OT 4 Lyfe: Recent Episodes
Sarah Putt, MA, OTR/L
OT 4 Lyfe looks to connect and inspire occupational therapy practitioners of all kinds.
Join us as we go in depth to explore the research, issues, and people that influence the lives of OT students, practitioners, and their clients.
Because for us, occupational therapy is more than just a job.
Discussion Points:
- Be you
- Adovcate
- Never stop learning
- Build your community
- Live the lyfe you want to be living
Connect with the show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
_________________________________
Contact the Show
- Ask me a question
- Leave me a voicemail
- To subscribe to the podcast, click here
Discussion Points:
- Thousands of thoughts per day, majority tend to be negative
- Saying becomes believing
- My “called out” moment
- Reframing the negative
- Negative self talk as a student
- Negative self talk as a practitioner
- Implications for practitioners
- Implications for clients and their families/ caregivers
Mentioned Resources:
- Monarch Health and Wellness
Connect with the show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
_________________________________
Contact the Show
- Ask me a question
- Leave me a voicemail
Discussion Points:
- Why I love working in early intervention
- Other settings I could see myself working in
Mentioned resources:
- Early Intervention for Motor Performance- OT Potential Podcast
- Why We Love Early Intervention- The Real OTs of Early Intervention
- Incorporating Dogs into Animal Assisted Therapy
- Bunnies and Ducks and Llamas, Oh My!
- How To Train a Therapy Dog
Connect with the show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
_________________________________
Contact the Show
- Ask me a question
- Leave me a voicemail
Discussion Points:
- Introducing OTPreneur
Mentioned resources:
- OTPreneur Podcast
- OT Schoolhouse
Connect with the show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
_________________________________
Contact the Show
- Ask me a question
- Leave me a voicemail
- To subscribe to the podcast, click here
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ot4lyfe
Michelle and Sarah discuss:
- Michelle’s first experience with mindfulness
- What is mindfulness? Mediation? Yoga?
- Benefits of mindfulness
- Negative implications or misconceptions of mindfulness
- Mindfulness and Occupational therapy
Mentioned Resources:
- Apps
- Headspace
- Calm
- Insight Timer
- Finding Your Anchor (Michelle’s meditation)
- Books
- Full Catastrophe Living- Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Wherever You Go, There You Are- Jon Kabat-Zinn
- The Body Keeps Score- Bessel Van Der Kolk
- A Still Quiet Place- Amy Saltzman
- The Mindful Way Through Depression- Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, Jon Kabat-Zinn
Connect with Michelle
- Email: michelle@incorporatemindfulness.com
- Instagram Link: @girl.gone.crunchy
- Website URL: www.incorporatemindfulness.com
- Podcast: https://www.incorporatemindfulness.com/blog/
Contact the Show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram:@ot.4.lyfe
- Twitter: @ot4lyfe
Discussion Points:
- Finding and using your voice
- Making connections within and outside the profession
- Reflections and shifts in perspective
- Loving OT even more than I thought I did
- Special shout out to:
- Brock Cook
- Effie Parks
- Dominica Lumazar
- David Hirsch
- Kwaku Agyemang
- Emilia Dewi
- Audrey Spikes
- Devlynn Neu
- Michelle De Jesus
- Get on the Mailing List here
Connect with the show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
Discussion Points:
- His first experience with death
- Discovering his true identity as a doctor
- Finding your passion
- Is it weird to talk about money and healthcare?
- Best and worst piece of advice given in regards to money
- The biggest thing he has learned as a hospice doctor when it comes to death and money
- Financial independence
- Why did he decide to write a book and what impact does he hope it has
Mentioned resources:
- Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robins
- The Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware
Connect with Jordan:
- Buy the book: https://jordangrumet.com/#bookrelease
- Podcast: earnandinvest.com
- Website: jordangrumet.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/earnaninvest
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/earnaninvest
- Facebook Group: https://facebook.com/groups/earnandinvest
Connect with the show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
Olga, Emma, and Sarah discuss:
- A memorable moment from a past congress
- Traveling to a congress
- Collaborating with OT practitioners from across the globe
- What we’ve learned from attending a WFOT congress?
- Professional and personal impact from attending a WFOT congress
- Tips for making the most of the congress
- Ways to be involved
- Things to consider outside of the congress
Mentioned Resources:
- WFOT 2022 Congress Registration
- World Federation of Occupational Therapists website
- OTION Forum
- Occupied Podcast episode with WFOT President Samantha Shann
Connect with the Guests
- Emma George, PhD MPH, MHID, B App Sc (OT)
- Email: emma.george@adelaide.edu.au
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmKGeorge
- Website: https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/emma.george
- Olga Asrun Stefánsdóttir
- Email: olgastef@unak.is
- Website: https://www.unak.is/english/moya/ugla/staff/olga-asrun-stefansdottir
Connect with the Show
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
Sponsor: World Federation of Occupational Therapists
Topics discussed:
- The opportunity I was honored to be a part of
- The power of doing and not just saying or telling
- Always learning
- How our personal lives can shape our professional lens
Mentioned Resources:
- 100 Episode Celebration: Why of OT Schoolhouse
- Thoughts on How OTs Can Talk About OT
- I'm Bringing Occupation Back (Yeah!)
Connect with the show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
Audrey and Sarah discuss:
- Pivotal moment in your lyfe in regards to your limb differences
- Importance of language
- Types of limb differences
- Congenital versus acquired limb differences
- Her experience going from patient to practitioner
- Mental health implications for people with limb differences
- Advocating for herself and others
- Disclosing your disability on job applications
- Parenting kids with limb differences
- Occupational therapy’s role in working with people with limb differences
Mentioned Resources:
- Stella Young’s Ted Talk: “I’m not your inspiration thank you very much”
- Judith Heumann: “Our fight for disability rights - and why we’re not done yet.”
- Symbrachydactyly - mentions benefits of OT & hand camps
- Children with upper limb differences have better emotional health
- Amputee Coalition
- Lucky Fin Project
- IAmPossible Foundation
- Reach Charity
- CDC: Upper and Lower Limb Reduction Defects
Connect with Audrey
- Email: theamplifiedot@gmail.com
- Instagram Link: https://instagram.com/theamplifiedot
Connect with the show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- OT 4 Lyfe Discord Server: Click here to create a free account and sign in
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
Discussion Points:
- Lyfe update
- Imposter syndrome
- Disconnect from the profession
- Creative slump
- Recovering perfectionist
- Changes coming to the show
Mentioned resources:
- OT 4 Lyfe Discord Server: Click here to create a free account and sign in
- Occupied episode: Occupied Update
- What About the Mama episode: A Little Update
- Earn and Invest episode: How Much Should You Share?
Connect with the show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
_________________________________
Contact the Show
- Ask me a question
- Leave me a voicemail
- To subscribe to the podcast, click here
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ot4lyfe
Discussion Points:
- What I wished I would have known when I was an OT student
- Lessons learned from the field
- International volunteer experiences
- Overcoming challenges
Mentioned Resources:
- Slides from Winston-Salem State University presentation
- World Federation of Occupational Therapists
- Learning How To Money with Joel Larsgaard
- Your Money Questions Answered with Mindy Jensen
Contact the Show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
Discussion Points:
- My emergency surgery experience
- Planning for having a baby with work and finances
- Positioning at night for optimal comfort while pregnant
- Navigating pregnancy/ motherhood while also being an OT practitioner
- The role of OT in postpartum depression
- Advice to parents when you don’t have kids of your own
Mentioned Resources:
- What About the Mama Podcast- episode 23
- Recognizing the Importance of Self Care for OT Practitioners with Nancy
- It’s Okay to Take a Break
- The Occupation of Being Pregnant with Miranda Donnelly
- Alexis Joelle
- Mornings With an OT Mom with Danielle Delorenzo
- Reina from Telehealth OT
- Lisa Westhorpe from Nurture OT
- Surabhi Veitch from The Passionate Physio
For more information, check out www.ot4lyfe.com.
Discussion Points:
- Pregnancy
- Emergency surgery
- Labor and delivery
- Changes in routines
- Meaningful occupations
Mentioned Resources:
- The Occupation of Being Pregnant
Contact the Show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
Miranda and Sarah discuss:
- Changes in our identities since becoming pregnant
- Occupational transitions during pregnancy
- Expectations of pregnancy versus reality
- The realness of brain fog
- Maternal mental health
- Impact of our work on family planning
- Pregnancy hacks
- Mentioned Resources:
- Podcasts
- What About the Mama?
