Our Team

All therapists working at POTS are dedicated professionals with a special interest in paediatrics and the well-being of children. With a keen emphasis on sensory integration, all professionals are abreast with the latest theory and evidence.

Meet the Team

Co-Owners

 

Josette Sammut

Josette is a qualified Occupational Therapist, graduated in 2007. As a student and as a newly graduate Josette had the opportunity to work at Inspire (Eden Foundation). Josette worked full-time at CDAU and part-time offering private service to children mainly with sensory processing difficulties for 7 years.  Since March 2014, she started running her own private clinic on a full-time basis.  Josette has completed her Masters in Education – Autism (Children) at the University of Birmingham in 2012. During the same year, she also took further assessment training to become ADOS qualified.  Then, she has extended her knowledge in Sensory Integration at the University of Ulster and is now a postgraduate SI practitioner (Clinical Reasoning and Practice in SI intervention).  She is also trained in Sequential-Oral-Sensory (SOS) which is an approach used in feeding therapy.  Her passion is to help children who are encountering challenges with sensory processing.  Currently, she is the OT Manager at POTS.

Ian Sammut

Ian comes from a technical background where his qualifications include a Diploma in Industrial Electronics (2007) and a Higher National Certificate in Business (Management). From 2007 onwards he worked as a technician and worked his way up to a Quality Assurance Coordinator in a medical disposable manufacturing company. He is also a qualified Personal Trainer and has managed and operated his own personal training service between 2011 and 2016. Following this in 2016 he teamed up with his wife Josette to expand the business at POTS. He coordinated and finalized the new premises project.  At present, he is studying Business Management at the University of Malta.  He is currently the Administration Manager at POTS. 


Occupational Therapists

Danica Abela

Danica is a qualified Occupational Therapist who graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree from the University of Malta in 2015. Danica has had the opportunity to work in various clinical settings in Malta including a neurological setting at Mater Dei Hospital since November 2017 and paediatric wards since January 2019. Danica has now been employed as a Paediatric Occupational Therapist at POTS since May 2016 where she is also part of the Assessment Team. Danica is reading for a Masters of Education specifically Inclusion and Special Educational Needs at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Her interests also include challenging behaviour and sensory processing. 

Rebecca Muscat

Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Occupational Therapy. She has been nominated for the Dean’s Award in recognition for outstanding academic achievement during her final year of the course. She has also pursued an Erasmus+ experience, in which she spent three months living in the UK as part of her student placement. Her passion and love for working with children began at a young age and she has carried this with her to help connect with each child. Her favourite part of working in the paediatric field is having the opportunity to work with children of all ages. Rebecca’s goal is to help children in reaching their maximum potential and working with their families to help meet their goals.

Kirsten Abela

Kirsten graduated as an Occupational Therapist in 2013 and for the first two years of employment, he worked on a rotation basis in various clinical settings in Malta through which he gained professional experience; including the Young People Unit, MDH and geriatric settings, and for the last three years he was working in a neurological setting at MDH. His undergraduate study focused on the outcome of social skills training with ADHD children. Throughout his years as a student, he had the opportunity to experience different pediatric settings including Inspire, CDAU, and school-based intervention. Kirsten’s goal is to work with children who have difficulties with the practical and social skills necessary for their everyday life, to enable the child to be as physically, psychologically, and socially independent as possible.

Laura  Rodríguez  Andrés

Laura is an occupational therapist who recently graduated from La Salle University in Madrid. She performed internships in brain damage, geriatric day and intellectual disability centers, and also in a pediatric hospital. She also completed a professional development course in hand therapy and training days on the Bobath Concept. Her interests include sensory integration and helping children and their families reach their goals.

Speech and Language Pathologists

Raquel Ann Borg Cutajar

Raquel graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Communication Therapy in 2017. Her undergraduate thesis focused on feeding difficulties in babies and young children, on the impact that these difficulties have on their close family, and on the role of the speech-language pathologist in treating of such feeding difficulties. Raquel joined POTS in 2018. She conducts assessments and sessions for difficulties in speech, language, social skills and oral-motor skills. Raquel is also a feeding therapist and is part of the team that conducts assessments and therapy for feeding difficulties. She is currently reading for Masters in Communication Therapy at the University of Malta

Nicole Pavia Aloisio

Nicole graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Communication Therapy in 2020. Throughout her clinical placement, Nicole had the opportunity of working with both children and adults in varying clinical settings, which led her to find her passion within the paediatric setting. With a love for research and discovering new creative ways to reach communication goals, her philosophy is that children will demonstrate the most progress when they are enjoying themselves. Therefore, Nicole strives to make her sessions as fun and interesting as possible, ensuring that both the children and parents will enjoy their sessions as much as she does. This entices the parents to carry over the sessions’ activities at home, enhancing the likelihood of their children’s success. 

Lorthea Pulis

Lorthea graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Communication Therapy in 2021. Through her clinical placement, Lorthea discovered her interest in language acquisition, and difficulties pertaining to language use and development through ages. Thus, her undergraduate thesis focused on the development of vocabulary by investigating longitudinal vocabulary growth in local parent-child dyads. She then pursued working in a paediatric setting. With the love for research, Lorthea is preparing to read for MSc by Research in Communication Therapy to expand evidence on narrative trends in paediatrics within the local Maltese-English bilingual context. Lorthea strives to educate individuals about the profession, empower communication in children, and provide a safe, encouraging, and enriching therapeutic experience for both parents and children alike.

Marta Cachia

Marta is a primary school teacher. In 2019, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Maltese and then furthered her studies by following the Master in Teaching and Learning, specialising in Early Childhood and Primary Education She graduated in 2021 and started her journey as a primary school teacher. Working with children is her passion. She has had the opportunity to work with children of all ages in school, during voluntary work experiences both in Malta and abroad and during summer schools. She believes that all children should be active participants in their learning journey. Moreover, she strives to bring out the childrens’ full potential by observing and learning what their strengths and needs are.  

Literacy Support Tutor

Yoga Instructor

Amanda Vassallo

Amanda is a yoga teacher certified by the largest association representing the yoga community, Yoga Alliance US. She started practicing yoga at the age of 15 years and finished yoga teacher training in 2015 with Associazione Yogananda. Working for a governmental body for four years led her to get certified as a Sports Coach and gave her experience teaching kids yoga and sports. At the same time, she was studying holistic healing modalities with an accredited UK based company through long distance learning. Her interests include reading metaphysical books, traveling to spiritual places and art. Motherhood has also helped her understand responsibility towards children on a deeper level. She includes mind, body, heart, and spirit aspects in her yoga lessons.