Spero Ergowellness

Join us in welcoming our new OT! Jacey McClary, OTR/L :)

I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Allied Health from Texas A&M University👍in 2022, and with my Masters of Occupational Therapy from Tennessee Wesleyan University🧢 in 2024!

I also have experience working in home health🏠 and inpatient rehab💪

I really enjoy treating a variety of diagnoses, including neurological and orthopedic. As an OT, I love working towards improving people’s ability to complete the tasks that are important to them! I especially love working on ADLs/IADLs to maximize safety and independence!🌟

Outside of work, you can find me spending time with friends and family, making crafts, or relaxing with a show/video games👾

😌 Just breathe.. Our occupational therapist, Diya, gave a refreshing talk last week at the about the power of the breath for clients with neurological symptoms including Parkinson’s disease.

Some tips include:
✨ slowing down your breathing to decrease anxiety
✨ breathing into your lower ribs and feeling them expand to improve diaphragm strength
✨ trying box breathing to a count of 4 (last video) to bring your system out of fight or flight mode to help with sleep and digestion
✨ using humming or the “vooo” sound to create calming vibration on the exhale
✨using daily breathing drills to build a strong posture, starting with drills lying on your back

If you have neurological symptoms from any diagnosis and want to work on improving posture, endurance, and strength during your daily life, Diya would love to see you at our Oak Hill or Central locations!

&

Now.. sit up.. take a long slow breath in through your nose.. and out.. enjoy✌🏻

Happy Thanksgiving from the Spero Oak Hill team!

🎉 Welcome to the newest clinician to join the Oak Hill team, Justin Jacks!

Justin joins us as a PTA who graduated from St Phillips College in San Antonio. He recently moved to Austin and loves swimming at McKinney Falls and Hamilton pool.

Justin has a love for anything outdoors and plants/animals. He is an artist and musician who does oil painting and plays guitar. While he attended a reptile convention recently, he doesn’t own any as pets but is enjoying his two new kitties at home.

We’re excited for you to join the Spero family, Justin!

As we wrap up this week, today we’re celebrating our spirited and seasoned physical therapist, Lynn Jackson.

Lynn graduated from Texas Woman’s University in Dallas in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy.

She has been practicing for 36 years in a variety of settings, including an extensive background and certification in Ergonomics. She had her own practice, ErgoWellness, from 2000 to 2019 when it was acquired by Spero and became Spero Rehab Oak Hill.

Her specialty is in Orthopedics and Red Cord. She believes in restoring everyone to their best possible ability to function and helps her patients realize their goals.

✨Lynn enjoys her family and has two grown children and 3 grandkids.
💍 She has been married to her husband of 40 years.
🚴 She enjoys traveling, jeeping, hiking, and fishing. She also participates the Hotter’n Hell bike ride every year.

Thank you for sharing your love for fascial trains, alignment, and core strength with us over the years Lynn! You’re a gem and we’re lucky to have you!

👋🏼 Say hello to Dr. Caughey Richardson, one of our Board Licensed physical therapists at our Oak Hill location.

Since graduating with her DPT from Texas State University in 2015, Caughey enjoys treating all orthopedic and neurological conditions for patients of all ages.

Her special skill sets include treatment of vestibular disorders, pediatric cases, wheelchair customization, advanced movement correction for athletes returning to sport, dry needling, and McKenzie techniques.

Caughey is a lifelong Texan. Prior to her PT career, she graduated from Texas A&M University in 2007 with a Bachelor’s of Science and was a competitive gymnastics coach and judge for 8 years.

In her spare time, she enjoys traveling internationally, live music, fun on the water, working out, learning Spanish, and studying Indigenous American history.

Congrats on your newest addition, Caughey! We’re looking forward to having you back in the clinic soon!

Today we’re grateful for Mary Hine, a seasoned physical therapist who loves to learn and has a heart of gold 💛

Mary graduated from The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio in 1989, and has been mastering the art and science of healing through movement at our Oak Hill location since 2009.

Her special skill sets include Red Cord Neurac therapy, dry needling, aquatic therapy, fall prevention training, scoliosis rehab, and functional mobility exercise.

She and her husband Peter have five children and two grandsons. Despite her “lack of coordination”, she has a lifelong love for exercise.

🍫 A fun fact - her husband is a well known brownie aficionado, and loves to share his best-on-earth brownies with everyone!

🙌🏼 Happy Boss’s Day to our hard working orthopedic aficionado and Clinical Director, Dr. Joshua Woodson, PT, DPT!

Joshua is the Clinical Director for the Spero Rehab - Oak Hill location, where he has provided skilled patient care since 2018. Originally from Louisiana, Josh moved to Austin in 2015 and began his DPT degree at University of St. Augustine.

Now, he utilizes a variety of treatments including manual therapy techniques, dry needling, blood flow restriction (BFR), and functional strengthening exercises to help patients recover from surgical procedures, get back to  sports and other activities after an injury, or simply function better in their day-to-day lives.

Josh’s favorite hobbies include hiking with his wife and hanging out with his dog Honey. He’s always down to go to a brewery, gets equal parts excited and stressed about watching Saints football, and becomes very competitive when playing co****le.

Thank you for your leadership, Josh!

Today’s physical therapist shout out is for our soccer loving Aggie, Lisa Knutson!

Lisa has lived in Austin since 2007 after living in Charlottesville, VA for 7 years.  

She is married with 3 children which keeps her very busy.

Lisa graduated from Texas A&M in 1995 with a BBA in Accounting and then UT Southwestern School of Allied Health with a Masters in PT in 2000.

Lisa has worked both in the home health setting and outpatient orthopedics. She enjoys treating many different orthopedic injuries and has more recently started using the Redcord Neurac system to help restore functional and pain free movement patterns in her patients. (Our Oak Hill location houses two of only a handful of Redcord systems in Central Texas!)

Fun facts about Lisa:
🏊‍♀️ She was a collegiate swimmer at Texas A&M
⚽️ Everyone in her family plays or has played soccer
✌🏻 In her down time, she likes working out, spending time with her kids/husband, and reading
💚 She is an Austin FC fan

🎉 Today we’re celebrating a physical therapist who has been with us through her whole professional journey, Kristina Hernandez!

Kristina is from Brownsville, Texas and moved to Austin in 2012. She started working at Ergowellness (later acquired by Spero Rehab) in 2016 as a clinical assistant for almost 4 years then came back as a Physical Therapist in 2021.

Kristina earned her B.S. in Kinesiology with emphasis in pre-PT from St. Edward’s University in 2017 and graduated with Doctorate in Physical Therapy in 2021 from St. Augustine University- Austin campus.

Kristina’s hobbies include hiking, running, trying different coffee/food places, hanging out with her dog and sleeping. She’ll be running a 10k to support St. Jude in December!

When it comes to physical therapy, Kristina believes in taking holistic approaches to therapy, is certified in dry needling, and enjoys treating orthopedic issues and working with older adults.

Thank you for all you do for our Oak Hill team, Kristina!