- Best of Both Worlds
- Instagram
- @thepassionatephysio
- @pregnant.postpartum.athlete
- YouTube
- GlowBodyPT
- Kids OT Help
- Apps/ Website
- What To Expect
- Ovia
- Book
- Mama Natural
- Podcasts
Connect with Miranda
- Website: www.otuncorked.com
- Email: miranda@otuncorked.com
- Instagram Link: https://www.instagram.com/otuncorked/
- Twitter Link: https://www.twitter.com/otuncorked
- Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/otuncorked
Contact the Show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
Discussion Points:
- Types of occupational therapy associations
- The importance of being a member of your OT associations
- Benefits of OT associations
- Association conferences
- Cost and payment schedule of membership
- Non-OT associations
- OT 4 Lyfe & OT Schoolhouse Giveaway
Mentioned resources:
- For a chance to win a $50 giftcard, here’s the link: https://bit.ly/3tW1Owt
- Giveaway ends April 16, 2021
- American Occupational Therapy Association
- Cost
- Benefits
- World Federal of Occupational Therapists
- Cost
Connect with Jayson:
- Website URL: https://www.otschoolhouse.com/
- Instagram Link: https://www.instagram.com/otschoolhouse/
- Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/OTSchoolHouse
- Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/OTSchoolHouse
Connect with the show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
Mindy and Sarah discuss:
- Why do people need to have basic knowledge about money?
- Financial independence
- What to focus on first with your money
- Alternate sources of income for OT practitioners
- Investing tips
- Investing with student loans
- Advice for paying off student loans
- Negotiating salary
- Navigating finances with a business
Mentioned resources:
- Dave Ramsey
- Student Loan Planner
- SOFI
Bigger Pockets Money Podcast episodes
- Chelsea Brennan- episode 145
- Craig Curelop- episode 35
- Erin Lowry- episode 81
- Liz Thames- episode 10
- Student Loan Forgiveness Plan- episode coming soon
Connect with Mindy:
- Email: mindy@biggerpockets.com
- Instagram Link: https://www.instagram.com/mindyatbp
- Twitter Link: https://www.twitter.com/mindyatbp
- Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/mindyatbp
- Website URL: www.biggerpockets.com/moneyshow
Connect with the show:
- Subscribe: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe/
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
Takeaways:
- Navigating every experience as a learning opportunity
- Sarah’s level 2 fieldwork experiences
- Learning throughout her years as a new grad
- Figuring out this past year as a business owner
- There is always something to learn even when things don’t go as planned
Mentioned Resources:
- Level 2 Fieldwork During a Pandemic: https://ot4lyfe.com/104
- Fieldwork Resources
Connect with the Show
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
Join in the Discussion:
- Answer the Question of the Month
- Chime in your thoughts on the episode
Allison, Allie and Sarah discuss:
- One word to sum up your experience in level 2 fieldwork as a whole
- What their placements were supposed to look like and what they ended up being like
- Thoughts about their safety working with patients in-person during a pandemic
- Tips to advocate for yourself as a student
- Tips to prepare for level 2 fieldwork
- Setbacks and challenges they faced
- Importance of navigating occupational balance as a student and practitioner
- Experience with teletherapy as a student
- Advice for students currently on or about to embark on the fieldwork journey
- Insight to share with fieldwork educators from the student perspective
Mentioned Resources:
- Level 2 Fieldwork Prep Guide for OT SNF by Allie Watkins
- Study Binders from OT Caroline
- Pedretti Occupational Therapy book
- How To Talk So Kids Will Listen book
Connect with Allison
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allisontheotstudent/
- Website: https://allisontheotstudent.home.blog/
Connect with Allie
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patchesofot
- Website: https://patchesofot.com
- Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/patches-of-ot/1509064501
Discussion Points:
- Finding your why in OT entrepreneurship
- Barriers and hurdles faced when starting a company
- The most important thing every OT entrepreneur needs to have
Mentioned Resources:
- Spotlight Interview with Sarah Putt: Transcending Your Comfort Zone as a Private Practice Entrepreneur
- Mistakes and Mindset in Entrepreneurship
- Minding Our OT Business with Laura Park Figueroa
- The Business Side of Occupational Therapy with Brandon Seigel
- The Entrepreneur Mindset on Occupied Podcast
Join in the Discussion:
- Answer the Question of the Month
- Chime in your thoughts on the episode
- Catch the latest interview episode: https://ot4lyfe.com/102
Contact the Show:
- Subscribe to the show: https://ot4lyfe.com/subscribe
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com
- Instagram: @ot.4.lyfe
- Twitter: @ot4lyfe
Trish and Sarah discuss:
- Do OT practitioners need to go to business school to become a successful entrepreneur?
- The why behind starting her business
- What she knew about business before she started and how she learned along the way
- Going from working in your business versus on your business
- Becoming a CEO
- How she went from running a private practice to coaching other OT entrepreneurs
- The hardest thing for OT entrepreneurs to overcome
- Owning your no as an entrepreneur
- Advice for an entrepreneur who feels stuck in their business right now and wants to take their business to the next level
- Mentioned Resources:
- Trish’s Freebie:
- 5 Tips for Acting Like a CEO
- The OT Entrepreneur Summit
- Podcasts
- Biz Chix
- Systems Saved Me
- The Online Business Show
- The Life Coach School
- Mind Your Business
- Online Marketing Made Easy
- School of Podcasting
- Mind your OT Business
- The OT Lifestyle Movement
- OTs Gone Rogue
- Books
- The E-Myth by Michael Gerber
- Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller
- The One Thing by Gary Keller
- The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks
- Built To Sell by John Warrillow
- Good To Great by Jim Collins
- Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port
- This I Know by Terry O’Reilly
- Trish’s Freebie:
Connect with Trish
- Facebook Group: OTs Get Paid
- Instagram: Trish Williams Consulting
- OTs Get Paid podcast
Mentioned Episodes:
- Episode 50: A Year in the Lyfe
- Episode 100: The Good, the Bad, and Like Umm Ya Know th Ugly
- Working in a Behavioral Inpatient Mental Health Unit with Danielle Miles
- Navigating Life with Cancer-Related Lymphadema with Emilia Dewi
- Flourishing as an OT Practitioner Through Personal Experience with Mandy Chamberlain
- Trauma Sensitive Care for Healthcare Practitioners with Taelor Millsap
- The Impact of OT in the Prison Setting with Kwaku Ayegmang
- Learning How to Money with Joel Larsgaard
- Positive Approach to Dementia Care with Jenna Mele
- Recognizing the Importance of Self Care for OT Practitioners with Nancy
- Early Intervention with an OT Mom with Danielle Delorenzo
- Thinking and Learning Through an Occupational Lens with Brock Cook
- Building Positive Foundations Through Collaboration with Connie Hunt
- Diverse OT: Leadership and Advocacy for Minorities in Healthcare with Michelle DeJesus
- Pediatric Therapy From the Parent’s Perspective with Effie Parks
- You’re Favorite Creative Treatment Ideas- Lyfer of the the Month Emily Deller
- Tips and Tricks To Get and Stay Organized- Lyfer of the Month Krysta Grande
- Recommend Continuing Education Resources- Lyfer of the Month Kate Tutor
- Advice For OT and OTA Students- Lyfer of the Month Jhenny Berry OT
- OT Gift Ideas- Lyfer of the Month Candie Cintron
- Your Favorite OT Resources- Lyfer of the Month Lauren Burns
- Working in Early Intervention as a New Grad with Amirra Johnson
- How To Train a Therapy Dog with Crystal Cabrera
- Making Shoes For All Abilities with Joseph DiFrancisco
- Creating Success in Non-Traditional Roles as an OT Assistant with Dave Merlo
- It’s Not Just Joint Pain: Occupational Therapy’s Unique Role in Arthritis Life with Cheryl Crow
- Sex, Love, and Occupational Therapy with Sakshi Tickoo
- Can Movement Change the World with Kim Lowack
- The Other Half of Occupational Therapy with Chris Delorenzo, Sean Donnelly, Mark Petix & Ray Putt
Contact the Show
- Fill out the survey
- Ask me a question
- Leave me a voicemail
- To subscribe to the podcast, click here
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Clubhouse: @ot.4.lyfe
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ot4lyfe
Check out my other projects:
- The OT Roundtable
- The Real OTs of Early Intervention
Brock and Sarah discuss:
- Our biggest podcast mistakes
- What we have learned throughout this journey
- The best and hardest parts of starting and continuing to do an OT podcast
- Changes we have seen with OT podcasts since we started
- Important components to a podcast
- What's changed over the years
- The future of our shows
Mentioned resources:
- Unpacking Colonized Thinking
- Dev (they/them) and Brock (he/him) Deep Dive into Gender, Identity and Stigma
- Sensory Integration and the Transformation From Clinic to Home
- Listen to Brock and Sarah on The OT Roundtable
Connect with Brock
- Website: http://www.occupiedpodcast.com/
- Email: brock.cook@me.com
- Instagram: @occupiedpodcast
- Twitter: @brockcookot
Contact the Sarah
- Ask me a question
- Leave me a voicemail
- To subscribe to the podcast, click here
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Clubhouse: @ot.4.lyfe
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ot4lyfe
Discussion Points:
- Question of the Month- What are your reflections from the year 2020? What did you learn? What obstacles did you overcome or are working to overcome?
- Dr. Sakshi Tickoo @sex.love.andot
- Brock Cook @occupiedpodcast
- Alexis Joelle @8alexisjoelle
- Anna @beyondcovid
- Nancy @lovelyy_ot
- My reflections
- Lyfer of the Month
- Next question of the month:
- What questions do you have about money in occupational therapy?
