareness of where they are in space or with low muscle tone benefit from the water.  Movement through the water promotes co-contraction of the muscles of the trunk (body).  Strengthening the trunk muscles helps to improve breath support for improved speech.   Use of the pool is an excellent way to stimulate the sensory system.  The tactile, vestibular and proprioceptive input provided in the pool help a patient's sensory system to address muscle tone and may help with sensory input regulation. 

      Children participating in speech therapy can achieve a variety of goals in the pool that can carry-over into everyday life. For example, splashing games promote vocalizations; bubble games improve lip closure; and floating games strengthen stomach muscles to increase breath support and volume.

Our experience has been that aquatic therapy is an environment, a tool which can help one achieve goals in the water that carry over onto land and into every day life for our patients.  For more information, please visit www.professionaltherapies.org.