The Team

Elen Nathan is a NZ registered Occupational Therapist and certified Sensory Integration Practitioner. She has over 20 years experience working with children and adults who have  diverse needs. Elen has specialised in Neurodivergence, Sensory Processing Differences and Developmental Trauma.

Elen is passionate about working with neurodivergent people to build their self esteem through understanding themselves better, as well as upskilling the people and systems around them to be able to provide better understanding and supports. 

Elen is the Mum of 2 busy boys who have taught her that often children come with their own plan and need an understanding team in their corner coaching them through life's challenges. 

Richard Nathan is a NZ registered Occupational Therapist with 20 years experience in the adult health and disability sector in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Richie has specialised in adolescent and adult mental health. 

As a clinician, Richie is warm with a clear straight forward approach. His support is solution focused and whānau centred. 

Within his senior management roles Richie has specialised in building positive workplace cultures, where responsibility and accountability is shared, to create exceptional service, with wellbeing for staff, clients and the organisation at the centre.  Having supportive courageous conversations that grow staff and a safe workplace culture can be one of the hardest parts of team development. In his consultancy role, he will bring these skills to life in work place training, where he will coach and support leaders to develop their own positive leadership style, to get better outcomes for the organisation. 

Sophie is a NZ registered teacher with a Specialist Teaching in Complex Educational Needs Postgraduate Diploma.

 With over 17 years teaching in both the UK & NZ, she now enjoys her role as a Deputy Principal at a Specialist School, ensuring whānau centred, excellent standards of practice within this setting.

Her years of practice in the classroom, as well as her leadership role of navigating resources, systems and funding, gives her a unique insight into how to prioritise which supports and interventions to get the best outcomes. 

The Playful Place are very lucky to have Sophie join the consultants team in the school holidays, where she will be offering Professional Development alongside Elen on Supporting Diverse Learners In The Classroom. 

Sophie has excellent knowledge of both The New Zealand Curriculum and the Expanded New Zealand Curriculum including how to implement these for a diverse range of learners. While learners are becoming more complex, she believes that all learners should be seen within the New Zealand Curriculum and with the introduction of the Expanded New Zealand Curriculum, this is now more possible than ever.

Little Bear is our French Bulldog therapy assistant. He loves Peanut butter and LEGO.

With 5 years working as a therapy assistant, Little Bear loves to join in on sessions when he is welcomed in. He loves snuggling up in the therapy space, being a warm friendly companion for anyone who needs some non-human time, or just wants extra company in sessions. 

If he is not welcome into the session, he also enjoys taking a break in the sunshine in another space. 

“From the first phone conversation Elen was incredibly helpful & generous with her time & knowledge. 

She was the first person who listened and understood my perspective in the midst of our family struggling with our child’s sensory difficulties. I’d tried various avenues to access help to no avail. She offered clarity & a practical way forward, which has been invaluable to us as a family. 

I couldn’t put a price on the positive effect Elen’s support has had on us all: stress levels are down, confidence is up & we are able to get on with life in a calmer, happier way.

Appointments are a highlight of our child’s week; she has a lot of trust in Elen & has the best time during their sessions. 

I highly recommend Elen as a dedicated & passionate therapist who always has your child’s individual needs at the forefront of her work.”

" I highly recommend Elen from the Playful Place. The changes we have seen in our 10 year old son since working with Elen for the past year have been immense. She has taught him many tools and strategies for coping in the aspects of his life he finds particularly hard, such as social situations. 

We have had teachers, family, and friends  also comment on the huge change they have seen in our son in the past year since attending the Playful place.

Elen has been a rock for our son, having someone in his life that completely understands his way of thinking. We are hugely appreciative of everything Elen has done for our son but also our family."

"Elen's presentation was a refreshing learning experience and I will approach my grandchildren with new insights. Such a special presentation" - Professior & Head of Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care.  

"Elen is an engaging, authentic and knowledgable presenter who took the participants on a learning journey through excellent slides, evidence based information and experience as a professional and as a parent." - Child Development & Movement Consultant. 

"We had immediate requests to run another session with Elen - she shared her extensive knowledge through a lively presentation keeping the audience engaged. Warm and approachable, her sharing of personal anecdotes from professional life and family life kept it very real for the audience and they connected to this and to Elen herself" - Ministry of Education.