- Call in with your questions and I will answer them, maybe with the help of some of my money expert friends
- Answer here: ot4lyfe.com/questionofthemonth
Mentioned resources:
- Sex, Love, and Occupational Therapy with Dr. Sakshi Tickoo
- Thinking and Learning Through an Occupational Lens with Brock Cook
- What Does My Depression Look Like?- Occupied Podcast
- Creating Confidence and an Occupation-Based Mindset with Alexis Joelle
- Recognizing the Importance of Self-care for OT Practitioners with Nancy
- It’s Okay to Take a Break
- Thoughts on Covid-19
- Best of Occupational Therapy (BOOT) blog post 6/10/2020
- The Real OTs of Early Intervention
- The OT Roundtable
Contact the Show
- Ask me a question
- Leave me a voicemail
- To subscribe to the podcast, click here
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Clubhouse: @ot.4.lyfe
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ot4lyfe
Takeaways:
- Not all service and therapy animals are the same
- Recognizing how and when or when not to utilize animals in therapy
- The power of incorporating animals into therapy
Mentioned Resources:
- Bunnies and Ducks and Llamas, Oh My!
- Incorporating Dogs into Animal Assisted Therapy
- Temple Grandin Books
- Americans With Disabilities Act and American Kennel Club resources
Join in the Discussion:
- Answer the Question of the Month
- Catch the full episode: https://ot4lyfe.com/97
Crystal and Sarah discuss:
- Why she decided to train her dog to be a therapy dog
- Difference between therapy dogs, service dogs, and emotional support animals
- Considerations of incorporating dogs into therapy
- Steps to train a therapy dog
- Hardest and best parts of the training program
- Intersection of occupational therapy and therapy dog training
- Considerations to be a therapy dog handler
- Advice for therapists or students who might be interested in training therapy dogs
- Mentioned Resources:
- American Kennel Club: How to Train A Therapy Dog
- Exploring Neuro with The Brainy OT
- Neuroplasticity After Stroke
Connect with Crystal
- Website: https://thebrainyot.wixsite.com/website
- Email: thebrainyot@gmail.com
- Instagram: @thebrainyot/
Takeaways:
- The value of therapeutic use of self
- Talking more about mental health to break the stigma
- Importance of mental health
Mentioned Resources:
- Recognizing the Importance of Self Care for OT Practitioners with Nancy
- It’s Okay to Take a Break
- Danielle Delorenzo Talks Infant Mental Health
- Occupied Podcast Episodes
- This Is Me- Patches of OT
- Mental Health BOOT Post
- Strong Minds Club
Join in the Discussion:
- Answer the Question of the Month
- Catch the full episode: https://ot4lyfe.com/95
- Leave Sarah a Voicemail: https://ot4lyfe.com/voicemail/
Danielle and Sarah discuss:
- How she got interested in behavioral inpatient mental health
- What it looks like to work in this area
- Frequency and duration of services
- Common diagnoses and typical ages
- Navigating the differences in the units she works on
- Limiting biases before working with a patient
- Her role as an OT and types of interventions
- Therapeutic use of self
- It’s okay to ask for help
- What lights her up as an OT
- The power of voice
- Stigma in mental health
- The hardest and the best part of her work
- Maintaining your own mental health while working in this practice area
Mentioned Resources:
- Calm App
Connect with Danielle
- Email: d.miles716@gmail.com
- Instagram Link: @queen_dalife_of_ot
Talking Points:
- Question of the Month- What are your favorite OT related gift ideas
- Allie Watkins @patchesofot ~ Unicorn OT mug
- Olivia Cheng @ot_liv ~ @learn_pal
- Lauren Burns @burns_lauren_ot ~ pulse oximeter, Shannen Marie OT, Becoming OT, OT 4 Lyfe
- Shannon @motivatemindsot ~ Calm and Headspace apps, Aroma Therapy, Doterra
- Emilia Dewi @the_lymph_therapist ~ Rock Tape
- Candie Cintron @spunky_sightseer ~ Diaphragmatic Breathing
- Two Sparrows Marketplace @twosparrowsmarketplace ~ twosparrowsmarketplace.com/store
- My recommended OT gifts
- OT Passport Shop @otpasshop ~ https://www.etsy.com/shop/OTpassport
- Great Lakes Otees @greatlakesotees ~ https://www.etsy.com/shop/greatlakesotees/
- The OT Shop from @sex.love.andot ~ https://theotshop.co.in/collections/clothing
- Sensational Connections @sensational.connections ~ https://sensationalconnections.com/ot-stickers
- Lyfer of the Month
- Instagram: @spunky_sightseer
- Email: spunkysightseer@gmail.com
- Next question of the month:
- What are your reflections from 2020? Good or bad? What did you learn?
- Answer here: ot4lyfe.com/questionofthemonth
Mentioned resources:
- Can Movement Change the World?
- How To Better Define and Promote the Profession
- Ask me a question
- Leave me a voicemail
To subscribe to the podcast, click here
Takeaways:
- Definition of occupational therapy
- How to better promote the profession
Mentioned Resources:
- Bringin’ Occupation Back
- Thoughts on How OT’s Can Talk About OT
Join in the Discussion:
Answer the Question of the Month
Catch the full episode: https://ot4lyfe.com/93
The Other halves discuss:
- Their definition of occupational therapy
- How they learned about OT
- Things they’ve learned from having an OT spouse
- Applying an OT perspective to their jobs
- If they ever get sick of hearing their spouse talk about OT?
- The best and worst parts of the field of occupational therapy
- Social media and the profession
- How to promote the profession better
- One word to describe OT
Mentioned Resources:
- Danielle’s previous episode: Early Intervention with an OT Mom
- Miranda’s episode: Uncorking Topics in Occupational Therapy
- Laura’s episode: Sensory Integration and the Transformation From Clinic to Home
Connect with Mark & Laura
- Website: https://www.theotbutterfly.com
- Instagram Link: https://www.instagram.com/theotbutterfly/
- Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/theotbutterfly
- Teachers Pay Teachers: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/the-ot-butterfly
- Email: LPetixOT@gmail.com
Connect with Sean & Miranda
- Website: www.otuncorked.com
- Podcast: http://otuncorked.com/listen/
- Instagram Link: https://instagram.com/otuncorked
- Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/otuncorked
- Facebook Link: https://facebook.com/otuncorked
- Email: miranda@otuncorked.com
Connect with Chris & Danielle
- Website URL: https://www.danielledelorenzo.com
- Instagram Link: https://instagram/mornings.with.an.ot.mom
- Email: morningswithanotmom@gmail.com
Connect with Ray & Sarah
- Website: https://ot4lyfe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ot4lyfe
- Email: sarah@ot4lyfe.com
Takeaways:
- Shift the mindset
- Cultivating good self-care habits while in school
- My tip for current OT/OTA students
Mentioned Resources:
- Advice for OT & OTA Students
- Leading From Where You Are with Ijeoma Ikpeze
- From OT School to New Grad OT with Jordan McCauley
- Fresh Perspectives From First Year OT Students with Alex, Christina, and Regina
- Crafting Your Life for Success with Intention and Purpose with Andy Nielsen
- Fieldwork Resources
- Rachel Moore’s Episodes
- The Very First Steps in Becoming an OT
- Becoming an Occupational Therapist: Starting an OT Program
- Becoming an Occupational Therapist: OT School
- The Real OTs of Early Intervention
- www.therealots.com
- @the.real.ots.of.ei
Join in the Discussion:
- Answer the Question of the Month
Catch the full episode:
- https://ot4lyfe.com/90
Rachel and Sarah discuss:
- The hardest part/biggest challenge during OT school so far
- Her favorite part of OT school
- The transition from in person to distance learning secondary to the pandemic
- Navigating the personal and professional stress during this time
- Advice for current or soon to be students
- Questions for me as a fieldwork educator
Resources:
- Rachel’s Previous Episodes:
- The Very First Steps in Becoming an OT
- Becoming an Occupational Therapist: Starting an OT Program
- Mind Your OT Business Podcast
- Tips for OT & OTA Students
- Therapy Ed Study Guide Book
Talking Points:
- Question of the Month- What are your favorite continuing education courses that you have taken and why?
- Ushma @worldofot ~ Star Institute
- Annabeth Knight @thefannypacktherapist ~ Every Move Counts
- Erin Jeffords @theotadvocate
- Glen Gillen’s Management of the Hemiplegic Upper Extremity
- Mary Warren’s vision courses
- Physical Agent Modalities Credential Courses
- LSVT
- Kate Tudor @OT_KateT ~ Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Jessica @myfluffynest
- Neuro INFRAH
- Occupationaltherapy.com
- Candie Cintron @spunky_sightseer ~ Breathing with the Maestro
- My most recommended CEUs
- Feeding
- SOS Approach to Feeding
- Beckman Oral Motor Protocol
- Handwriting Without Tears
- Hippotherapy Training Courses
- Podcasts
- OT Schoolhouse
- Glass Half Full
- OT Potential
- Taking fieldwork students
- State, National, and International Conferences
- Feeding
- Lyfer of the Month
- Twitter: @OT_KateT
- Instagram: @ot_katet
- Podcast Club: @OTPodcastClub
- Next question of the month:
- What are some of the best OT-related gifts that you have given or received?
