Meet Our Team

Phyllis graduated from the School of Allied Health Professions, SUNY @ Stony Brook in 1983 with a B.S. in Physical Therapy, receiving The Award for General Excellence in Physical Therapy from the School of Allied Health Professions and the Award of Excellence from The Long Island District American Physical Therapy Association. She has held positions as both a Staff and Senior Physical Therapist at The Burke Rehabilitation Center of White Plains, New York, having the opportunity to advance skills in the area of evaluation and treatment of adult neurological,  rheumatology, cardiac, pulmonary, spinal cord and head trauma patients, as well as, out-patient treatment and evaluation of patients with neck and back pain and impairment, shoulder pain and impairment, knee injuries and post-surgical patients. She was instrumental in developing staff training programs for the use and implementation of objective, measurable evaluation tools including The Functional Ambulation Profile (FAP), and involved with the development of The Sports Screening Program, designed to assess and implement programs for prevention of injury in young athletes. Since 1986, Phyllis has focused her clinical expertise in the area of Pediatrics. She has held positions as Coordinator of Physical Therapy Services at the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities (Early Intervention Center), Staff Physical Therapist with St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center (Home-based Early Intervention and Preschool), Home-Care Physical Therapist with ABLE Healthcare Service and GENTIVA Health Care.

Phyllis began a long time association with O’Connell, Selig and Associates, LLP began in the mid 1990’s providing home-based early intervention services, pre-school services and school based Physical Therapy Services. During this time she has been involved with the development of programs emphasizing a team approach to helping school aged children reach their full potential in the school/learning environment. She has developed programs including: Gross Motor Curriculum for Kindergartners (a functionally based curriculum shared with teachers on an informal in-service bases to be used in the classroom), Co-Developed the Learning Through Movement program which was designed for use in the classrooms to aid in the collaborative efforts of both teacher and therapists focusing on the whole child. It has been successfully implemented in local school districts, enhancing the success of inclusion and life skill programs. In October of 2003, Phyllis was named the Director of Clinical Services for O’Connell, Selig and Associates, LLP. The Therapy SPOT, PLLC grew from this foundation.

Phyllis proudly provides physical therapy services to those ranging from birth through adult. She prides herself on the treatment of Torticollis in infants and on treatment of the medically fragile and multiply handicapped infants and young children. She is a Certified Infant Massage Instructor and Interactive Metronome Certified.

Phyllis is dedicated to the growth and development of the field of Physical Therapy and in reaching out to the communities that she serves. She is co-lecturer and author of P.T. and O.T. In The Learning Environment, an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association and Special Section on Pediatrics and Sports Physical Therapy. She also is involved with local youth sports programs serving as a trainer and coach and Sports Physical Therapy. She has also coached and trained students to participate in local Special Olympic Games.

Provided with a strong background in evaluation and assessment, and over 25 years of clinical hands-on treatment experience, Phyllis prides herself on an eclectic approach to the treatment of her patients. This includes a strong “team approach” to care, focusing on the “team captain”………………….THE PATIENT.

I was born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island in an Italian-American home.  I had a love of languages from early on. This led me to obtain undergraduate degrees from Binghamton University in Linguistics and Psychology, also loving the people aspect of communication.  Having the good fortune of guidance while at BU, interest surveys led me down the career path of Speech/Language Pathologist. I then pursued my Master’s degree at Penn State University and graduated with a Master of Science in Communication Disorders in 1982.

Studying first in upstate NY and then in PA, gave me a taste of life away from L.I. and I decided to return to Binghamton after graduation, landing a dream job with New York State.  My interest was working with children and worked for Broome Developmental Services for over 33 years, first at the institution with severely and profoundly mentally challenged individuals for 7 years, and then at the High Risk Births Clinic.  At the HRBC, I worked with children birth to 3 before early intervention came into existence in the early 90’s. I seized the opportunity to work in private practice in addition to working for the state during the inception of Early Intervention.  I retired from my full time with NYS in 2015 and to date continue my private practice part time in Broome County with the last four years under the auspices of Therapy SPOT, a very exciting opportunity provided to me by my sister, the owner, director and outstanding Physical Therapist, Phyllis Lepre-Reischmann.

Phyllis recently asked me to join the business as the lead for the Speech Department.  

Jacklyn Plonski graduated from Hofstra University with her bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science in 2014 and her Doctorate in Physical Therapy in 2017 from Stony Brook University. During her clinical rotations, she had various experiences in acute care, outpatient orthopedics, outpatient pediatrics, and school-based pediatric therapy. She has a strong interest in manual therapy.

Jacklyn spends time focusing on continuing education each year. She is a Graston Technique provider and has recently taken courses on spinal manipulation and cupping. She hopes to continue her education while continuing to treat adults and children at The Therapy SPOT.

Michelle graduated from the University of Hartford with a Bachelors of Science in Occupational Therapy in 2006.  She has extensive experience working with children with autism across the spectrum, including training in Applied Behavior Analysis.  Michelle has her certification in kinesiology taping for pediatrics.  She is also a certified Children’s Yoga Teacher