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

What happens when your experience as a clinician collides with your experience as a parent?In this episode of Rooted in Connection, 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.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 Swallow Your Pride, growing the Med SLP Collective and Med SLP Education, and pursuing her PhD while navigating enormous changes in her personal life.But some of her most important lessons about being a clinician came from becoming a caregiver herself.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 less, not adding another therapy hour.Throughout the conversation, one message keeps coming back: fit matters. 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. 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.