- Answer here: ot4lyfe.com/questionofthemonth
Mentioned resources:
- Occupied Episode 36- The Occupation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Arthritis Life Episode 5- Can You Live a Full Life With Pain?
- Connection Instagram post
- Episode 7: From OT to Entrepreneur with Cami Culwell
- OT Podcast Club
- Ask me a question
- Leave me a voicemail
- To subscribe to the podcast, click here
Takeaways:
- Self-care is ongoing
- It’s ok to ask for help
- We need more conversations self-care as healthcare practitioners
Join in the Discussion:
Answer the Question of the Month
Catch the full episode:
https://ot4lyfe.com/87
Nancy and Sarah discuss:
- Her work in a skilled nursing facility
- Best advice from a resident that she has received
- Her role as an OT in a skilled nursing facility
- Navigating insurance
- Changes to her role because of the Covid-19 pandemic
- The impact of the pandemic on her patients and herself
- Recognizing the importance of self-care as a healthcare professional
Connect with Nancy:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovelyy_ot/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSescBWZXZcH2ITAteatHXA
Takeaways:
- Importance of addressing sexual health just as we address mental, physical and emotional health
- Recognition of the lack of sexual health education within OT education
- Sexual health needs to be addressed across the lifespan
Mentioned Resources:
- OT After Dark Podcast
Join in the Discussion:
- Answer the Question of the Month
- Chime in your thoughts on the episode
- Catch the full episode: https://ot4lyfe.com/84
Talking Points:
- The only way to get better at something is to research, learn, and practice
- The OT community is amazing
- People still do not know that OT podcasts exist
- Accountability is everything
- There’s so much more to podcasting than just talking into a microphone
- Being a Lifelong Learner
- Each listener takes away something different from each episode
- Accessibility of podcasts
- I love podcasts and podcasting
- Podcasting has changed my lyfe
Mentioned Resources:
- The Why of OT 4 Lyfe
- The Impact of OT in the Prison Setting
- Sex, Love, and Occupational Therapy
- Navigating Life with Cancer-Related Lymphedema
- Diverse OT: Leadership and Advocacy for Minorities in Healthcare
- Inclusion, Education, and All the Colors of the Rainbow
- Thinking and Learning from an Occupational Lens
- List of OT Podcasts
- 30 Day Movement Challenge
Join in the Discussion:
- Answer the Question of the Month
Dr. Sakshi Tickoo and Sarah discuss:
- How she became interested in mental health, sexuality, and OT
- OT in India
- Sexuality for all age groups
- Importance of consent
- Her definition of sexual health
- Sex as an activity of daily living (ADL)
- Conditions and misdiagnosed conditions
- Occupational therapy’s role in sexual health
Connect with Dr. Sakshi Tickoo
- Email: sex.love.andot@gmail.com
- Instagram Link: https://www.instagram.com/sex.love.andot/
- Facebook Link: https://m.facebook.com/SexLoveAndOT
- Website URL: sexloveandot.com
- The OT Shop: the-ot-shop.myshopify.com
Talking Points:
- Question of the Month- What’s your most outside the box treatment idea?
- Danielle Delorenzo @mornings.with.an.ot.mom
- Jayson Davies @otschoolhouse
- Lauren Burns @burns_lauren_ot
- Emily Deller @emilymarie_ot
- Erin_Jeffords @theotadvocate
- Emilia Dewi @the_lymph_therapist
- Alvin @ot.outside.the.box
- My outside the box treatment ideas
- Questions from the OT 4 Lyfe community
- What do I wish my school would have taught me?
- How to handle working with difficult clients?
- Lyfer of the Month
- Instagram: @emilymarie_ot
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/emilymarieOT
- Website: https://m.facebook.com/emilymarieot
- Next question of the month:
- What are your favorite continuing education courses that you have taken and why?
- Answer here: ot4lyfe.com/questionofthemonth
- Shout out to Alvin from @ot.outside.the.box for the artwork used in the title graphic.
Mentioned resources:
- Ask me a question
- Difficult client post
- Leave me a voicemail
- 30 Day Movement Challenge
- CommunOT Podcast Episodes
- 68- Your Favorite OT Resources
- 73- Tips and Tricks to Get and Stay Organized
- 78- Advice For OT & OTA Students
To subscribe to the podcast,
click here
Takeaways:
- Remembering that what we are doing is making an impact in the lives of our clients
- Emotionality of practice
Mentioned Resources:
- Episode 64: Positive Approach to Dementia Care with Jenna Mele
Join in the Discussion:
Answer the Question of the Month
Chime in your thoughts on the episode
Catch the full episode: https://ot4lyfe.com/81
Effie and Sarah discuss:
- The moment she found out about her son’s diagnosis
- CTNNB1 syndrome
- How it presents in her son
- Her experience in early intervention
- The impact OT has had on her and her son’s life
- Her advice for OT practitioners working with families
- Memorable moments in OT so far
- Hippotherapy
- Parents trusting in therapists
- Reflections on OT from a parent perspective
- Her podcast
- Resources
- CTNNB1 Facebook group
- Global genes
- National Organization of Rare Diseases (NORD)
Connect with Effie
- Website: https://effieparks.com/
- Podcast: https://effieparks.com/podcast
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onceuponagene.podcast/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/OnceUponAGene
Takeaways:
- Shouldn’t doesn’t mean you can’t. If you’re interested in it, do it
- Use what your client has and also understand their financial status
- The importance of having a mentor
Mentioned Resources:
- Episode 51 with Danielle Delorenzo: https://ot4lyfe.com/51/
- Episode 17 with Jennifer Ogawa on OT/PT Collaboration: https://ot4lyfe.com/17/
- Upcoming episode with Effie Parks
Join in the Discussion:
Answer the Question of the Month
Chime in your thoughts on the episode
Catch the full episode: https://ot4lyfe.com/79
Amirra and Sarah discuss:
- What is early intervention?
- How can families be referred
- Typical assessments and frequency of evaluations
- Informed Clinical Opinion
- Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)
- Team Based Model
- What a day in early intervention looks like (pre-covid)
- Coaching Model in EI
- What about all the driving?
- The skill of scheduling and autonomy
- Going bagless
- Pros and cons of working in EI as a new grad
- Tips for new grads working (or wanting to work) in EI
- Resources
- otplan.com
Connect with Amirra
- Website: https://www.marvelousmirracles.com/
- Email: marvelousmirracles.ot@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvelousmirracles.ot/
- URL: www.marvelousmirracles.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marvelousmirracles.ot
Talking Points:
- Question of the Month- What’s your best advice for current OT & OTA students?
- Alvin Pineda @ot.outside.the.box
- Robyn @spill_the_ot
- Candie Cintron @spunky_sightseer
- Nicole Paneque @otwithmissp
- Karena Sabinski @whatabout_themama
- Alexis Joelle @8alexisjoelle
- Curtis Lubic @cjlub924
- Debra Batistella @creativeconceptsot
- Emilia Dewi @the_lymph_therapist
- Nancy @lovelly_ot
- Lyfer of the Month
- Instagram: @jhenny_berry_ot
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/jhennyberry
- Website: https://jhennyberry.com/
- Answers to questions from the community
- The 30 Day Movement Challenge
- Got OT questions that you want answered, head on over to ot4lyfe.com/community
- Answer the question of the month and be eligible to win some OT 4 Lyfe swag: ot4lyfe.com/questionofthemonth
- To subscribe to the podcast, click here
Mentioned resources:
- Being a Lifelong Learner: https://ot4lyfe.com/77/
- The Very First Steps in Becoming an OT: https://ot4lyfe.com/13/
- Becoming an OT: Starting an OT Program: https://ot4lyfe.com/32/
- Should Every OT Practitioner Be a Fieldwork Educator? http://www.theotroundtable.com/05/
Leave me a voicemail: ot4lyfe.com/voicemail
Takeaways:
- The importance of networking and always learning
- Paying attention to moving and your lymph system
- Knowing our role as therapy practitioners
Mentioned Resources:
- @the_lymph_therapist #7dayselfcarechallenge
- The Movement Maestro
- Can Movement Change the World: https://ot4lyfe.com/71
- @ot.4.lyfe #30daymovementchallenge
- Creating Confidence and an Occupation-Based Mindset: https://ot4lyfe.com/39
Join in the Discussion:
Answer the Question of the Month
Chime in your thoughts on the episode
Catch the full episode:
https://ot4lyfe.com/76
Emilia and Sarah discuss:
- Why the lymphatic system is important to her
- Long term effects of lymphedema
- Overview of lymphatic system
- Glymphatic system
- Importance of sleep
- Link between autoimmune system and lymphatic system
- Dr. Perry Nicholson- Lymph Mojo Body Aquarium
- Cancer related lymphedema
- Changes due to cancer related lymphedema
- Cancer and Trauma
- Lymphedema and lifestyle
- Risk reduction practice
- Change Readiness Theory
- Planting the seed
- Allowing choice after cancer
- John Barnes Myofascial Release
- Her favorite manual therapy techniques
- Kinesio Taping for lymphedema management
- Cording
- Lipedema
Connect with Emelia
- Email: emilia@thelymphtherapist.com
- Instagram: Http://www.instagram.com/the_lymph_therapist
- URL: Https://www.thelymphtherapist.com
Takeaways:
- Entrepreneurship is a journey
- Mindset is key
- The importance of making mistakes in business
Mentioned Resources:
- The OT Roundtable
- Maestro on the Mic
- The PT Entrepreneur Podcast
- How I Built This
- Mind Your OT Business
Join in the Discussion:
Answer the Question of the Month
Chime in your thoughts on the episode
Catch the full episode:
https://ot4lyfe.com/74
Joseph and Sarah discuss:
- The why behind starting Friendly Shoes
- Safety and aesthetics of adaptive shoes
- The deeper meaning behind shoes
- Sneakerheads
- Why you can’t just go bigger to fit AFOs in shows
- The OT brain in shoe development
- Importance of making mistakes
- Taking the first step to starting a business
- Why Friendly?
