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Front entrance of the Thrive Freehold clinic at 20 Thoreau Drive

Occupational Therapy in Freehold, NJ

Back to Work, Sport and Daily Life

Get your grip, reach and strength back

Thrive Spine and Sports Rehab provides occupational therapy in Freehold, NJ at 20 Thoreau Drive in Poets Square. Theresa Sanzone, OTR/L, is the occupational therapist there. She helps people get back to what an injury or an operation took away, whether that is typing, lifting, throwing or getting through a workday without pain. Use the button below or call (732) 359-7440 to book a first visit.

If a surgeon told you "you'll need OT" and you are not sure what that means, here is the short version. An occupational therapist treats the injury and the task together. The goal is not a wrist that bends a few more degrees on a chart. It is a wrist that can hold a coffee cup, type through a workday and carry the groceries without a second thought. The same goes for a shoulder, a knee or a back. What matters is what you can do with it again.

The Freehold clinic holds a 5.0 rating across 135 Google reviews. Most people who book occupational therapy here have a specific job in mind. Grip strength back after wrist surgery. A shoulder that can reach the top shelf again. A forearm that stops aching two hours into a shift. Theresa measures where you are, treats the joint and the tissue around it, and builds the strength for the task you came in for.

Thrive therapist guiding a patient through a resistance-band exercise at the Freehold clinic

Conditions

What occupational therapy helps with

Occupational therapy is the right start when an injury, an operation or ongoing pain is costing you a task: work, sport, or the ordinary things in a day. Some of what Theresa treats at the Freehold clinic:

Post-surgical rehab: getting back to daily tasks after a repair, a replacement or a fracture fixation, inside your surgeon's protocol
Wrist and hand rehab: fractures, sprains, tendon injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, trigger finger, and the stiffness and lost grip that follow weeks in a cast
Sports injuries, and the return to training after them, in runners, lifters and competitive athletes
Shoulder and joint pain that limits reaching overhead, lifting or sleeping on that side
Tennis elbow and golfer's elbow, from work as often as from sport
Work and daily tasks you cannot do yet: typing, gripping tools, lifting overhead, carrying, cooking, getting dressed

If the problem is mainly walking, running, stairs or your back, physical therapy in Freehold is usually the better start.

Thrive therapists treating patients side by side in the Freehold treatment room, one stretching a patient's leg overhead

A Common Question

Occupational therapy or physical therapy?

Both are rehab. Both use hands-on treatment and exercise. The difference is where the therapist looks and what they measure. Here is how it splits at the Freehold clinic.

Occupational therapy when

The injury gets in the way of work, sport or your daily routine
Your surgeon wrote OT on the prescription
What you have lost is a task: gripping, typing, lifting a pan, throwing, reaching behind your back
Grip strength, fine motor control or coordination is the problem, not only range of motion

Theresa measures how far the joint moves and how it holds up under load, then works on the movement you need.

The word "occupational" means whatever occupies your day, not your job title. Getting dressed, cooking and driving count as much as work does.

Physical therapy when

The problem is in the back, neck, hip, knee or ankle
Walking, running, squatting or stairs are what hurt
You are coming back from knee, hip or ankle surgery
Balance, gait or whole-body strength is the main issue

A physical therapist works on how the body moves as a whole, and most of that work is in the spine, the hips and the legs. Some shoulder problems start in a stiff neck or mid-back, and those get physical therapy alongside the occupational therapy.

Not sure which you need? Call. The front desk will ask where it hurts and what you cannot do, and the exam at the first visit confirms the choice.

Your Freehold Occupational Therapist

Theresa Sanzone, OTR/L

Theresa is the occupational therapist at Thrive Freehold. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Health Science and her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy at Stockton University, and she is board certified through the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy. Her focus is upper extremity and sports-related rehab: getting shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands strong enough for training, competition and the rest of the day.

She treats orthopedic injuries in recreational lifters and runners as well as competitive athletes, and her plans borrow from performance training as much as from rehab. A joint that no longer hurts is the halfway point. A joint that holds up under load is the finish, and she builds toward it on purpose. She also trains: she coaches at SETS Hybrid Training and runs marathons, so she knows what a training week asks of a body.

Read Theresa's full bio

Four Steps

What the first visit looks like

In order, and each one with a reason you will hear before it happens.

1. History and measurements

What happened, what the surgeon said, and what you need your body to do again. Then the numbers: how far the joint moves, how strong it tests, and which tasks hurt.

