A Focused Brain Pediatric Therapy

05/18/2026

To Our A Focused Brain Families, Colleagues, and Friends,

After much prayer, reflection, and gratitude, I am writing to share that I will be retiring from providing direct clinic treatment services effective June 30, 2026.

This decision has not come easily because A Focused Brain has never simply been a clinic to me — it has been a calling, a ministry, and a deeply meaningful part of my life. Since opening A Focused Brain, I have had the tremendous privilege of walking alongside so many wonderful children and families. What began as a professional journey became something much more personal over the years. Many of you became like extended family to me, and the relationships built through this work will always hold a special place in my heart.

To the parents who entrusted me with your children, thank you from the bottom of my heart. There are truly no words that fully express the gratitude I feel for the trust, kindness, and support you have shown me throughout the years. Watching your children grow, celebrating victories together, and supporting families through challenges has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Your children have touched my heart in ways I will never forget.

I am also deeply grateful to my colleagues and to every individual who has worked alongside me throughout this journey. Your dedication, compassion, encouragement, and teamwork have meant more to me than I could ever adequately express. I have been blessed to share this mission with so many caring and gifted people.

Most especially, I want to thank my husband, John. From the very beginning, he has faithfully walked beside me at A Focused Brain, supporting me through every season, challenge, and accomplishment. We have trusted in the Lord throughout this entire journey, and we continue to trust Him as we enter the next chapters of our lives together. I truly could not have done this without his love, strength, and unwavering support.

Although I am retiring from direct clinical treatment services, I do plan to continue offering educational consultation services and parent resources designed to support families with home-based educational programs for their children. These services will focus on providing educational guidance, tools, and support for parents and caregivers.

As I step into this new season, my heart is filled with gratitude for every family, child, colleague, and friend who has been part of A Focused Brain. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your lives. The memories, relationships, and experiences we have shared will remain with me always.

May God continue to bless each of you and your families abundantly.

With love and sincere gratitude,

Lisa Poe
A Focused Brain

05/14/2026

Hey Parents!!
This is a wonderful obstacle Course your kiddos could play with in your own back yard!! Click the link below to order!

https://amzn.to/4uMg5Lt

AFB is an affiliate with Amazon.

ninja warrior obstacle course for kids

05/08/2026

Happy Mother's Day to all of you AWESOME Moms!

It is truly a scared gift to do the work you do!!

💁‍♀️Share this with a mom who may need a little encouragement this Mother's Day! We all need to stand and support each other!

✅ "Like" and "Follow" for more encouragement and parental education

03/17/2026

I love this toy!! The Jesus dolls offers 36 Bible verses for kiddos to learn as well as 10 Faith-based songs!! Click the link to check it out!

Disclaimer: affiliate partner

13” Speaking Jesus Dolls with Bible Verses

03/12/2026

These magnetic tiles are usually go to in our clinic! The kiddos use their executive function skills as well as creativity to build and imagine!!

Also helping strengthening little hands with the mild resistance of pulling the tiles apart!

https://amzn.to/3P4zCqZ

Disclaimer:affiliate partner

Magnetic Tiles Building Blocks, Magnet Toys for Kids, STEM Approved Educational Toys,3D Magnet Puzzles Stacking Blocks for Boys Girls,100 PCS Advanced Set with 2 Cars

03/07/2026

My goal is to provide education to parents/teachers to be watchful/early than to be late! This is a wonderful post to read!

We're late!

I recently heard an interview with Ross Greene, who spoke about how our systems and policies are designed for us to be "late" when addressing concerning behaviors. Allow me to explain.

If a child gets put in timeout, or seclusion, we're late. We, the adults, are reacting to a behavior that already happened.

Sending a kid to the "calm down" corner? We're late. The dysregulation already happened.

Detentions, suspensions, expulsions? Late again.

"Consequences?" Late. Consequences are handed out after the fact, with the hope that we "teach them a lesson" through the punishment so they don't do it again. We know that's not working. Talk to any teacher and they'll tell you that the behaviors are worse than they've ever been.

Dr. Greene was right!

I had the opportunity recently to work in a classroom, with a paraprofessional, on being "early".

We saw a young student walking on their toes during a transition between activities. This child typically didn't do that. That extra proprioception he was seeking out was interpreted as a stress cue. He went to the rug to play and bumped into another child. Yep, he needed help. I positioned myself to support both students on the carpet playing with blocks.

