I never intended to be a ‘Mommy Blogger’. I’m not actually sure if I am but sometimes parenting and my writing do intertwine. It makes me happy to share activities for families in and around Manila to create a happy life here. I am not blind to the fact that Manila be a difficult transition, then you throw motherhood (or any journey) on top of that and it can get even more difficult. There is beauty here, but it’s not without difficulty. I recently wrote a piece on Smart Parenting about my motherhood journey. I won’t share in great depth here but if you would like to read the piece, find the link here.

What I would like to share with my post today is that Manila really has great options for almost everything. Sometimes we need a bit more nuance, persistence and creativity but we have it, and that includes therapy. Ha! I said it and I want you to say it with me, TTHHEERRAAPPYY. It’s 2018 and I want to throw everyone into therapy, I think therapy is fabulous for everyone! Today my focus will be on my journey as a mother of children who needed therapy and the different services we were able to find in Manila.

Again, I am not going to go into great details as my experiences are very personal but they also belong to my children. I respect my children as individuals and don’t feel it appropriate to share all the details of their stories.

Therapy Resources In Manila Approved By A Momma Abroad:

MedMom|

MedMom serves a number of resources from socio-emotional therapy, speech therapy, occupational and physical therapy, group therapy and serves individuals across many disabilities and differing severities. MedMom is located in Ortigas/Pasig Area.
Getting An Appointment - I recommend calling first and emailing and if you get no initial response like I did then physically go to their office and make an appointment. They require an evaluation from their evaluation team and those appointments usually are full from 6-12 weeks out so be prepared to wait, it is worth it however.
Facilities: MedMom has a medium sized space that is nice and updated with current therapy modules. They have an open area for different physical therapies and individual therapy rooms as well.
Therapists: We saw a total of four therapists in the year we received therapies at MedMom. One of my sons received weekly physical therapy and occupational therapy and both therapists were educated, trained and practiced in the US before returning to the Philippines. Because of scheduling his occupation therapists changed to a new graduate of occupational therapy and it wasn’t a good fit. My eldest son received services for socio-emotional support and she was incredible! She was a local graduate of Ateneo and was very professional and deeply kind. She actually left MedMom and we continued to receive services from her at her new office because she was so fabulous.
Costs: therapies and therapists range depending on length of time and experience but we paid anywhere from 1,200 php -2,250 php per hour. I believe scholarship and finance help are available.

Kids In Motion|

Kids In Motion is an idea location for expats as it is located in BGC. Kids In Motion offers services for speech therapy, social thinking and occupational therapy.

Getting An Appointment - Kids In Motion so far has been the most responsive and organized in terms of evaluating and scheduling. They had the fastest response time and were very communicative, I highly recommend them purely because of their initial process. This is key as so many parents are burnt out and struggling and to have a quick evaluation process is priceless.
Kids In Motion is a smaller space but still has an area for physical and occupational therapies with private therapy rooms available as well.

Therapists: We currently only see one occupational therapist. She graduated from a local university and is FANTASTIC! She keeps a written journal of what she has worked on each session, has created a sensory diet for my son and many other daily support systems for home and school. I have been very impressed with the support my son has received the last two months.
Costs: My sons currently therapy is just over 1,000 per hour for occupation therapy. Kids In Motion is cash only.

Therabilities|

Therabilities is located both in Greenfield, Mandaluyong (near Pasig/Ortigas) and a branch in the South (Muntinlupa). Therabilities had the most impressive online presence and quick response until it came to scheduling an appointment. After I emailed my sons evaluation and attempted to schedule an appointment I never heard back from them again. I was impressed until they never followed through with an initial appointment.

Social Smarts - A Relationship-based Social Thinking Workshop|

Social Smarts Intensive Program at Ateneo Bulatao Center.
My eldest son received support from his school counselor every week last school year and she recommended he attend the Social Smarts program Ateneo Bulatao Center and I am so thankful she did. The Social Smarts program very deliberately instructs children on social skills and emotional thinking with specific instruction. My son is typically developing but benefits from specific instruction in terms of social and emotional thinking. Most of the students in the group class have Autism diagnosis but any child who needs extra support in these areas would great benefit from the program. The program is an 8 week program every Saturday and is both an investment of time and money but I am happy to report it was absolutely worth it.
Contact socialsmarts.ateneobulatao@gmail.com for inquiries.

In Touch Therapy Services (For Adults, Children and Families)|

In Touch comes highly recommended through the expat community and services both individuals and families. I have only heard positive feedback. I have no experiences myself with In Touch.
In Touch is located on McKinley Road between BGC and Makati.
Contact In Touch here.

I offer this short list as options but not limited to these resources. These are all personal experiences I have had so yours may differ. Please do not hold my opinion as the only opinion, do your own research and find a good fit for your child and family. I am in no way held responsible for your personal experience.

Manila really does have everything, it can take more work to find it, but it’s here. If you are on the therapy journey with children I wish you the best.