Selecting an occupational therapy provider in Nashville means weighing Tennessee state licensure under TCA Title 63, Chapter 13, NBCOT certification reflected in the OTR/L credential, and post-licensure specialty training that matches the case at hand. Adult hand and upper-extremity cases call for Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) credentials issued by the Hand Therapy Certification Commission, which require three years of clinical experience and 4,000 hours of direct hand-and-upper-extremity practice before sitting for the examination. Pediatric work draws on sensory-integration training (STAR Institute, Therapeutic Listening, Astronaut Training) and reflex-integration frameworks; adult neuro recovery after stroke or brain injury draws on NDT-adjacent neurorehabilitation protocols and academic-medical-center caseload.
Reference points used throughout: AOTA Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (Fourth Edition), NBCOT certification standards, HTCC eligibility criteria for the CHT credential, ASHT (American Society of Hand Therapists) clinical practice guidelines, STAR Institute mentorship curriculum for sensory processing, and the Tennessee Occupational Therapy scope of practice codified at TCA 63-13. Each profile names the OT lineup with credentials, the clinical focus, and contact details so you can match the practice to the presenting concern.
Quick Comparison #
| Firm | Credentials | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| MPOWER Physical Therapy | Tennessee OTR/L licensure under TCA Title 63, Chapter 13; CHT credential available; orthopedic-affiliated through Elite Sports Medicine and Orthopedics | Adult hand and upper-extremity therapy, post-surgical recovery, custom splinting, repetitive-strain injury rehabilitation, return-to-sport conditioning |
| Vanderbilt Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute | Tennessee OTR/L licensure; Certified Driver Rehabilitation Specialist on staff; academic medical center program inside the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center | Adult and pediatric occupational therapy for stroke, traumatic brain injury, and CNS-diagnosis rehabilitation co-located with speech and physical therapy |
| Bespoke Pediatric Therapy | Founder holds MS OTR/L from University of Central Arkansas; STAR Institute mentorship, Therapeutic Listening, Astronaut Training, Reflex Integration certifications | Pediatric sensory processing, fine-motor and handwriting development, reflex integration, home-based developmental occupational therapy |
1. MPOWER Physical Therapy #
MPOWER Physical Therapy runs an occupational hand therapy line across its Midtown, Green Hills, Franklin, and Brentwood locations, with the Nashville-anchored team treating sports injuries, workplace accidents, and repetitive-strain conditions of the hand, wrist, and elbow. The practice sits inside the Elite Sports Medicine and Orthopedics referral network, which gives the occupational therapists direct working relationships with the orthopedic surgeons handling the surgical cases that route into post-operative hand therapy.
Hand and upper-extremity focus #
The occupational therapy team treats post-surgical recovery (carpal tunnel release, tendon repair, fracture fixation), tendinopathy, nerve compression syndromes, arthritic hand conditions, and repetitive-strain injuries. Custom splinting and bracing is fabricated chairside for fingers, hand, wrist, and elbow following injury or surgical intervention, which is the splint-fabrication scope set out in the ASHT clinical practice guidelines for orthotic intervention. Manual therapy, joint mobilization, strength and coordination exercises, and pain-management techniques round out the protocol mix.
Setting and equipment #
The Midtown and Green Hills clinics give the occupational therapy team access to indoor and outdoor turf, ergonomic workstations, and exercise equipment that lets a hand-therapy plan progress beyond isolated upper-extremity drills into return-to-sport and return-to-work conditioning. That facility setup is one of the reasons the practice draws workers’ compensation referrals and athletes alongside post-surgical referrals. The Nashville-area occupational hand therapy team includes Grace Elliott, OT, working out of the Hayes Street Midtown clinic.
