My name is Catherine Funk and I’m the director of the Behavioral Health Program at Carolina Pediatric Therapy. So I’ve been with Carolina Peds since 2015, and once I joined the organization I took on the role of being the director of the Behavioral Health Program and helping it grow.
The role of the Behavioral Health Program at Caroline Pediatric Therapy is really to help provide children and teens and families with skills and the support they need to successfully manage any stress that comes along, previous trauma, anxiety or depression, and really just be the best versions of themselves that they want to be.
So our team is a really great team. We have a smaller group of therapists, and it’s a newer program for Carolina Peds, so it’s really what I consider to be in its infancy stage of development, which is a really exciting time to be part of the team because there’s just so much room for growth and development, and there’s so much need in the community of what we really want to accomplish. So when a new therapist joins our team, they can really expect to be welcomed into a really close group of therapists who collaborate and consult with each other at all times, and really support each other in really achieving what they want to achieve, and developing the pieces of the program that we want to develop.
But we like to share what we learn with others, so we have in our weekly meeting we often times have an opportunity to share the information and knowledge that we learn from trainings with each other, or also talk about upcoming trainings that are coming that people might want to participate in or enroll in. And then there’s also the professional learning communities at Carolina Peds, which is multi disciplinary and offers therapists an opportunity to learn what other disciplines are learning about in their trainings and in their conferences that they attend.
It’s really a great opportunity that we get to work with the other therapist, and also because then you’re just then a part of a team that’s supporting the family and the child and their growth. We’re not just looking at one facet, but really the whole child and being able to provide them with all that they need to be successful.
At Carolina Peds we really see our therapists as people, and we recognize that their interests and their life outside of their work really creates who they are as a person and really adds to our team. And so I think part of the joy of being at Carolina Peds is that we really love the people that we work with, not just as the therapists who have the skills that are serving the community, but really the people that we love to work with.
And I’ve been with a lot of different organizations, and that is probably … really helped me recognize how fantastic Carolina Peds is because it is a place where really the people I work with are like … They’re like family, you know? They care about individuals, and they care about successes, and everyone brings so much heart and passion into what they do that it’s just a fun and great place to work where you really get to build relationships that you really care about.
At the end of the day, I think one of the best parts about what I do and leaving work is recognizing that I am a part of something so much bigger than just me and the families I serve. I think Carolina Peds, the mission is really to provide outstanding service to families and to children in the community that really need those services. And the mission is really such a beautiful one because the community has such a need for that. And so it’s really great at the end of the day thinking about how many families we’re serving, and how much we’re helping kids reach their full potential, or get closer to their full potential of what they might be able to accomplish and do. It’s just really exciting.
So we thrive together because we all have that shared passion for serving others and helping others.
