Rich Bothfeld, Au.D., CCC-A, F-AAA has joined Pine Tree Society’s Audiology Department as a Clinical Audiologist. He joins Robin Galleher, MSPA-A, CCC-A, who is the director of the program.
“Rich knows our mission and values and wants to be a part of that. He really cares about his clients and goes the extra mile,” said Galleher.
Galleher has been the Director of Audiology at Pine Tree Society for 16 years and she and Bothfeld have complimentary skills that will expand on the program’s mission.
“He really likes working with kids,” said Galleher. “He has excellent skills in that area and I look forward to teaming up with him on that.”
“Kids add spice to life,” continued Bothfeld. “I enjoy giving young people as much help as I can to guide them on their path. It’s really nice working with a mix of adults and children. It’s fun to see a child in one appointment, then an adult in the next.”
He is particularly glad to be working as a two-audiologist team with Galleher on diagnostic testing with pediatrics and knows that he will continue to hone his skills and be able to help more people through their collaborative efforts.
Bothfeld says there are many reasons he wanted to work at Pine Tree Society.
“I’ve always been impressed with Pine Tree Society’s focus,” he said. “They provide services where needs need to be met. I’m a clinician who will do everything I can to provide the services that an individual needs, so it’s a pleasure for me to be here.”
Bothfeld has been an audiologist for 19 years. Before that, he was a high school German teacher.
“I come from a musical family so I’ve always had an interest in sound,” he said. “After nine years of being a teacher, I decided to go back to school to become a speech language pathologist.”
It wasn’t long before he discovered his true love was audiology and approaching communication from a hearing standpoint became his passion.
For Bothfeld, “Every person provides a new challenge and helping each individual really hinges on counseling the person on how hearing loss is impacting their life. If you can have a person realize that it’s their ears that are not performing well – that it’s not them, it’s their ears — it helps them to observe what’s happening from a more objective standpoint. Nine times out of ten, adults who choose to use hearing aids become advocates for hearing aids.”