Hi! I’m Doctor Marielly!
Understanding the connection between the mouth, breathing, and the nervous system changed my pediatric practice — and my own life.
As a pediatric OT, I don’t just work at the surface level. I dig deep with clients to get real results.
Still, in the early years of my practice, I was perplexed by some big hurdles I couldn’t seem to address…
Children and adults with ongoing swallowing and speech issues who weren’t improving despite years of therapy.
Utilizing all the best sensory approaches and still experiencing daily behavioral challenges across diagnoses, including sensory processing and ADHD.
Challenges connecting all the team members – parents, children, and nannies – to maximize attendance and streamline communication. I wanted to ensure children and their families were practicing their new skills at home consistently.
I took a lot of professional education trying to find answers. Eventually, I combined this background knowledge with the missing piece: Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy and Cranial Nerve Integration. This became the Marielly Method. Now, my mission is to share this knowledge with OT’s and SLP’s who are ready to overcome the same clinical challenges I faced.
How everything changed when I started combining frameworks...
Sometimes answers arrive unexpectedly. I learned about myofunctional therapy from an off-chance encounter with an osteopath and energy healer. Immediately intrigued, I started taking formal classes in myofunctional therapy, which led me to expand my knowledge of cranial nerve integration and its connection to sensory processing.
I was absolutely blown away. Combining these frameworks was the answer I’d been seeking for the ongoing issues I was struggling to address with clients.
Some game-changing initial takeaways for me:
Tongue control issues explained feeding challenges and difficulty pronouncing certain sounds.
Its clear breathing is connected to self-regulation and the nervous system. This explains why a deep breath works as a calming technique and is only neurologically effective when done properly.
Issues in the mouth, nose, ears, and airway have a profound effect on daily life, including sleep and self-regulation, but many therapy practitioners don’t know how to incorporate this knowledge into their work.
Everything changed when I connected the dots between myofunctional therapy, cranial nerve integration, and sensory processing. My outcomes improved and I became the go-to expert on tongue-tie release, long-standing sensory issues, and ongoing swallowing and speech issues.
I’ve been on both sides of the transformation, as a practitioner and a patient.
My passion comes from my experience as a kid with underlying issues that never got recognized or addressed. I now understand that I had a dysfunctional swallow and was prone to mouth breathing. This meant I was constantly tired and experienced chronic ear infections into adulthood.
At the age of 31, I had one of the worst ear infections of my life. I lost a significant amount of hearing and struggled with overwhelming ringing in my ears for almost a year and a half.
This affected everything in my life.
My ear ringing was so loud I could not work or hear what someone was saying. I was forced to adjust travel plans because ear infections made it impossible to fly. My balance was off; my heartbeat pounded in my ears due to fluid build-up, and I couldn’t concentrate.
Something needed to change!
As a myofunctional practitioner, I was able to trace it all back to my mouth and childhood history of ear infections – suggesting deeper problems with my orofacial system.
If I wanted to get my life back, I had to get to work. This included wearing a mouth appliance to change my jaw alignment and working on my swallow. It’s still a work in progress, but most of my hearing has returned and the improved quality of my sleep has been life-changing.
Work is easier with increased focus and I’m thankful to be traveling again. I feel so fortunate to have access to knowledge so few people know about. It has completely transformed my life.
This is why I’m driven to offer clients and other therapy practitioners the skills to address the breathing and orofacial issues that far too frequently go unrecognized but deeply impact daily life.
My Practice as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist
From the beginning of my professional journey as an occupational therapist, nothing was better than the infectious energy of children.
My true north remains seeing children have fun and grow their skills while sharing the power of therapeutic touch.
My pursuit of knowledge after my doctorate led me to the best available training in occupational therapy, with a focus on sensory processing, neurodevelopment, and pediatric feeding and swallowing.
When I added myofunctional therapy and cranial nerve integration to my toolbox, I knew I’d finally unlocked all the pieces necessary to meaningfully change the lives of both children and adults.
I confidently helped kids with sensory-based behavioral challenges, feeding difficulties, and post tongue-tie release. I became the go-to practitioner for cases where others struggled to make progress.
My work isn’t just for families in the Los Angeles community. I’ve cultivated a global perspective by serving international families in Los Angeles who are seeking specialized care, consulting for families abroad, and traveling to provide direct support and education to families and schools.
Leaning into the desire to provide complete support for families, I added programming to help families find and train nannies who could support childhood development and specific family needs.
My quest to share myofunctional therapy with OTs and SLPs.
What started as educating my team evolved into bringing the Marielly Method to OT’s and SLP’s around the globe.
My mission includes:
Making sure problems are correctly identified
Empowering clients to get results by offering intensive and meaningful services
Sharing this method so clinicians can be more effective in their practice
With my method, you get an approach that combines traditional therapy practice with cutting-edge work in orofacial myofunctional therapy, cranial nerve integration, and sensory processing. This synthesized approach will make you more effective and confident as a therapist through its intensive, comprehensive approach and introduction to new areas you can address with your clients.
Professional Snapshot
I’m a Los Angeles native who attended Loyola Marymount University, majoring in Psychology with a minor in studio arts.
My insatiable curiosity with the mind-body connection since childhood led me to the field of occupational therapy. I graduated from the top-ranked University of Southern California in 2011 with a Master's Degree and completed a Doctorate with a teacher's aid scholarship in 2012.
My curiosity first led me to pursue advanced studies in:
Sensory processing and a "SIPT" certification
Training in Neurodevelopmental Treatment (NDT)
Cuevas Medek Exercise (CME)
Handwriting without Tears
Integrated Learning Systems (ILS).
Advanced practice in swallowing assessment, evaluation, or intervention
Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy
Cranial Nerve Integration
And the learning never stops. I continue to evolve as a clinician through advanced courses and practical experience.