Speak with an admissions advisor. 562-475-4604

Speak with an admissions advisor. 602-887-5780

Karen A. Fehringer

Karen A. Fehringer

Karen A. Fehringer, PhD, OTR/L is an occupational therapist whose career has focused on the pediatric population, with a specialty in Neonatal Intensive Care and Parent-Child Interaction. Dr. Fehringer holds a Bachelor of Science degree in occupational therapy from Colorado State University (CSU), Fort Collins, Colorado, where she also received a Master’s degree in occupational therapy/clinical pediatrics track.

She completed her Ph.D. at CSU School of Education in Educational Leadership/Concentration in Infant Mental Health and Child Development and completed the Irving Harris Fellowship at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.

She is retired faculty from University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado, where she held appointments in Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Public Health. In the graduate school, she co-taught a two semester course entitled Infant Mental Health and Child Development: Theory and Measurement. Research and publications focused on American Indian populations and school readiness, oral health in infants and toddlers, using Motivational Interviewing as the intervention tool in an NIH study of 600 American Indian families. She developed a pilot curriculum for home visitation for families with newborns and young children in American Indian communities. She was a research partner in the University of Colorado College of Nursing, investigating parent-child interaction during feeding time. She was affiliated teaching faculty for the University of Washington, School of Nursing, and taught in multiple states for the Nurse Family Partnership program. She has served as a special education coordinator in Colorado and Massachusetts. Dr. Fehringer has presented at national and international conferences on topics of child development, occupational therapists as team members in the neonatal intensive care unit, community/university partnerships with American Indian tribes, and infant mental health.

Karen has enjoyed being a clinical supervision for many OT students in fieldwork education and recently mentored a Fulbright Scholar pursuing her PhD. Her philosophy regarding OT education is that our patients and families need competent, empathetic practitioners and it is our responsibility to offer the educational opportunities and support for the students’ growth and development.

 
Link Text