A heron standing in a calm body of water with tall grasses on the bank, reflecting in the water during sunset or sunrise.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapist Lauren Kapolnek, a woman with short reddish hair, wearing a black top and grey jeans, sitting on metal stairs outdoors.

In June of 2026, Hope & Healing was pleased to introduce Lauren Kapolnek, Occupational Therapist. Lauren specializes in helping people starting at age 11 into adulthood.

What is Occupational Therapy?

If executive dysfunction, sensory issues, or chronic pain due to hypermobility keeps you from doing the activities you want or even need to do, Occupational Therapy can help. Occupational Therapy addresses the strengths and limitations of your unique brain and body as you experience the physical world. Occupational Therapy is designed to help you more effectively complete the routine tasks of daily life or, even, to do fun, playful activities that would make your life feel more meaningful and whole.

How Does Occupational Therapy Work?

Your Occupational Therapist will start by helping you identify specific task-related goals. Together you will analyze the tasks you need or simply want to do and detail your daily routines around those tasks. Your Occupational Therapist will use this information to create an individualized plan that will allow you to unlock your potential to more effectively study, work, and play.

How does Occupational Therapy fit with Counseling/Therapy to help me or my child with Executive Functioning or Sensory Issues?

Occupational therapy will help you apply what you are learning in Counseling to the activities that make up your daily life. Some examples of things Occupational Therapy can help with are:

  • Help you identify your strengths, your sensory profile, and your communication patterns to help you plan your future career path and get and maintain your ideal job.

  • Help you organize your home, including where you work or study, to suit your overall executive functioning needs, taking into account your daily habits, identifying what is getting in your way, and using your strengths and capacities to move towards living in a home that is organized and functional for you.

  • Help you learn and strengthen the life skills you need for major life transitions (high school to work or college, learning to live on your own, college to work, parenting). Occupational therapy can help you find ways to make the transition smooth and less stressful by adding visual supports, scripts, and tailored systems.

  • Help you communicate more effectively and improve your social skills. This can be especially helpful if you identify as Autistic or Neurodivergent in ways that lead you to being routinely misunderstood or to misinterpret the actions and words of the people around you. Your Occupational Therapist can help you examine your communication patterns and determine which ones are effective and whether any new communication patterns could better help you be understood and to understand others. The purpose of this examination is to help you more effectively communicate with people as you pursue practical goals at home, school, work, and in the community.

  • Help you identify physical and environmental factors that impact your ability function to determine if you would benefit from additional supports in the environment, physical aids, and/or hands on nervous system regulation strategies so that you can better live your life.

If you are interested in scheduling an Occupational Therapy appointment for yourself or your teen with Executive Functioning or Sensory regulation issues, contact Lauren Kapolnek via our website or by calling 847-754-3838, ext. 9.

Water lilies with green leaves floating on a pond, some with brown spots, and two white lilies with yellow centers in the water.

How can Occupational Therapy help me with Hypermobility and Pain?

If hypermobility and/or an autonomic disorders causes you pain that interferes with your ability to engage in day-to-day activities at home, at work, or at school, Occupational Therapy can help. Occupational therapy can help with habit and routine management, energy conservation or pacing, stability and strengthening, and manual techniques. Lauren Kapolnek has both personal and professional experience with hypermobility and pain-related disorders making her qualified to assist clients in the following areas:

  • Strengthening and rehabilitation

  • Motor coordination

  • Cognitive fatigue and executive functioning 

  • Daily task management 

  • Education and coping strategies 

  • Environmental modifications 

  • Activity modifications

  • School or work modifications

  • Sleep difficulties

  • Joint protection and positioning

  • Energy conservation and fatigue management 

  • Use of manual techniques and modalities such as myofascial release and kinesiotaping.

What is Myofascial Release Therapy?

Myofascial release therapy (MFS) is a type of gentle, consistent pressure massage technique that releases tightness and pain throughout your myofascial tissues. Similar to putting something on stretch, myofascial techniques bring blood flow to the surface and relieve muscle tension without pushing or pulling. The focus is not on the muscles themselves but the fascial tissue that wraps and supports the muscles that can become stiff or knotted, common in diagnoses such as Ehlers Danlos Syndrome EDS. The hope is that the practitioner can target the source of the pain, not just relieve the symptoms. 

In Lauren’s practice with myofascial release, she does not use trigger point therapy techniques that involve digging or forcing a muscle to release. She allows for the fascia to guide the course with gentle techniques and pressure intended to release as the body is ready. Myofascial work tends to be slow and often focused on a specific area for an extended period of time. 

This therapy is not recommended for clients on blood thinners or with osteoporosis.

Why is MFR good for people with diagnoses such as Ehlers Danlos Syndrome?

  • Counteracting compensatory muscle over-bracing

  • Improving impaired fascial glide

  • Reducing chronic pain without overloading fragile connective tissues

  • Activating the parasympathetic nervous system to improve pain modulation

  • Improves body awareness and sensory feedback.

Is MFR covered by my insurance?

Up to 30 minutes of MFR is covered by insurance. MFR is best paired with 30 minutes of exercises, activity, and positioning following to support home programming and self-management. 

If you are interested in scheduling an Occupational Therapy appointment for yourself or your teen for Hypermobility and Pain or are in need of Myofascial Release Therapy, contact Lauren Kapolnek via our website or by calling 847-754-3838, ext. 9.