- Bringing occupational therapy to the forefront
- Coupon Code for 25% off Friendly Shoes for Lyfers: OTRULES
Connect with Joseph:
- Email: Joseph@friendlyshoes.com
- Website: www.friendlyshoes.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/befriendlyshoes
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/befriendlyshoes
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/befriendlyshoes
- Question of the Month- How do you keep your OT brain and materials organized?
- Stephanie from @theorganizedot
- Khalilah Johnson from @theacademicdiva
- Annabeth Knight from @thefannypacktherapist
- Emilia from @the_lymph_therapist
- Lauren Burns from @burns_lauren_ot
- Nikki Lopez from @mypedsot
- Amy Thakkar from @littlemotorbox
- Amirra Johnson from @marvelousmirracles.ot
- Adreanna Beaumont
- Hillary from @original_therapy_resources
- Sarah’s Recommendation: Osprey Cyber Backpack
- Lyfer of the Month
- The 30 Day Movement Challenge
- Got OT questions that you want answered, head on over to ot4lyfe.com/community
- Answer the question of the month and be eligible to win some OT 4 Lyfe swag: ot4lyfe.com/questionofthemonth
To subscribe to the podcast: click here
Takeaways:
- Power of social media
- Influence of movement on all the body systems
- Why we need to fall
- Movement during the pandemic
Mentioned Resources:
-
ABCsofOT @shannenmarie_ot
- 30 Day Movement Challenge @ot.4.lyfe
Join in the Discussion:
Answer the Question of the Month
Chime in your thoughts on the episode
Catch the full episode: https://ot4lyfe.com/71
Kim and Sarah discuss:
- Influence of movement across the lifespan
- Effects of movement disruptions
- Overview of vestibular system
- Development of the nervous system
- Why crawling is so important
- Making it fun is all that matters
- Focusing on the underlying reflexes to address higher level skills
- The under appreciated system
- Identifying the issue and then taking a step back
- Importance of movement for geriatric population
- Dr. Harold Blomberg Rhythmic Movements
Connect with Kim:
- Kim’s Ted Talk
- Email: kim.a.lowack@gmail.com
- Web: https://www.theotway.net/
- Instagram Link: @the_ot_way
- Twitter Link: @KimLowack
Takeaways:
- Fundamentals transcend practice areas
- Assumptions can be bad for practice
- Going beyond occupation
Mentioned Resources:
- Dr. Rebecca Twinley- The Dark Side of Occupation
- Occupied Podcast episode
- IGTV with Kwaku
Join in the Discussion:
Answer the Question of the Month
Chime in your thoughts on the episode
Catch the full episode:
https://ot4lyfe.com/69
Kwaku and Sarah discuss:
- Normalization of violence
- Assumptions of people in prison
- Historical views on wrong doing and punishment
- Working with young offenders (18-21 years old)
- Reflections on how they got there and where they can go in the future
- Influence of occupations both positive and negative
- Social context of occupations
- The opportunity of choice
- Impact on environment for people in prison
- What it looks like to work as an OT in prison
- The framework of occupational therapy
- How he started working with in the prisons
- His biggest realization working in this setting
- OT & Chill
Connect with Kwaku
- Email: otandchill@gmail.com
- Instagram:@otandchill
- Twitter: @OT_Chill
- Question of the Month- What are your favorite occupational therapy resources?
- Shannen Marie OT: AOTA Tip Sheets, LSVT Global, Seniors Flourish Learning Lab, OT Goal Writing Guide
- My Bui: Understood.org
- Miranda Rennie: Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center
- Danielle Delorenzo: Tools To Grow, Go Noodle, Fun and Function, Lakeshore, Jacks Toy Store, Kissui, Kith, Bal-A-Vis-X, School Based OT/PT Facebook Group
- Kim Lowack: Harold Blomberg Rhythmic Movements
- Lauren Burns: OT Potential Club, Seniors Flourish Learning Lab
- Taelormade OT: Instagram accounts- @theotbutterfly, @cotalife, @missjaimeot, @wootherapy and Tools To Grow Membership
- Janel Mayne: Sensational Brain Self Regulation course
- Alexis Joelle: OT and OTA students
- Debra Bastistella: Proquest
- Sarah Putt: www.ot4lyfe.com/otpodcasts
- Find More Resources in the OT 4 Lyfe Community
- Lyfer of the Month
- Best of Occupational Therapy aka “The BOOT”
- 30 Day Movement Challenge
- The Next Question of the Month
Answer the question of the month and be eligible to win some OT 4 Lyfe swag:
How do you keep your OT brain and materials organized?
Leave a voicemail message: https://ot4lyfe.com/voicemail
Leave a comment in the community: https://ot4lyfe.com/question
Takeaways:
- The rheumatoid arthritis journey
- Implications of RA symptoms on all areas of life
- Thinking outside the box
Catch the full episode: https://ot4lyfe.com/66
Join in on the discussion
Cheryl and Sarah discuss:
- Cheryl’s journey with rheumatoid arthritis
- Anxiety and mental health considerations
- Gaslighting in the medical world
- The average diagnosis length for autoimmune diseases
- Validation and empowerment
- Definition of arthritis
- Most common symptoms
- Arthritis and IADLs
- Arthritis as a secondary diagnosis
- “Health enables function”
- Financial implications of the diagnosis
- Why OT is underutilized in addressing arthritis
- Important arthritis statistics
- Resources
- Arthritis Foundation
- Arthritis Live Yes Podcast
- American College of Rheumatology
- American Rheumatology Professionals
- Lifestyle Redesign at USC
- You Are Enough
- Arthritis Life
Get in touch with Cheryl:
- Website: https://arthritis.theenthusiasticlife.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthritis_life_cheryl/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/realcc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArthritisLifeCheryl/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDEZnSHMkC5FJ6enOwHsRKg
Sarah discusses:
- Current dementia statistics according to the World Health Organization as of 2019
- Why this episode was a tough one for her
- What she learned about working in dementia care
- Brock’s episode with Teaming with Dementia with Brooke George
- Finding your passion within the field of occupational therapy
- Importance of self care
- Realization of compassion fatigue
Catch the full episode: https://ot4lyfe.com/64
Share your takeaways and join in the discussion here: https://ot4lyfe.com/community
Sarah and Jenna discuss:
- Realizing that something needed to be done in dementia care
- Having hope with a progressive diagnosis
- Focusing on one client and one family
- Occupational deprivation and lack of balance
- Teepa Snow- Positive Approach to Care
- Relationship is top priority
- Hand-under-hand treatment technique
- Partnering with our clients and their caregivers
- Checking emotions at the door
- The professional and personal impacts of working in dementia care
- Importance of social supports
- Compassion fatigue
- Success stories
- Importance of life history for clients, especially those with dementia
- Advice for practitioners working in dementia care
- Advice for care partners
- Jerry video
- Dementia Resources
- Gem States- Teepa Snow
- My Past is Now My Future- Lanny Butler
- Ensign Dementia Course- Gina Tucker-Roghi
Get in touch with Jenna:
- Website: https://www.connectedcareagingsolutions.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJennaMele
Sarah discusses:
- Importance of mentorship
- Small t traumas can be just as impactful
- Medical conditions, diagnoses, conditions, and injuries can be trauma
- “Connection before correction”
Catch the full episode: https://ot4lyfe.com/62
To share your takeaways from the episode: https://ot4lyfe.com/community/
Sarah and Taelor discuss:
- Her realization of trauma
- Denial
- Finding self worth
- Psychological manipulation
- Gaslighting
- Definitions of trauma
- Big T traumas and little t traumas
- Correlation between low income and trauma
- Connection before correction
- Trauma sensitive strategies
- Personal and professional experiences of trauma
- Trauma Resources:
- OT & Childhood Trauma Cheat Sheet: https://bit.ly/ot4lyfe
- Peter Levine: https://traumahealing.org/
- Bruce Terry: https://www.childtrauma.org/
- ACES- Adverse Childhood Experiences: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/acestudy/index.html
- AOTA Childhood Trauma Fact Sheet: https://www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/Practice/Children/Childhood-Trauma-Info-Sheet-2015.pdf
- The Power of a Caring, Consistent Adult: https://changingmindsnow.org/science/the-power-of-a-caring-adult
- Dr. Nadine Burke Harris TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/nadine_burke_harris_how_childhood_trauma_affects_health_across_a_lifetime?language=en
- The Deepest Well by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris: https://amzn.to/34Zl1Ss
- The Body Keeps the Score by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk: https://amzn.to/2Vza8nx
- Paper Tigers (documentary): https://kpjrfilms.co/paper-tigers/
Get in touch with Taelor
- Website: www.taelor-madeot.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/taelormadeot
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/taelormadeot
Discussion Points
- The importance of community
- The OT Roundtable: http://www.theotroundtable.com/02/
- OTRT Youtube :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LD7CcbOobw
- OT4 Lyfe: https://ot4lyfe.com/59/
- OT 4 Lyfe: https://ot4lyfe.com/60/
- OT Month features: https://ot4lyfe.com/ot-month
- Episodes coming this month included trauma and dementia care
- OT Entrepreneur Summit: https://www.otentrepreneursummit.com/
- Question of the month- What are your go-to/ favorite OT resources?
