Our Therapists | The Therapy Center of Hendersonville, TN

Our therapists are wholly dedicated to their patients and work with a variety of special needs with a caring encouraging attitude.

Sue Baechle, PT - Lead Pediatric Physical Therapist

Sue began her professional career in California at the Children’s Hospital of San Diego after earning her Master’s degree in Physical Therapy from the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, CA in 1988. She has been treating pediatric patients for 28 years in a variety of settings including inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, neonatal intensive care unit, outpatient clinic, and the school setting. Sue has extensive experience treating patients with a wide range of diagnoses including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, torticollis, post dorsal rhizotomy, dystonia, prematurity, muscular dystrophy, hemiplegia, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, congenital anomalies and syndromes and developmental delay.

Sue continues her educational training in Neurodevelopment treatment (NDT), Beverly Cusick and Cascade casting courses, infant massage, toe walking courses, torticollis, plagiocephally, wheelchair assessment, and sensory defensiveness courses.

Sue and her husband Jim moved from Michigan in 1998 and have raised their three children in the Sumner County area. Sue enjoys spending time with her family, church and community.

Christine Morrow, ST - Lead Speech-Language Pathologist

Christine began her professional practice in 1995 after graduating from Murray State University with a Master’s in Communication Disorders. She began her career working extensively with Adults in nursing homes, hospitals and home health settings. Christine expanded her practice to include pediatrics in 2005. She has worked with adults and children with developmental disabilities, prematurity, strokes, cognitive deficits, Apraxia, Autism, Asperger’s, head injuries, and feeding/swallowing disorders.

Her goal is to see every patient, young and old, increase and strengthen their independence and become a successful communicator in every aspect of their daily life. Christine is a lifelong resident of Nashville and graduate from Father Ryan High School. She and her husband, Todd, have two daughters. She enjoys being active in her church and community.

Beth Sikes

Beth Sikes, OTR/L - Lead Pediatric Occupational Therapist

Beth began her professional practice in 1995 after graduating from the University of Tennessee-Memphis with a Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy. She now has 21 years of experience and has worked solely in pediatrics in a variety of settings including in early intervention settings, pre-schools, local school systems, and clinic-based settings. She is one of few therapists in middle Tennessee certified to administer and interpret the Sensory Integration and Praxis Test. Her continuing education has also focused on sensory processing, sensory feeding issues, behavior, hand development, visual perceptual skills, handwriting and difficulties associated with autism.

While she enjoys working with children with all types of disabilities and delays, she really loves to work with children with sensory processing difficulties, and those with autism are her passion.

Beth grew up in Davidson County and attended Goodpasture Christian School. She moved to Sumner County when she married John Sikes. They are busy keeping up with two very active boys.

Kelley Southard, PT - Lead Adult & Adolescent Physical Therapist

A 1987 graduate of The Ohio State University, Kelley worked as an athletic trainer apprentice within the Ohio State athletic program while completing her physical therapy schooling. While on her last clinical and sports medicine rotation in California she learned to love the complicated spine and orthopedic patient who needed manual techniques and rehabilitation.

She has enjoyed working in Sumner County for the last 29 years within outpatient settings in Gallatin, White House and Hendersonville meeting the therapeutic needs of orthopedic, spine, chronic and pelvic pain, sports related, joint replacement and work-injured patients.

Kelley continues her educational training in McKenzie, Muscle Energy, Myofascial, Craniosacral, Dynamic Taping, Strain-Counterstrain, and Balance techniques.

Kelley and her husband Steve have raised their four children in Hendersonville while enjoying participating in their church, athletic events, schools and community.

Amy Houston, OTR/L - Pediatric Occupational Therapist

Amy Houston received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1993 for Occupational Therapy from Washington University, School of Medicine in St. Louis. For over 23 years she has worked with a wide range of pediatric patients in a variety of settings including early intervention, home health, school system, and inpatient/outpatient rehabilitation.

Amy resides in Hendersonville with husband Patrick and their three children.

Amy McLaurin, PT, ATP - Seating and Mobility Specialist

Amy began her professional career in 1995 after completing her undergraduate education at David Lipscomb University and then receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Therapy at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Her career experience includes Vanderbilt University Medical Center in adult care and Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center in the Spinal Cord Injury program. Most recently, Amy was employed at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in the seating and mobility/wheelchair clinic in addition to treating pediatric patients with various neurological and development diagnoses.

Amy has 15 years of seating and mobility experience and earned her ATP certification in 2008. She also holds certifications as a Certified Infant Massage Instructor and as a Child Passenger Safety Technician to provide medical car seats to pediatric clients. Amy’s primary goal as a therapist at the Therapy Center is the further development of the seating and mobility/wheelchair clinic in order to provide custom seating and mobility devices, medical car seats and other custom equipment. One of Amy’s most memorable personal and career experiences was participating in a mission trip to Guatemala to provide wheelchairs to children and adults offering them the freedom of independent mobility.

A native of Mt. Juliet, Amy currently lives in Hendersonville with her husband Scott and two children, Ansley and Britton.