2. Treatment starts the same day

Hands-on treatment first, then the first exercises, taught until you can do them at home without watching. Anything that needs the surgeon's sign-off waits for it.

3. A plan with a task at the end

The goal is written as something you do: a full day at the keyboard, a pull-up, a toddler on your hip. The visit estimate and the home program are set before you leave.

4. Progress you can measure

Range and strength are remeasured as you go, then the task itself. Visits taper when the numbers hold, and you leave with a program to keep them there.

Philippe is a Thrive patient whose left knee strain made every stair painful. Hands-on work, acupuncture and strengthening drills settled the knee, rebuilt the muscle around it and retrained the stairs themselves. He now takes them without pain.

Philippe

Thrive patient

One Front Desk, One Plan

Four services, one building

Occupational therapy gets you back to the task. Some injuries need more than one kind of help along the way. A neck that sends pain down the arm may need an adjustment from our chiropractor in Freehold. A forearm that stays tight through every session often lets go with acupuncture. Gait, running and whole-body strength after a long layoff belong with our physical therapist. All four are at 20 Thoreau Drive, so Theresa can add one to your plan without sending you to a new office, and you can book the appointments back to back.

Closer to the shore? Our Belmar clinic has occupational therapy too. For how we approach occupational therapy at both clinics, see the occupational therapy overview. Hours, directions and the rest of the Freehold team are on the Freehold location page.

Thrive therapist working on a patient's upper back while another patient is treated in the background

Before your first visit

What does an occupational therapist treat?

Anything that gets in the way of the tasks in your day: injuries, surgeries and pain that stop you from typing, gripping, lifting, cooking or getting dressed. An occupational therapist treats the joint, then retrains the task you lost, whether that is a keyboard, a barbell or a toddler. At Thrive Freehold, Theresa Sanzone, OTR/L, does that work, for shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands as well as knees, hips and backs.

Occupational therapy or physical therapy: which should I start with?

Start with occupational therapy when the problem is a task you cannot do, and physical therapy when the problem is how you walk, run or move as a whole. Either one can treat a shoulder, a knee or a back. The difference is the goal. If your surgeon wrote OT on the prescription, book OT. If it is not clear, call (732) 359-7440 and the front desk will book whichever fits. Switching later does not mean starting over.

Do I need a referral for occupational therapy in New Jersey?

No. New Jersey lets you book an occupational therapist directly. Some insurance plans want a referral on file before they pay, so the front desk checks that when we verify your benefits. If you have had surgery, bring the surgeon's prescription and protocol. The protocol sets the limits for the first weeks of treatment.

Does insurance cover occupational therapy?

Coverage varies by plan. Thrive accepts Medicare, United Healthcare, Anthem and Cigna, and works with many other plans as an out-of-network provider. Call (732) 359-7440 before your first visit and we will contact your insurance company to verify your benefits, including out-of-network benefits. The full list is on our insurance page.

What happens at the first occupational therapy visit?

An exam, then treatment. Theresa takes your history, measures how far the joint moves and how strong the muscles around it test, and watches you do the task that hurts. Treatment starts the same visit: hands-on work and the first exercises. You leave with a plan, a visit estimate and a short home program.

How many occupational therapy visits will I need?

It depends on the injury and on the goal you set at the first visit. A sprain or a strain often settles in a handful of visits. Recovery after surgery runs longer, because the repair heals on its own schedule and the strength comes after. You get an estimate at the first visit, and it changes as you improve.

Can I do occupational therapy and physical therapy on the same day?

Yes. Both are in the Freehold clinic, so ask the front desk to schedule them one after the other. It is a common pairing when an injury involves more than one joint, or when a shoulder problem needs work on the neck and mid-back as well. Chiropractic and acupuncture can be added the same way.

Where can I get occupational therapy in Freehold?

Thrive Spine and Sports Rehab, 20 Thoreau Drive, Freehold, NJ 07728, in Poets Square. Theresa Sanzone, OTR/L, is the occupational therapist there. Patients come from Freehold Township, Manalapan, Howell, Marlboro and Colts Neck. Hours and a map are at the bottom of this page, and the front desk answers (732) 359-7440.

Freehold, New Jersey

It's Where Healing Meets Heart

Thrive's Freehold location is a multi-disciplinary clinic that provides a wide range of services, including chiropractic, acupuncture, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and a recovery lounge.