To answer the question of the month and be eligible to win an OT 4 Lyfe t-shirt:
Leave a voice message at https://ot4lyfe.com/voicemail/
or
Leave a comment on my community page at https://ot4lyfe.com/question
Dave and Sarah discuss:
- Volunteering in Haiti
- WFOT Haiti: https://www.wfot.org/member-organisations/haiti-haitian-association-of-occupational-therapists
- Caribbean Occupational Therapy Association: http://www.caribbeanot.com/haiti.html
- Negativity associated with volunteering, especially abroad
- His personal experience with charity
- Empowering and educating others
- Student involvement in international volunteer work
- Conan Without Borders: https://www.netflix.com/title/81020868
- AOTA’s Leaders and Legacy Society: https://www.otleaders.org/
- Generativity
- His path occupational therapy
- OT/OTA Collaborative Workplace Model
- Non-traditional roles as an occupational therapy assistant
- AOTA Boardroom to Classroom: https://www.aota.org/AboutAOTA/Get-Involved/ASD/Boardroom-to-Classroom.aspx
To Connect with Dave:
- http://www.davidmerlo.com/
Joel and Sarah discuss:
- One tip for someone wanting to be better about their finances
- Budget is not a 4 letter word
- Money as a tool that is tied to your values
- Tracking your spending:
- Mint- https://www.mint.com/
- Know how much money is coming in and where it is going
- The why behind people’s money
- Peace out money
- The big three: housing, transportation, and food
- Minimalism and frugality
- The Minimalist Home book: https://www.amazon.com/Minimalist-Home-Room-Room-Decluttered/dp/1601427999
- Money management as an experiment
- What to do with your savings
- Investing in the stock market, 401ks, real estate, yourself
- Debt
- Student loans: https://studentaid.gov/
- Budgeting with a variable income
- Resources
- The Simple Path to Wealth: https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Path-Wealth-financial-independence/dp/1533667926
- I Will Teach You To Be Rich: https://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Be-Rich/dp/0761147489
- Kiplinger: https://www.kiplinger.com/
- The Economist: https://www.economist.com/
Get in touch with Joel:
- Website: https://www.howtomoney.com/
- Podcast: https://www.howtomoney.com/category/episodes/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/howtomoneypod/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HowToMoneyJoel
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1623670287732189/
Sarah discusses:
- The difficulty we have describing our profession
- We don’t explain what it is that we do
- Reshaping how we talk about OT
- Bringin’ occupation back
- Stop using practice examples
- Rename the profession?
- Use occupational language
-
happyaprilfoolsday
Sarah discusses:
- The beginning of when I first started to hear about COVID-19
- Stories from from friends who live in Venice
- Cancellation of conferences (i.e: AOTA)
- The moment that I realized COVID-19 was a big deal
- Cancellation of fieldwork, students, and volunteers
- Weighing the risks and the unknowns
- Navigating the changes with my family
- Disruption of our typical roles and routines
- Having important conversations while not alarming others
- Being on the same page with my family
- Reflections of the changes from a business perspective
- Keeping myself, my employee, and our clients and their families safe
- Isolation and early intervention
- Challenges and Benefits of Teletherapy
- Mindset during this uncertain time
- Importance of routines and structure for mental and physical health
- We are are doing our part
- Announcing “The OT Roundtable” podcast: http://theotroundtable.com/
- Resources: https://ot4lyfe.com/best-of-occupational-therapy-03-18-2020/
Sarah and Mandy discuss:
- Mandy's sister’s accident
- Her experience finding her role within her family as a sister/daughter and healthcare professional
- Recognizing the importance of family dynamics in the rehab journey
- The tension she experienced during rehab between expectations and reality
- Her role between the doctors, nurses, therapists, etc and her family
- The pivotal moment with her sister’s OT
- Navigating her role from a personal and professional standpoint
- The ripple effect of traumatic accidents and rehabilitation on families
- Knowing when and how to make appropriate referrals
- Advice for therapists working with people & their families who have experienced a brain injury
- Advice for families and caregivers going through an acquired accident
- Where her sister is now
- The one thing she wished she knew during the time of the accident and initial rehab journey
- Traumatic Brain Injury: Unmet Support Needs of Caregivers and Families in Florida: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3866264/
- Seniors Flourish
- Website: seniorsflourish.com
- Podcast: seniorsflourish.com/categories/podcasts
- Learning Lab: https://seniorsflourish.com/learninglab/
- If you have gone through anything similar, you can email Mandy at: mchamberlain@seniorsflourish.com
Contact Mandy:
Email: mchamberlain@seniorsflourish.com
Website: http://seniorsflourish.com/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/seniorsflourish
Instagram: https://www.instgram.com/seniorsflourish
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seniorsflourish
Connie and Sarah discuss:
- Importance of collaboration between disciplines
- The complexity of working in feeding and swallowing
- Slowing down in this hyperspeed world to address therapy needs
- Feeding hacks for sensory kids
- Connie’s path into pediatrics
- Her advice for students
- The impact that graduate school had on her outlook as a clinician
- Students and the lack of preparedness for real world therapy coming out of school
- Her experience of not feeling supported as a student
- Supervisors need to take a step back to figure out where students at in that moment
- Gauging students learning by asking questions as a supervisor
- Having a student is not about what they can do for the supervisor, it is more about how the supervisor can help the student
- Building positive foundations for students through responsible clinical supervision
- Just because you are a good clinician, does not mean that you are a good supervisor
- Getting feedback about what students like/dislike at other fieldwork sites to guide your site
- Connie’s book series: Hello Mouth, Hello Hands, and Hello Feet
- R2D2
- Resources for Fieldwork Educators:
- https://otpotential.com/blog/ot-fieldwork-educator
- https://www.myotspot.com/fieldwork-clinical-instructor/
Buy the Hello Series Books: https://positivefoundationspublishing.com/
Contact Connie:
Email: conniehunt@positivefoundationsforkids.com
Website: http://www.positivefoundationsforkids.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConnieHuntSLP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/positivefoundations/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/positivefoundationsforkids/
Michelle and Sarah discuss:
- When did she notice that there was an issue with diversity and representation within our profession?
- The 3 V’s: Voice, Visability, and Validation
- Diversity extends beyond than just a person’s race
- Diversity includes ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc.