Therese Esquivel, MA, OTR/L - Occupational Therapist

Therese received her Master of Arts degree in 2007 for Occupational Therapy from The
University of Southern California. For over 14 years she has worked with pediatric patients in a
variety of settings including early intervention, multiple school settings, and clinic-based
settings.

Therese’s continuing education has focused on sensory processing, emotional/self-regulation,
behavior, executive functioning, handwriting, Therapeutic Listening, Interactive Metronome,
visual perceptual skills, and difficulties associated with Autism.

She has advanced training to provide the following services: Therapeutic Listening through Vital
Sounds and Interactive Metronome.

Therese grew up in Sacramento, California. She moved to Hendersonville in 2019 with her
husband, Adam and their daughter. They enjoy participating in their church, and spending as
much time as possible hiking and exploring the great outdoors that Tennessee can offer.

Jane Garrett - Office Secretary

Jane was born and raised in Chattanooga Tennessee. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education and a minor in psychology from Middle Tennessee State University. She has been with The Therapy Center since March 2006 and is dedicated to her role as office manager.

She and her husband, Steve, moved to Hendersonville in 1988 and they have three sons. She is active in her church and community, enjoys spending time with her family and friends and enjoys cooking, crocheting, and reading in her free time.

Grace Harrison, PT, DPT, MBA - Physical Therapist

Grace began her professional career in 2016 working for HCA Healthcare in Nashville after receiving her Master’s degree in Business Administration in 2015. However, by the end of 2016, Grace had a calling and passion to begin a career in Physical Therapy. After being a collegiate soccer player at Millsaps College and working closely with athletic trainers and physical therapists there due to multiple injuries, Grace realized this calling had been years in the making and would soon come to fruition. Grace also had lifelong exposure to the field of Physical Therapy, as her mother has been a Physical Therapist for 35+ years in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where Grace and her family are from.

Fast forward to 2016, Grace began observing and volunteering at The Therapy Center, where her passion for Physical Therapy multiplied. Grace also completed two long-term clinical rotations at The Therapy Center, while she was in school at Belmont University to receive her Doctorate degree in Physical Therapy. In 2021, Grace began practicing as a licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy at The Therapy Center. Grace has experience in several settings, including skilled nursing, inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient orthopedics, and outpatient rehabilitation in pediatrics. Grace is also certified in Dry Needling, Level 1 and Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA), Level 1.

Grace and her husband, Taylor currently live in the Hendersonville area, and they enjoy exercising, watching sports, and hanging out with their family, friends, and Great Dane.

Amanda Caudill M.S., CCC-SLP - Speech-Language Pathologist

Amanda earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Communication Disorders from Western Kentucky University. She completed her clinical fellowship at the Brown Center for Autism, where she received Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) training. Amanda has experience treating a variety of pediatric patients including individuals diagnosed with Autism, receptive-expressive language delays, phonological disorders, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Down Syndrome, fluency disorders, and developmental delays. She is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Amanda and her husband have two children (with a 3rd on the way) and enjoy spending time with family and being outdoors.

Stefania Pascarella M.S., CCC-SLP - Speech-Language Pathologist

Stefania is a graduate of New York University, She is originally from Colombia but has spent the majority of her life in the U.S., allowing her to become bilingual (English and Spanish). Her passion for her work stems from her growing up with a brother with Down Syndrome, in which she had the opportunity to interact with many Speech-Language Pathologists and witness firsthand the profound impact professionals made on both her brother and her family as a whole.

Stefania currently holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) by the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA), is licensed by the Tennessee Department of Health, and is trained in Natural Language Acquisition (Gestalt Language Learning). She has experience treating the pediatric population with a variety of speech and language disorders and etiologies including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, and other cognitive and developmental delays. During the course of her career, Stefania has developed a passion for taking a holistic approach to communication. She believes every child deserves an individualized treatment plan using evidence-based approaches while also creating a fun and memorable experience. Stefania enjoys interacting with people from different backgrounds and learning more about their culture in hopes of better serving families with cultural differences.

During her free time, she loves spending time with her two children and her wonderful husband. She also enjoys leading an active lifestyle through exercising and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Mollie Lawrence - Office Secretary

Amber Graber M.S., CCC-SLP - Speech-Language Pathologist

Amber graduated from Western Kentucky University with her Master's degree in Communication Disorders in 2012 and is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). She has experience as a school-based SLP (5 years) as well as an outpatient setting SLP (5+ years). She enjoys treating a variety of needs and more specifically, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Autism, and other speech sound disorders.

In her free time, she pursues bilingualism (Spanish), hiking, painting, reading, photography, and spending time with her husband.

Tucker - Therapy Assistant

Tucker is so excited to get to work with children at The Therapy Center of Hendersonville! He is a one year old male Golden Retriever. He is a certified therapy dog with the Pet Partners Organization. Tucker is a sweet, non-assertive and gentle dog. He likes children but is sometimes shy around new people, giving your child a therapeutic opportunity to gain his trust and become his friend.

Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a type of therapy that strategically incorporates the child-animal interaction into the therapy process. Here at The Therapy Center of Hendersonville, the process is guided by Sue Baechle PT, who has been certified as a handler to work with her approved therapy dog, Tucker.