Year One Wellness
Your Child Matters, WE’RE HERE TO HELP THEM GROW!
We are infant specialty practitioners with extensive experience and post-graduate continuing education in infant development and feeding. Our goal is to help your baby achieve comfort and solid foundational skills, and teach you how to support their ongoing development.
Trust us. We got you.
About Us
Years of Practice
40+
Therapists
4
Hours of Therapy
∞
Happy Families
450+
Now serving Austin, Cedar Park, Leander, Liberty Hill, Georgetown, Round Rock, Bee Cave, Dripping Springs, Pflugerville, Hutto, and other surrounding areas.
Dr. Kristi Hammerle, PT, DPT, CBS
Doctor of Physical Therapy &
CERTIFIED BREASTFEEDING SPECIALIST
While practicing traditional pediatric physical therapy, she quickly came to love working with babies and their parents. She has a true passion for helping parents realize what their babies are capable of.
Kristi has over 325 hours in postdoctoral continuing education related to infant development and has traveled all over the country to participate in mentoring programs with some of the most highly regarded infant physical therapists including Dr. Giselle Tadros, PT, DPT with Milk Matters PT, and Allyson Wessels, PT, IBCLC with Nurture Columbus.
Kristi received her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Texas A&M University and her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Texas Woman’s University. She has a post-graduate specialty in infant development with a focus on torticollis, body tension, plagiocephaly (flat head syndrome), motor milestone delay, challenges related to tethered oral tissues (tongue/lip ties), oral motor dysfunction, and breastfeeding difficulties.
Kristi is passionate about promoting the physical therapy profession and has spent time advocating for the rights of physical therapists and their patients at the Texas State Capitol and other legislative operations. She also educates providers and students at the community, state, and national levels about the importance of physical therapy services for infants and children. She enjoys teaching lectures at Texas Woman's University for the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, presenting at professional conferences on the physical therapist's role in breastfeeding, and running her clinical & business infant mentoring program.
Both of her parents were teachers, and she’s worked with children and families her entire adult life as a nanny, daycare teacher, elementary school tutor, camp counselor, and now a physical therapist. As a PT, she prioritizes what is important to the family to help babies achieve a strong foundation for successful life-long development.
Our Team
MICHELE BROWN,
PT, MSPT, CLC
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Michele has been a Pediatric Physical Therapist for over 20 years. She is from the East Coast originally but moved to Austin in 2004. Michele loves working with all families celebrating their child’s unique capabilities and the joy they bring to everyone around them. She received her MA in English from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill where she also focused on Pre-PT. She attended graduate school at the Medical College of Virginia and holds a Masters of Science in Physical Therapy degree (MSPT). She has worked in a variety of settings across many states providing high quality physical therapy including private clinic and hospital based outpatient, inpatient rehab, home based, and school based therapy. By working in these different settings she has learned to communicate with parents at different stages in their children’s lives, prioritizing the parent and child’s goals and working as a team with families to make gains and celebrate their child’s progress. From her years in practice, she has experience with many diagnoses including: cerebral palsy, down's syndrome, Prader Willi, Spina Bifida, premature infants, pediatric hemophilia, developmental delays, torticollis, plagiocephaly, low muscle tone, hypermobility syndromes, muscular dystrophies, post cardiac surgery issues and others.
Michele is grateful to have worked with and learned from so many skilled therapy providers in PT, OT and Speech and strives to assess a child and family from a holistic viewpoint. She has specialized training in infant and young child development and therapeutic intervention, torticollis and plagiocephaly, infant massage and myofascial release techniques to promote improved body awareness, movement patterns and other benefits, Michele is a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) and strives to provide evidence based breastfeeding help to families.
Michele and her husband, Chris, have 3 daughters who continue to inspire them with their individual passions and achievements. Michele loves spending time on the various trails in Austin walking, swimming at Barton Springs, taking a Sunday bike ride or exploring a new part of ever changing Austin. Michele has always had a passion for babies and young children and loves being able to fold this passion into a gratifying career.
Dr. Ariel Day,
PT, DPT, CBS
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Ariel received her Bachelor of Science in Biology at Abilene Christian University, then her Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) from Hardin-Simmons University. She has been working in pediatrics ever since with experience in outpatient and home health settings. She has additional experience working with adults in acute care. In her time working in pediatrics with all types of diagnoses and age groups, she has found her passion is with infants and their families. She loves being able to step into such a sacred time of a family’s life to encourage and assist families in achieving all their goals. She has furthered her pediatric education and knowledge with courses on infant positioning and handling, infant massage, Torticollis and plagiocephaly, the effects of vision on infant development, oral motor impairment, and feeding.
Ariel and her husband, Josh, have lived in the Austin area since 2019 with their two dogs (Boots & Stella) and welcomed their daughter in Summer 2022. Having a daughter of her own recently has opened her eyes more personally to the demands of being a new mom, taking care of a new baby, challenges with breastfeeding, and more. She loves being able to celebrate small wins as well as huge dreams attained with the families and babies she works with. Outside of work, Ariel loves to play board games, experience escape rooms, do CrossFit, and explore new coffee shops in and around Austin.
Dr. Katie O'Neill,
PT, DPT, CBS
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Katie has been drawn to babies since she was practically a baby herself. Throughout her young adult life, she worked with children of various ages with babysitting, numerous sport camps, and coaching athletics. Katie also shares a love to study the movement of the human body, how it develops movement patterns, and how to fix an issue. This led her to complete her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and then pursued Physical Therapy school. She completed her DPT at University of Northern Arizona. While in PT school, Katie found an incredible excitement to learn her passion for kids and physical therapy could come together to lead into an exciting career as a pediatric physical therapist.
Katie has 12 years of pediatric experience in a variety of settings treating ages 0-21 years. This experience ranges from developmental, neurological, oncology, and orthopedics. She has worked in inpatient, outpatient, and home health settings. She has pursued additional training in neurodevelopmental handling, infant massage, and torticollis.
Katie feels it is a sincere privilege to work with young babies and their families which led her to become a Certified Breastfeeding Specialist. Being able to guide, support and encourage families with their gift of a child is an honor and joy to her.
In her free time, she stays busy with her three young children and husband, enjoys staying active, and spending as much outdoor time as she can get.
KAREN BAKER
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Karen Baker works as Year One Wellness Administrator. She assists in everything from billing and invoices to marketing and branding. Wildly outgoing Karen was always told she would be successful in sales but found the corporate world to be superficial and unfulfilling. Karen has a huge heart to help people. Her desire to help and support others motivated her to start her own Virtual Assistant business at the same time she started graduate school. Talk about motivated Type A.
Karen is currently a graduate student at Lamar University where she will receive a Master of Education in Counseling and Development in May of 2024. Her goal is to become a Licensed Professional Counselor and provide trauma-informed and gender-affirming therapy to the state of Texas. As if she wasn't busy enough she is also enrolled in a year-long training that explores the interpersonal neurobiology behind attachment and Attachment Theory. She brings so much to the Year One Wellness team, including B.A. in Kinesiology and a yoga instructing license. Karen loves combining all she has learned to provide others with resources to live their best lives. When she is not running a small business, exploring the inner workings of attachment, studying for the NCE, or helping Kristi, she is working out, playing with her boxer, or reading.
Careers
Join Our Team
Year One Wellness is a private pediatric therapy and wellness practice specializing in infant and early development. We recognize the value of our team members. We provide a supportive environment and encourage professional growth, creativity, and autonomy. If you want to join a company that is growing and modernizing the approach to pediatric therapy practice to make it fun and rewarding then consider joining our team!