- Diversity is not just about validating the practitioner, but it also has a huge impact on our clients
- Ability to establish an immediate connection if you and your client are from similar backgrounds
- Negative impact on healthcare experiences when there is a difference in culture
- The power of connecting to our clients of the same background
- Health disparities because of diversity
- Health literacy when working with people to make sure they understand what you are trying to explain to them
- Super Duper Handouts: https://www.superduperinc.com/Handouts/Handout.aspx
- COTAD- Coalition of Occupational Therapists Advocates for Diversity: https://www.cotad.org/
- Minority Mentorship Program: https://www.cotad.org/minority-mentorship
- COTAD Chapters: https://www.cotad.org/about-cotad-chapters
- COTAD Advocacy & Outreach: https://www.cotad.org/community-outreach
- She Can Be Both: https://www.instagram.com/shecanbeboth/
- Embracing the differences in ourselves
- Promoting OT to people outside of our profession and to other professionals that we work with
- Perfecting our OT elevator speech
-
YouSee campaign: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/yousee/
-
DiverseOT: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/diverseot/
- Her experience with racism as an OT practitioner
- How she feels diversity in the occupational therapy profession has changed since becoming a practitioner
- LGBTQIA+ resources: https://therainbowot.com/
- What she hopes to see in the future in terms of diversity and representation within OT and heathcare
Contact Michelle:
Instagram: instagram.com/michelled_ot
Website: michelledot.com
Sarah and Brock discuss:
- His favorite things about OT
- How his podcast Occupied has impacted his own learning: http://www.brockcook.com/category/podcast/
- Hero vs Anti-hero theory
- Importance of understanding complex theories and how they apply to understand people better
- Self-awareness as a therapist
- The great coriander debate
- “Pot Stir Thursday” on MH4OT: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MH4OT/
- How he came to think about things differently
- Empowering his students to think for themselves
- The fear of failure
- Taking a step back to realize where you are
- Episode with Sarah’s first supervisor- Inspiration, Sensory Integration and Zen with Roxie Fernandez: https://ot4lyfe.com/1/
- How being in academia has impacted his own view on learning
- Where he wants to see the profession of occupational therapy go in the future
- Brock’s episode with Professor Gail Whiteford: http://www.brockcook.com/024/
- What Brock has learned from podcasting
- The episode Brock talks about that pushed him way outside his comfort zone: http://www.brockcook.com/063/
- List of Occupational Therapy Podcasts: http://www.otpodcasts.com/
-
OTTalk on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hashtag/ottalk
Contact Brock:
Website: http://www.occupiedpodcast.com
Email: brock.cook@me.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/brockcookOT
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/occupiedpodcast
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/occupiedpodcast
Sarah and Mona discuss:
- How she incorporates llamas into her OT sessions
- What other animals she has at her practice
- Why llamas are effective in therapy
- LlamaFest: http://ctcroanoke.org/news/
- How animals facilitate verbal and non-verbal communication
- Introducing clients to animals when they are afraid of them
- The importance of skilled therapy when using animals
- Link to her research article: http://ot4lyfe.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/llamaOT.pdf
- How she got interested in using llamas in therapy
- Using llama hair for crafts
- How she structures her sessions
- Other considerations for using animals in therapy
- The interconnectedness of all animals
Website: http://www.ctcroanoke.org/
Email: creativetherapycare@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CTCMonasArk/
Sarah and Danielle discuss:
- Navigating early intervention assessment as a parent and a therapist
- A blessing and a curse of being an OT going through this process
- Roles of being a mom, an OT, getting her doctorate, and now being a therapy mom
- The importance of having a “village”
- The defining moment that made her seek out help
- Developmental trajectories
- Being the first person as an EI OT to tell parents that something is wrong
- Caregiver dyad and regulation
- How having a child in early intervention has impacted her as a therapist
- Parental guilt
- Being present in the moment through mindfulness
- Value of working with the parents and families in early intervention
- Being an expert means being a life long learner
- Questions she had from the mom side
- Dealing with people staring at our kids when we are out in public
- Using video-taping to facilitate therapy and parental education
- One piece of advice for therapists?
- Her blog Mornings with an OT Mom: https://morningswithanotmom.com/
- Her episode on the OT Schoolhouse Podcast: https://www.otschoolhouse.com/episode38
Email: morningswithanotmom@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mornings.with.an.ot.mom/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morningswithanotmom/
Website: https://morningswithanotmom.com/
Mentioned episodes:
- Deedee Levine - www.ot4lyfe.com/11
- Devlynn Neu - www.ot4lyfe.com/35
- Alexis Joelle - www.ot4lyfe.com/39
- Grant Mitchell- www.ot4lyfe.com/40
- Laura Park Figueroa - www.ot4lyfe.com/41
- Erika Downs & Brock Cook - www.ot4lyfe.com/16
- Dr. Michael Roberts - www.ot4lyfe.com/23
- EJ Ipkeze - www.ot4lyfe.com/20
- Jordan McCauley - www.ot4lyfe.com/47
- Sarah Lyon - www.ot4lyfe.com/36
- Brynne Terry - www.ot4lyfe.com/33
- Rachel Harrington & Jessica Hill- www.ot4lyfe.com/28
- Andy Nielsen- www.ot4lyfe.com/22
- Laura Petix - www.ot4lyfe.com/48
- Karen Ni - www.ot4lyfe.com/21
- Miranda Rennie - www.ot4lyfe.com/34
- Jayson Davies - www.ot4lyfe.com/18
- TJ Lee - www.ot4lyfe.com/49
- Rachel Moore- www.ot4lyfe.com/32
- Fieldwork Mini Series
- OT
- www.ot4lyfe.com/4
- www.ot4lyfe.com/6
- www.ot4lyfe.com/8
- www.ot4lyfe.com/12
- www.ot4lyfe.com/14
- www.ot4lyfe.com/15
- OTA:
- www.ot4lyfe.com/43
- www.ot4lyfe.com/44
- www.ot4lyfe.com/45
- www.ot4lyfe.com/46
- OT
If you have any reflections, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. You can find me at my
Email at sarah@ot4lyfe.com
Instagram: @ot.4.lyfe: https://www.instagram.com/ot.4.lyfe/
Twitter: @ot4lyfe: https://twitter.com/ot4lyfe
Facebook: ot4lyfe: https://www.facebook.com/ot4lyfe
Youtube: ot4lyfe:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfFF2ukMIUASrAJWi0xd4ug
Sarah and TJ discuss:
- His interest in obstacle course racing
- 9/13/2003- The day of his accident
- What his life looked like before
- The extend of his injuries from the accident and then once in the hospital
- The perspective of going through inpatient care
- Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center: http://dhs.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/dhs/rancho
- Coping with medical professionals, his family, and friends thinking that he might also have a brain injury
- Getting better one day at a time
- Why he preferred to go to physical therapy over occupational therapy
- Progression of his recovery, sensation, and movement
- His willingness to work and fail in order to make progress in therapy
- Spent about 5 months with little to no movement
- Overcoming the trauma and the injury
- Transitioning to going home
- Continuing his therapy and rehabilitation on his own
- His path into becoming a COTA/L
- How his accident and personal experience with therapy has influenced him as a therapist
- Finding a job with a disability
- Recognizing his physical limitations and using other ways to manage his treatment sessions
- His progression of interests in fall prevention, pain, kinesiotaping, movement, soft tissue, technology and apps, assistive technology, ergonomics of video gamers
- Importance of collaboration
- His healthcare collective
- @offset.med: https://www.instagram.com/offset.med/
- The Offset Podcast:
- Google Podcasts
- iTunes Podcasts
- His blog- One Day at a Time 365: http://www.onedayatatime365.org/
Connect with TJ:
Email: taejun.lee@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teejaylee
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taejunlee
Twitch: Twitch.tv/jeetsu
Sarah and Laura discuss:
- Her favorite weekend occupation
- The lack of lunch breaks as a pediatric OT
- My secret to hot lunches on the go: https://amzn.to/3212ums
- Laura’s favorite food
- Our sensory quirks
- How she explains sensory processing to parents
- Facilitating parents to be validated with their feelings
- The importance of education for the caregivers in order to carry-over techniques at home
- Bridging the gap between working in the clinic environment and home or school
- Using the just right challenge for the kids and when providing strategies for the parents
- How she structures her sensory treatments
- Following the child’s lead
- Celebrating the small wins
- Her path into OT
- Her journey with sensory difficulties with her daughter
- How she navigates being an OT and a mom
- The impact of being a parent of a child with sensory needs on her practice as an OT
- Advice for therapists
- What is the meaning behind the name The OT Butterfly?
- Teachers Pay Teachers- The OT Butterfly: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Ot-Butterfly
- Classroom Sensory Strategies Guidebook: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Classroom-Sensory-Strategies-Editable-Guidebook-for-Teachers-4704627
Instagram: https://instagram.com/theotbutterfly
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theotbutterfly
Website: https://www.theotbutterfly.com
Sarah and Jordan discuss:
- Today is a big day, why is that?
- Experiencing back to back fieldworks
- When did he find out about OT?
- How the Level 1 Fieldworks were integrating within his program
- One thing he wished he knew going into his level 2 fieldworks
- Realization of balancing life with fieldwork
- Challenges he faced during his rotations
- Managing self-care
- Resources for Level 2 students
- Importance of community
- OT Exam study resources
- National Occupational Therapy Certification Exam Review and Study Guide
- https://nbcotexamprep.aota.org/
- What’s next for him?
- His capstone project trip to Guatemala
Find more Resources here: https://ot4lyfe.com/resources/
Follow Jordan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanot_/
Chantal, EJ, and Sarah discuss:
- Their feelings now that fieldwork is over
- The biggest hurdle they faced during fieldwork
- Coming up with novel, fun, and exciting groups in the mental health setting
- Where they felt like they grew the most in during the rotation
- Skills they will continue to work on as the make the transition to being a practitioner
- Leaning into discomfort and pushing outside your comfort zone
- Advice for students about to start fieldwork
- Seeking out observation in other areas/ disciplines
- Resources for students during fieldwork
- Teachers Pay Teachers: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Ot-Butterfly
- Smart Board Jeopardy: https://jeopardylabs.com/play/jeopardy-smart-board
- What’s next for the students?
