We want to help your family be the BEST they can be.
Our Story
Peer Projects - Therapy from the Heart was established in November 2012, when Linda Murphy and Mary Lou Gagnon partnered and brought together their clinical skills, varied areas of expertise, and talented teams.
Peer Projects is a full-service Speech Language (SLP) practice and Therapy from the Heart specializes in all areas of Occupation Therapy (OT). In 2012, both practices had been referring and working with the same families for years and it seemed the next natural step to bring both practices under the same roof.
In August 2022, John Chambers bought the OT side of the business - Therapy from the Heart. John had been working with PPTFTH for over five years and he was very excited to take over the practice and continue the great work he and the OT team were doing alongside the SLP team.
From your very first point of contact our team is dedicated to creating a safe place for families and clients of all ages, with a unique set of challenges or learning differences. You are invited to become part of a community, to develop meaningful relationships, form positive memories, engage in authentic activities, and grow and feel competent as a family unit.
We have a skilled group of professionals, with varied backgrounds and areas of expertise along with warm personalities. Our goal is strengthening your learner’s abilities and building everyone’s skillset, thereby improving your daily life. Your journey is important to us. We look forward to meeting you and determining together the best approach to help you, your learner, and your family move forward as a whole!
We meet families where they are, unconditionally accept them for who they are, and help them become the best they can be.
John Chambers, MS, OTR/L.
John has been a registered and licensed occupational therapist since he graduated with his Master’s degree from American International College in August of 2015. He joined the Peer Projects-Therapy from the Heart team in June 2017. Prior to joining Peer Projects-Therapy from the Heart, John worked as an occupational therapist in the school system setting where he learned his passion for helping children. John has clinical experience working with a variety children and diagnoses with continued education in the areas of interoception, self-regulation and executive functioning. He also has formal training in the Zones of Regulation and Handwriting Without Tears programs. He enjoys incorporating families as much as possible and seeing children progress through therapeutic intervention. In his free time John enjoys staying active by participating in a number of organized sporting activities such as baseball, football, golf, boxing and weight lifting. John also enjoys all things Disney and Marvel!
John purchased Therapy From the Heart in August 2022 and has served as one of the lead clinicians at the clinic since 2019. Owning/operating his own clinic has always been a goal for John. When the opportunity arose, he could not pass up the chance to run the company he has worked for and cared about. John enjoys inspiring and uniting others and looks forward to leading by example. He also enjoys establishing strong relationships and providing guidance to others.
When John is not at work he enjoys spending time with his wife, Rebecca and daughter, Molly as well as enjoying watching sports and exercising.
Linda Murphy M.S., CCC-SLP, CEIS (she/her)
Linda has been working with individuals, ranging from infant to adulthood, for over 30 years. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from Boston College in 1993 but after working for two years with adults with developmental disabilities in supported work and residential settings, she discovered her true passion and pursued a Master’s Degree in Speech Language Pathology from Emerson College. Linda began her career as an speech language pathologist in Early Intervention. There she gained experience working within a variety of natural environments, working as part of a multidisciplinary team, providing service coordination for families, and acting as senior supervisor to the speech language pathologists on staff. Linda has completed additional graduate courses in infant/toddler development and vision impairment, is a Certified Early Intervention Specialist, is trained in Natural Language Acquisition (NLA/Gestalt Language Processing) and has received formal training in PROMPT. She also holds Level 1 and Level 2 Certificates in Training from PDA North America.
Consideration of the whole family and thinking about how to make therapy meaningful across settings and across the lifespan have remained priorities for Linda since her beginnings in EI. This led her to Relationship Development Intervention® (RDI), and in 2007 she became an RDI Consultant. She brings this clinical expertise to all sessions and is dedicated to educating others on the powerful ways of thinking and being with others that RDI emphasizes.
Linda wrote Declarative Language Handbook: Using a Thoughtful Language Style to Help Kids with Social Learning Challenges Feel Competent, Connected and Understood, released in March 2020 and Co-Regulation Handbook: Creating Competent, Authentic Roles for Kids with Social Learning Differences, So We All Stay Positively Connected, Through the Ups and Downs of Learning, released in March 2021. Linda continues to expand upon this work, which can be found at declarativelanguage.com . Linda also has published several articles in magazines including Autism Spectrum Quarterly Magazine and Autism Asperger's Digest on these topics, and co-authored the book Social Thinking and Me with Michelle Garcia Winner. All of these resources can be found here.
In addition to providing therapy, Linda regularly provides trainings to parents and professionals on social learning topics near and dear to her such as declarative language, co-regulation, RDI, dynamic communication, social pragmatics, and how to create authentic, sustained peer interactions.
She founded Peer Projects in 2005 upon starting a social pragmatics group for preschoolers at Emerson College. Though initially started out of the back of Linda's car, Peer Projects has grown to offer a range of services provided by highly skilled and dedicated clinicians who have worked closely with Linda over the years. She is thrilled to be partnered with John and Therapy from the Heart, and continues to learn from her team members every day. When she is not working, Linda is kept quite busy at home with her family life and two energetic boys!