MPOWER Contact #
- Phone: (615) 815-3777
- Address: 2004 Hayes Street, Suite 110, Nashville, TN 37203 (Midtown); 2001 Woodmont Blvd, Nashville, TN 37215 (Green Hills)
2. Vanderbilt Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute #
The Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute, part of the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center, runs the Vanderbilt adult and pediatric occupational therapy line for central nervous system diagnoses, including stroke, traumatic brain injury, and other acquired neurological conditions. The practice operates as an academic-medical-center rehabilitation program, which means the occupational therapists carry the post-acute caseload routed in from Vanderbilt University Medical Center neurology, neurosurgery, and the inpatient rehabilitation service.
Adult neuro and pediatric neuro caseload #
Occupational therapy at the institute targets the activities-of-daily-living deficits that follow brain injury and stroke, including upper-extremity hemiparesis, motor planning loss, visual-perceptual deficits, and cognitive impairment affecting task sequencing. Programs run alongside speech-language pathology and physical therapy under one roof, so a stroke survivor needing aphasia therapy, gait retraining, and upper-extremity occupational therapy can be co-treated rather than driving between three buildings. The Driver Rehabilitation Program, staffed by occupational therapists with the Certified Driver Rehabilitation Specialist (CDRS) credential, evaluates return-to-driving fitness after neurological injury, which is a niche specialty that few non-academic clinics carry.
Academic teaching role #
The institute’s clinicians provide supervised clinical training for more than 50 occupational and physical therapy students and 60 audiology and speech-language pathology students each year. That teaching commitment keeps the staff current on the rehabilitation literature and on the standardized outcome measures (FIM, COPM, AMPS) used in academic-medical-center practice. For Nashville-area patients carrying complex post-stroke or post-TBI presentations, the depth of the staff bench and the co-located disciplines are the differentiators.
Pi Beta Phi Contact #
- Phone: (615) 936-5040
- Address: 1215 21st Avenue South, Suite 9211, Nashville, TN 37232
https://www.vanderbilthealth.com/program/pi-beta-phi-rehabilitation-institute
3. Bespoke Pediatric Therapy #
Bespoke Pediatric Therapy provides pediatric occupational therapy across greater Nashville (Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Spring Hill, Nolensville, College Grove) under founder Julie Williams, MS, OTR/L. Williams holds a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Central Arkansas and carries 14 years of pediatric clinical experience across school systems, outpatient clinics, and home-based settings. The model is built around individualized evaluation and treatment plans, with the brain-body connection serving as the framing principle for sensory and motor work.
Sensory and reflex training stack #
Williams holds Therapeutic Listening certification (a sound-based sensory-integration protocol), Astronaut Training certification (a vestibular-visual protocol), Handwriting Without Tears, Reflex Integration, Pediatric Kinesio Taping, and Level 1 STAR Institute mentorship training for sensory processing disorder. That certification stack maps directly onto presentations like sensory processing disorder, fine-motor delays, handwriting struggles, and retained primitive reflexes affecting attention and motor planning. The clinic team also includes Ashley Smith, OTD (Doctor of Occupational Therapy, Belmont University), and Caroline Ellis, MOT (Tennessee State University), both adding handwriting and developmental-OT depth to the staff lineup.
Pediatric clinical match #
The clinic profile suits families navigating autism-spectrum sensory dysregulation, ADHD-related motor and attention challenges, developmental coordination disorder, fine-motor and handwriting delays, feeding difficulties, and primitive-reflex retention. The home-based and clinic-based delivery model means children can be seen in the natural environment where the target skill (mealtime, getting-dressed routine, school-prep handwriting) actually happens, which aligns with the AOTA Practice Framework guidance on context-based intervention.
Bespoke Contact #
- Phone: (479) 970-1227
- Service area: Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Spring Hill, Nolensville, College Grove
https://bespokepediatrictherapy.com
How to choose between the three #
Tennessee licenses every working OT under TCA Title 63, Chapter 13, and the OTR/L credential (NBCOT certification plus state licensure) sits behind every practitioner above. That regulatory floor is universal, so the question worth asking is what kind of patient each clinic actually accepts on a Monday morning:
- For adult hand, wrist, and upper-extremity injury, post-surgical recovery, custom splinting, and return-to-sport or return-to-work conditioning, MPOWER Physical Therapy brings the orthopedic-affiliated hand therapy program across four Nashville-area locations.