What happened? Nothing. The kids played. I helped them delegate who gets what blocks. I "noticed" what each student was building and encouraged either imitation or collaboration from the other. I re-directed the one student to a different set of blocks to knock down when demolition was more appealing than construction, as he was certainly eyeing his friend's structure to knock down. They played for about 15 minutes and then moved to snack. No issues. No sadness. No fighting. I was early.

What would have happened, as has always happened in the past? The two kids go to the carpet and fight over blocks. An adult comes in and separates them (late). Then, the demolition-desiring student manages to sneak over and knock down his classmate's structure. He gets put in timeout and the victim is crying because his work was destroyed (late). A tough moment for everyone (including the teacher).

Just think about how many big behavioral events would be avoided if we were "early". But, as Dr. Greene expressed, as parents and teachers, we're usually late, albeit unintentionally. It's how our systems, and society in general, are set up.

How can we do better at being early? This is going to sound like a giant plug for occupational therapists, but on some level, I think we all can step back and 'notice' some stress cues. Noticing those stress cues can help us solve problem proactively, before big behaviors occur.

Parents can notice when their child had a tough day at school, or they're tired, or their sibling is driving them a little bit crazy. Those are opportunities to be early, to communicate to them that you 'notice' the difficulty, and set them up for success.

Teachers have to deal with classroom disruptions multiple times a day. We lose millions of classroom days every year because of disruptions in learning. If a teacher 'notices' the dysregulation, pauses teaching to address the dysregulation, and returns to teaching once they are regulated, many of those (late) 'behavior management' tools (clip charts, loss of recess) wouldn't be necessary.

In the example I gave, toe walking was a stress cue. The loss of body awareness was another. Leaving your desk to walk around the room, deeper breathing, a furrowed brow, intense fidgeting, all could be stress cues and an opportunity to be early, if we recognize them.

The other thing I noticed is that being early was much more regulating for ME than being late. When we (the adults) are late, we often come in hot 🔥. We're mad, or really frustrated. Kids feel that. WE feel that. When we're early, we are in helping mode, which feels so much better (and calmer).

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. As parents and teachers, we are late...a lot. 🙋‍♂️ I am certainly guilty of that. But, many of the big behaviors that occur are predictable and can be addressed proactively if we commit to it and have the right tools. I knew my proprioceptive-seeking, demolition-desiring friend wanted to knock down his classmate's tower. That's a huge dopamine sq**rt for him. He needed my help. He needed me to be early. When I was early, everything went smooth. When I'm not early, "stuff" happens. I can own that, and I can work to be early more often. The consequence isn't necessary, but being early so I can teach them strategies and skills to play reciprocally with their friends is really important.

This is a longer post that usual for me. If you're still reading, I hope you aren't 'late' to whatever you were planning to do next. 😉

I appreciate you being here! 🥰

03/07/2026

Spring is almost here and it's a great time for the kiddos to get outside! We use a ninja course like this in our nature based OT sessions...the kiddos love it and so do we!!

Disclaimer: I am partnered with Amazon as an affiliate.

ninja warrior obstacle course for kids

02/02/2026

362 Followers, 245 Following, 72 Posts

01/27/2026

Nature isn't always sunshine and blue skies. 🌧️❄️

It has all the weather - cold rain, sleet, snow, ice, wind, mud .... the uncomfortable stuff we usually try to avoid.

But as a nature-based occupational therapist, I don't avoid these elements - I work with them!

Cold rain becomes a lesson in resilience and regulation.
Snow and ice slow us down and invite problem-solving, body awareness, and trust.
Sleet and chilly air challenge sensory systems in ways a clinic never could.

With the right support, my kiddos learn:

* how to listen to their bodies
* how to adapt instead of shut down
* how to stay regulated when things feel hard, cold, or unpredictable

Nature doesn't remove challenges - it teaches through them.
And when kiddos learn they can handle the weather out here, they start to believe they can handle life out there too. 🌳🤍

Because growth doesn't only happen in comfort - it happens in connection.

It empowers children to be who they were created to be!

12/29/2025

A Focused Brain will be closed Wednesday December 31, 2025 through Friday, January 2, 2026!

Happy New Year!

12/24/2025