Episode Overview

In this episode of the All About Kids Podcast, Zach sits down with Mallory Kanterman and Kate Grande, two speech-language pathologists reflecting on the emotions, learning curve, and confidence-building moments that come with going through a Clinical Fellowship year at All About Kids.

From bribing kids with stickers to navigating parking nightmares to therapy breakthroughs, Mallory and Kate pull back the curtain on the transition from grad student to real-world clinician.

The conversation explores managing caseloads, getting used to the school environment, parent phone calls, IEP meetings, Supervisor communication, burnout, and the small moments that suddenly made Kate and Mallory realize: “Okay… I can actually do this.”

The CF year can feel like being thrown into the deep end

One of the strongest themes throughout the episode is how jarring the transition from grad school to real clinical work can feel. In graduate school, supervisors are often watching sessions closely, stepping in immediately when something goes wrong.

But once the CF year begins, the safety net falls further away by design.

Kate describes going from being observed on camera during grad school to being on her own in schools, homes, and therapy rooms, where she had to figure things out in real time.

Mallory explains that while grad school teaches you about disorders, it doesn’t fully prepare you for the practical reality of treating children.

That’s what the CF year at All About Kids is for.

That practical experience of treating kids matters because the day-to-day of being an SLP is often far messier than students expect.

Sessions go off track.

Kids scream in hallways.

Teachers interrupt.

A child refuses to transition back to class.

You can plan the perfect session and watch it completely collapse in five minutes.

The CF Supervisors at All About Kids played a huge role in helping Mallory and Kate stay calm within that chaos.

While Mallory and Kate were given far more independence as CFs, their supervisors remained a constant source of support and guidance whenever things felt overwhelming.

Supportive supervisors can completely change the CF experience

Another major throughline of the conversation was how much mentorship shapes a new CF’s confidence.

Both Mallory and Kate repeatedly describe moments where they felt overwhelmed, embarrassed, or convinced they had made catastrophic mistakes, only for their supervisors to reassure them that everything was fine.

Mallory recalls nearly having a panic attack over documentation mistakes before her supervisor explained how common those issues actually are. Kate talks about hesitating to ask questions because she worried they sounded “stupid,” only to realize her supervisor welcomed them.

One of the most important lessons from the episode is that new clinicians do not become confident because they never struggle. They become confident because they learn to endure the struggle without panicking.

“Bribing” children is an art form.

Mallory and Kate talk about how incentivizing kids with stickers, prize boxes, games, crafts, and play-based activities becomes a survival tool during therapy sessions.

Children are not tiny adults.

Sessions have to be engaging enough to hold attention while still targeting meaningful goals.

Sometimes that means turning a screaming hallway incident into a fun question exercise. Other times, it means rewarding a child with a few moments of downtime at the end of a session so they can transition more smoothly back to class.

Mallory and Kate’s experience as CFs at All About Kids also highlighted something parents may not always realize: flexibility is often the real skill.

Great therapy is not about rigid perfection.

It’s about adapting in real time to whatever emotional, behavioral, or environmental challenge unfolds in front of you.

The little things nobody talks about become huge stressors

One of the most relatable parts of the podcast is how many seemingly “small” problems become major stressors during the CF year.

Kate talks about driving between schools, trying to find classrooms, navigating constantly shifting schedules, and worrying about getting parking tickets while traveling between cases.

Mallory discusses learning children’s triggers, figuring out school dynamics, and trying to manage evaluations immediately after recess when students are overstimulated and exhausted.

These moments matter because they expose the difference between textbook knowledge and real-world clinical life.

No graduate program can fully simulate the experience of showing up to a school only to discover the child is absent, the room changed, the hallway is chaotic, and you still need to somehow deliver an effective therapy session.

The job is not just the therapy.

It’s logistics, improv, emotional regulation, communication, and constant problem-solving layered together, all day long.

The breakthrough moments are what make everything feel worth it

For Kate, it was realizing that IEP meetings and difficult conversations were not nearly as terrifying as she had imagined once she experienced them.

For Mallory, it was hearing parents tell her that their child had made more progress in speech therapy this year than ever before.

These moments transformed therapy from “Am I doing enough?” into visible proof to Mallory and Kate that their work mattered.

A lot of recent SLP grads can spend their CF year secretly wondering whether they belong in the profession. Then, little by little, session by session, parent by parent, they build the confidence that they do.

Episode Quotes

That feeling becomes one of the defining themes of the episode. The CF year is full of uncertainty and learning in real time, especially in unpredictable school and early intervention settings.

“I actually know what I’m doing as a therapist. It’s not just me playing games with the kids, thinking, ‘Am I making a difference?’ I have confirmation from these parents that they’re seeing the difference as well.”
Mallory says this after hearing parents describe the progress their child made in therapy. It captures the kind of moment many new CFs finally realize their work is helping children grow.

“You need 15 minutes to yourself in the car, whether you want to cry or eat food.”
Kate jokes about needing recovery time between sessions and taking advantage of her car as a safe space. Burnout prevention starts with having a quiet place to yourself to just breathe.

“Sessions never go exactly how you planned.”
One of the biggest lessons both Mallory and Kate learned during their CF year at All About Kids was that flexibility matters more than perfection. Real therapy happens in messy, constantly changing environments.

“Everything works out. It will.”
Kate gives this advice to future CFs at the end of the conversation. The year can feel overwhelming while you’re inside it, but over time, the chaos slowly turns into competence.

Final Thoughts

Mallory and Kate don’t pretend the CF year at All About Kids is all roses and honey. They talk openly about uncertainty, treatment obstacles, awkward first conversations with parents, and questioning themselves. But they also describe how the support and mentorship they received from their CF Supervisors at All About Kids helped turn those overwhelming moments into confidence.

For Mallory and Kate, the CF year at All About Kids became much more than just a requirement for licensure. It formed the experience that made them realize they were capable of far more than they thought.