Dr. Angella Chen received her BS in Nutrition and MS in Rehabilitation Counseling from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2015 and 2018. Then she went on to receive her Doctoral of Occupational Therapy from University of Indianapolis in 2021. As an occupational therapist, Dr. Chen utilizes a holistic approach to work with the clients based on what they want to, need to, and love to do in everyday lives.
Dr. Chen practices occupational therapy with a focus on treating upper extremity and hands with an integration of therapeutic exercises, functional activities, manual therapy, and patient education in order to reduce pain, increase ROM, and promote functions so that the clients are able to return to their work, daily living, and leisure activities participation. In addition to a hands-on therapy approach, Dr. Chen utilizes her counseling background to emphasis her treatment care utilizing therapeutic relationship between therapist and clients to address clients’ concerns and problems in order to achieve the maximal benefits of therapy. Dr. Chen had the opportunity to work in diverse settings including sub-acute inpatient, long term care, and Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) treating diversify conditions, disorders, and injuries. Dr. Chen discovered her passion for hand therapy during the time she was completing her doctoral in occupational therapy and later on she began her work in an outpatient orthopedic clinic with a plan to take hand certification exam in near future.
Throughout her educational career, she had the opportunity to complete her doctoral capstone with the federal affairs at the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) to advocate for the profession of occupational therapy and with the focus on promoting the Allied Health Workforce Diversity. Dr. Chen also speaks Mandarin and Taiwanese. Dr. Chen enjoys traveling, exploring foods, climbing, and volleyball.