At Merlin Day Academy, we value our therapists and staff, and work to create a supportive environment for their professional development. Our multi-disciplinary approach thrives on collaboration- we all work together to provide the highest quality care for our clients and families. To ensure our new employees are well acclimated to the Merlin Day Academy environment, we've thoughtfully designed an onboarding week followed by a structured mentorship program for all new therapists during their first 6 months of employment. 

The onboarding week is designed to promote a successful transition for our new hires, specifically in promoting an understanding of our processes of care and orienting to the Merlin Day Academy environment. New hires are provided with a blend of in person and self-guided interactive trainings, coupled with in person observations of rotations and therapy sessions, tailored to their unique role. 

Starting their second week of training, all new therapists begin the MD structured mentorship program. This includes weekly supervision, with the first two months provided by their onboarding mentor (a senior MD therapist), months 3-5 with their department head or lead and the final month with their clinic director (Figure 1). All mentorship meetings aim to facilitate a smooth transition into our processes of care.  

New therapists are provided with session observations by their onboarding mentors, coupled with feedback regarding client strategies and approaches. In addition, new hires will record their sessions to review during mentorship, focused on self-reflection and understanding their clients from a variety of perspectives. Professional goals are identified in collaboration with onboarding mentors to promote clinical development, often centered on development of discipline-specific skills, building confidence in procedures, or strengthening inter-professional teaming. Progress towards professional goals are evaluated every 2 months and updated with their sequential mentors. In addition, all new hires receive clinical training on the application of the Intentional Relationship Model, Sensory Integration and DIR/Floortime within pediatric practice.

Figure 1: Merlin Day Academy Structured Mentorship Timeline

We take pride in our onboarding and mentorship programs- they are instrumental in maintaining our collaborative company culture. But don't just take our word for it, see what our staff has to say: 

"I love my coworkers and the kiddos that we work with. There is a big emphasis on growth and learning. Everyone makes me feel welcome to ask any questions that I have. It is so easy to see the passion that we all have here working towards the company's mission and that makes this a rewarding place to work." 

"An aspect… that should never ever be lost is the overwhelming support from each member of the team from department heads to therapeutic assistants to admin. What many people have worked very hard to foster together is an environment that rewards open communication and actually listening and respecting every single member of the team." 

"I love the collaboration between disciplines that is constantly occurring… I feel as though this has allowed me to grow as a therapist and treat our clients with a new understanding. All of the team members are so supportive of one another – always willing to lend a helping hand, give a break during a challenging behavior, laugh about great or tough moments or discuss clients. I love that [they] ask for feedback from employees and seems to want to make changes to better employee's experiences. I love that the company is open to changes although change isn't always easy!" 

Merlin Day Academy is growing! To see the current openings visit our career page here.