Innovator Spotlight
Dr. Kathy Lenahan, OTD
By Matthew Pearson, PhD | October 14, 2025
Innovation in Integrative Health: Spotlight on Alta Integrated Wellness and Dr. Kathy Lenahan, OTD, MS, OTR/L
At Pearson Innovation, we celebrate pioneers who not only envision bold futures but also take the necessary steps to build them. That’s why we’re thrilled to spotlight the launch of Alta Integrated Wellness, a groundbreaking healthcare venture led by Dr. Kathy Lenahan, a visionary clinician, academic, and leader in occupational therapy and integrative care.
Alta is not just another healthcare practice—it’s a reimagination of what health can and should look like in today’s complex world. Rooted in whole-person care and driven by deep compassion, Alta reflects the kind of innovative, purpose-led thinking that Pearson Innovation exists to support.

Meet Dr. Kathy Lenahan: A Trailblazer in Whole-Health Care
With nearly two decades of experience in clinical practice, military service, and healthcare education, Dr. Lenahan brings unmatched depth of insight and expertise to her work with a focus on whole-health care. She holds a post-professional Doctorate in Occupational Therapy, Health Care Quality, and Patient Safety, and she has worked across the continuum of care—spanning from military medical air evacuation, inpatient rehabilitation, pediatrics and school based services, to community-based mental health programs. Her clinical acumen is paired with a strong foundation in evidence-based practice and healthcare quality, making her a rare hybrid of hands-on practitioner and systems-level thinker.
Dr. Lenahan is widely respected for her contributions to occupational therapy, both as a practitioner and as a mentor to the next generation of healthcare professionals. Her reputation goes beyond her credentials; she has earned the trust of clients, colleagues, and students alike.
But perhaps her most defining characteristic is a refusal to accept the status quo when it no longer serves the people who need care the most.
The Vision Behind Alta: Redefining Health, One Client at a Time
In founding Alta Integrated Wellness, Dr. Lenahan had a simple but powerful insight: Healing happens through doing, and healthcare must happen where life is lived. Alta exists to bridge the gap between what medicaid systems provide and what whole living requires. Rather than treating patients like an assembly line, Alta goes to client spaces to help them achieve their personal, real-world goals.
At its core, Alta is built on a belief in integration: not just between healthcare disciplines, but between personal values, clinical excellence, and meaningful outcomes. Dr. Lenahan envisioned a practice where clients aren’t passive recipients of care but empowered participants in their healing journeys.
This empowerment is achieved through exceptional interprofessional collaboration and patient-centered focus. This combination helps to produce a significant shift toward wellness rather than illness. This aligns clinical professionals with client goals, instead of treating health as a transactional checkbox that produces neither sustainable outcomes nor fair value.
Key pillars of Alta’s approach include:
Whole-Health Occupational Therapy: Occupational Therapy at Alta goes beyond the traditional and opens the doors to operating within the whole scope of practice. Clients are supported in regaining function, yes—but also in reconnecting with what gives life meaning. Whether that’s gardening, parenting, painting, or simply moving without pain, Alta’s approach is holistic and deeply personal. Alta meets clients in their homes, at work, or even running errands to ensure that clients are learning and applying skills that will make a meaningful difference in their everyday lives. Every goal connects back to daily living, so progress is meaningful where it matters most.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Alta aims to become a hub for integrative care by bringing together occupational therapists, mental health counselors, physical therapists, nutritionists, and other medical providers under one mission: helping people thrive. This approach will empower both patients and clinicians to form diagnoses and solutions from a whole-health perspective. Meanwhile, Alta hopes to expand and pass on its accessible framework to broader areas of care.
Preventive and Lifestyle Medicine: Recognizing the human cost of chronic disease and burnout, Alta incorporates wellness strategies that address stress, sleep, movement, purpose, and nutrition—blending evidence-based science with human-centered care.
Accessibility and Inclusion: Dr. Lenahan is committed to reaching underserved populations and designing care pathways that reflect cultural humility, economic equity, and trauma-informed practice . Alta is uniquely prepared to reach clients with travel or financial limitations. For example, Alta offers a variety of payment options, including insurance, private pay, bundled visits, monthly wellness plans, and sliding scale costs.
Community Integration: Alta seeks partnerships with national, state, and local organizations, as well as universities, educators, and students to foster integrative, community-based, whole-health services.
Integrity Beyond Compliance: Alta is built to put people before profit and evidence before convenience. Alta also places clients and clinicians back in their rightful roles as partners in healing, wellness, and living whole. Goal-setting is collaborative and honors clients’ lived experiences and aspirations.
An Innovation Incubator for Health and Wellness
Pearson Innovation has long believed that innovation doesn't happen in isolation—it happens in community, through collaboration, and with courage. Alta Integrated Wellness is a prime example of this.
From its inception, Dr. Lenahan worked with Pearson Innovation to strengthen Alta’s voice, refine her value proposition, and articulate her “why” in ways that resonate with clients and future collaborators. We were honored to provide support in early-stage planning, brand positioning, and systems design—helping Alta transition from a compelling idea into a scalable, sustainable practice.
What makes Alta particularly innovative is not just what it does, but how it does it.
Building a Healthier Future, Together
The healthcare industry is evolving with providers such as Dr. Lenahan leading the way. Alta Integrated Wellness stands as a beacon of what’s possible when clinical excellence meets interdisciplinary, whole-health, community design. At Pearson Innovation, we are proud to partner with visionary change-makers like Dr. Kathy Lenahan: leaders who aren’t waiting for permission to create a better system but who are building it one courageous step at a time.
To learn more about Alta Integrated Wellness, visit www.altaintegratedwellness.com or email them at [email protected].