- For adult or pediatric post-stroke, post-TBI, or other CNS-diagnosis rehabilitation needing co-located speech, physical, and occupational therapy and driver-rehabilitation evaluation, the Vanderbilt Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute carries the academic-medical-center caseload depth.
- For pediatric sensory processing, fine-motor, handwriting, reflex-integration, and home-based developmental OT, Bespoke Pediatric Therapy brings the STAR Institute mentorship and Therapeutic Listening certification depth across the southern Nashville suburbs.
Before scheduling, confirm in-network insurance status (Vanderbilt is in-network with most major Tennessee plans; private pediatric and orthopedic-affiliated clinics vary plan-by-plan), verify Workers’ Compensation panel inclusion if the case is occupational, and bring prior imaging, surgical notes, or prior evaluation reports. New-patient intake is handled by phone at the numbers above.
Notes #
- Tennessee occupational therapy licensure is required under TCA Title 63, Chapter 13, and the OTR/L credential indicates both NBCOT national certification and active Tennessee state licensure.
- CHT (Certified Hand Therapist) is granted by the Hand Therapy Certification Commission (HTCC) and requires three years of clinical experience plus 4,000 hours of direct hand-and-upper-extremity practice before the certification examination.
- ASHT (American Society of Hand Therapists) publishes the clinical practice guidelines referenced for hand-therapy scope, including orthotic fabrication and post-surgical protocols.
- STAR Institute mentorship training and Therapeutic Listening certification cited under Bespoke Pediatric Therapy are post-licensure specialty credentials in sensory-integration practice.
- AOTA (American Occupational Therapy Association) Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, Fourth Edition, frames the scope-of-practice and intervention-context references throughout.
- Founding-clinician credentials, services, certifications, addresses, and phone numbers are drawn from each practice’s own website as of publication; verify current details directly with the clinic before your first visit.
Selection Methodology #
The three practices above were filtered against the wider Nashville occupational therapy field using these gates: minimum tenure on Nashville-area patient care, verifiable Tennessee OTR/L licensure under TCA Title 63, Chapter 13 reflecting NBCOT national certification, named clinic brand and verifiable street address on the practice’s own website, and a published service scope that maps to patient need without scope-of-practice overreach. National rollups, mid-level-only practices without published physician or licensed OT supervision, and offices without verifiable street addresses were excluded.
Frequently Asked Questions #
Q: How do I check whether the practice is in-network with my insurance plan?
A: Confirm in-network status through your insurer’s online provider directory and by calling the practice’s billing department with your plan name and member ID. Coverage can vary by physician within a single group, so verify the specific clinician you will see is in-network, not only the group itself. Ask about any out-of-network reimbursement path if needed.
Q: What documents should I bring to the first appointment?
A: Bring a current photo ID, your insurance card, a complete list of prescription and over-the-counter medications with dosages, a brief written summary of the medical concern, and any prior imaging, lab results, or specialist notes relevant to the visit. Many practices also request that the new-patient intake forms be completed before arrival.
Q: Are any of the three practices paid placements?
A: No. The three profiles above are editorial selections drawn from publicly verifiable sources. No firm sponsored placement.
Q: How does the practice handle after-hours or weekend questions?
A: Ask whether the practice has a triage nurse line, a patient portal with messaging, or an on-call physician rotation for after-hours clinical questions, and what number to dial in an urgent (non-emergency) situation. Always call 911 for chest pain, stroke symptoms, severe bleeding, or any life-threatening emergency rather than the practice line.
Editorial Note #
This guide was published on 2026-05-11 and reflects research current as of that date. Verify licenses, phone numbers, and current business status before engaging any firm.