- Catch the full OTA Fieldwork series here:
- 1: https://ot4lyfe.com/43/
- 2: https://ot4lyfe.com/44/
- 3: https://ot4lyfe.com/45/
Chantal, EJ, and Sarah discuss:
- Their current feelings heading into the last 2 weeks of fieldwork
- Feelings about midterm scoring
- What going through the midterm looked like
- Importance of self reflection during fieldwork
- What their day-to-day looks like in fieldwork
- The importance of having other students with you on fieldwork
- Practice supervision for OT and OTA students
- Reflections on expectations and managing the role of the student
- Becoming your own therapist and not just an imitation of your supervisor
- The last two weeks of fieldwork and beyond
- Finding a job as a new grad
EJ, Chantal, and Sarah discuss:
- How they feel after completing 3 weeks of fieldwork
- Shifting from observing to leading their own groups
- Distinguishing OTs unique value in mental health services
- What to do when your treatment plan backfires?
- Therapeutic use of self
- Learning to read the patients
- Daily and momentary goals
- How their days are structured
- Differences in supervision
- The emotional toll of working in mental health
- The role of our own biases
- Changes in responsibilities expected in the next few weeks of fieldwork
- Advice for students going into fieldwork
EJ, Chantal, and Sarah discuss:
- Their previous level 2 fieldwork placement
- Getting experience in many practice areas as an OT student
- Hardest parts of their first fieldwork placement
- Challenges with documentation and relating the treatments to the big picture
- Transitioning from classroom to clinical practice
- Learning to take chances and not be afraid to make mistakes
- Preparing for their next Level 2 placements in mental health
- Having fieldworks back to back
- Excitement and nerves going into their last placement
- What they are most excited about and what they are most nervous about
- Importance of developing an open line of communication with your supervisors
- The students’ perceived strengths and weakness going into fieldwork
- Being resourceful when not knowing the answers
- How to be a good student
- The importance of asking questions
- Differences between OTA and OT fieldwork
- Advocating for yourself as an OTA student
- Social media resources for OT and OTA students
Bianca, Kat, Celia and Sarah discuss:
- What their OT lives look like currently
- Excitement about starting Level II Fieldwork
- What is an OT pinning ceremony?
- Being a part of the inaugural doctorate program at West Coast University: https://westcoastuniversity.edu/programs/doctor-occupational-therapy.html
- Finishing up their didactic work for their program
- Hardest parts of their school program
- Finding occupational balance between life and school
- Transitioning into Level 2 fieldwork
- Getting along well with their classmates
- Importance of having faculty as leaders
- Addressing occupation-based and evidence-based challenges in fieldwork
- Being involved in leadership and advocacy as a student
- Student Occupational Therapy Association: https://www.aota.org/Education-Careers/Students/SOTAs.aspx
- Assembly of Student Delegates: https://www.aota.org/Students.aspx
- Committees: https://www.otaconline.org/community/committees (for those not in California, check your local state association website for their committees)
- Occupational Therapy Association of California Student Delegate: https://www.otaconline.org/community/committees/student-leadership
- Volunteering: https://www.aota.org/AboutAOTA/Get-Involved/Leadership.aspx
- Attending conferences: https://www.aota.org/Conference-Events/annual-conference-2020.aspx
- https://www.wfot.org/events/wfot-congress-2022
- What excites them the most about occupational therapy?
- Where they think they will be in 10 years?
- Best advice that they were given
- Their advice for other students
Sarah and Laura discuss:
- Why we need more OTs starting their own practices and businesses
- Why OTs do not embark on the entrepreneur journey
- The importance of exposing students to business
- Taking the chance and leaning into the discomfort of starting something new
- Writing things down and setting intentions
- The mindset of being an entrepreneur
- Donald Miller- Building a Story Brand Podcast: http://buildingastorybrand.com/blog/
- Surrounding yourself with supportive people
- The OT Podcast community: http://www.otpodcasts.com/
- The PT Entrepreneur Podcast: http://drdannymatta.com/the-p-t-entrepreneur-podcast/
- The hardest part of starting a business
- Her biggest mistake
- Business finances
- Importance of building systems and being efficient
- Working on your business versus in your business
- Resources for business owners/ systems
- NOLO Press Book:https://store.nolo.com/products/
- Profit First book
- You Need a Budget: https://www.youneedabudget.com/
- Beyond Booked Solid
- Book Yourself Solid
- Checklist Manifesto
- Nature-based retreat- Therapy in the Great Outdoors: https://www.outdoorkidsot.com/training
- CONTIGO- Connection and Transformation in the Great Outdoors: https://www.outdoorkidsot.com/contigo-approach
- Mind Your OT Business Podcast: https://www.mindyourotbusiness.com/
Email: laura@outdoorkidsot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/outdoorkidsot
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraparkfig
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mindyourotbusiness
Website: http://www.mindyourotbusiness.com
Podcast: https://www.mindyourotbusiness.com/podcast
Sarah and Grant discuss:
- Occupational transitions
- Difficulties finding a job as a new graduate
- Why he became an OT and how it has impacted his life since
- How he got his start in inpatient rehab and mental health
- MH4OT on FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MH4OT/
- AOTA’s Mental Health Special Interest Section: https://www.aota.org/Practice/Manage/SIS/Mental-Health.aspx
- Getting connected with Mental Health in Minnesota
- His changing mindset with the mental health crisis in the United States
- Transitioning into the history of occupational therapy
- His background in programming for student housing
- Using videos to capture OT history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z82KPntY3GA
- The paradox of distraction and diversion therapy
- Occupational therapy practice framework: https://www.aota.org/Publications-News/AmericanJournalOfOccupationalTherapy/access-framework-domain-otpf-download.aspx
- Occupational transitions and disruptions
- Instilling self-awareness in our clients to facilitate the therapeutic process
- Hygge: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Hygge-Danish-Secrets/dp/0062658808
- Meik Wiking Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbtzY-8IFTQ
- Millennial OT: http://millennialot.com/
Email: MillennialOT@gmail.com
Twitter: Twitter.com/millennialOT
Instagram: Instagram.com/millennialOT
Facebook: Facebook.com/MillennialOT
Youtube: Youtube.com/MillennialOT
Sarah and Alexis discuss:
- OT settings within the hospital
- What is acute care?
- Planned and unplanned hospital stays
- Supporting clients in the beginning of their journey
- Typical length of stay in acute care setting
- Importance of education within the initial session/ evaluation
- Similarities of Acute Care and Early Intervention practice areas
- Getting experience in other practice areas to guide our current practice area
- Episode with Dr. Michael Roberts- How Deep is Your Love for OT? https://ot4lyfe.com/23/
- Differences in working with planned and unplanned hospital stay clients
- Challenges working in acute care setting
- Ableism
- Occupation-centered practice within the hospital setting
- Advice for people that are in a system where occupation-based practice is not at the forefront
- Being a mentor and life long learner
- Her consulting company: creatingconfidenceinOTs.club
- AcuteCare4OT on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/173309566418639/
Email: info@alexisjoelle.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/8alexisjoelle
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/8alexisjoelle/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/8alexisjoelle
Website: https://www.alexisjoelle.com/
Sarah and Erika discuss:
- Meeting at AOTA 2019 and what they took away from the conference
- Anxiety and stress of being in OT school
- Factors of burnout
- How the symptoms of burnout can become the new norm and go unnoticed
- The importance of having your values line up with you work’s values
- How the lack of autonomy can lead to burnout
- Bullying and burnout
- Her personal experience with burnout
- Gastrointestinal issues linked to burnout
- Importance of self-care with a focus on both internal and external recovery
- Unplugging and taking time to enjoy life
- Being mindful instead of mindless
- Self-management and not just time management
- Prioritizing time
- First thing she did when realizing that she was burnt out
- Gratitude journal
- How she combats burnout in her daily life
- Advice for therapists facing burnout
- Utilizing resources, professionals, and a support system to help you
- Employee Engagement Survey: https://joyenergytime.mykajabi.com/employeeengagement
- Affirmation Cards
- Joy Energy Time: https://www.joyenergytime.com/
- Burnt Out to Lit Up Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/burnt-out-to-lit-up-healthcare-stress-burnout-wellness/id1332553896
- Healthcare Hangouts: https://www.joyenergytime.com/healthcarehangouts/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joy.energy.time/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joyenergytime/
Sarah discusses
- Why she started a podcast
- Advocating for the profession
- How she got into podcasts
- The first OT podcasts she found
- Occupied- http://www.brockcook.com/category/podcast/
- Seniors Flourish- https://seniorsflourish.com/category/podcasts/
- OT Schoolhouse- https://www.otschoolhouse.com/
- Overcoming her shyness and worries
- What she has gotten out of podcasting so far
- Her journey into occupational therapy
- Working as an occupational therapist in home based early intervention
- Starting her private practice
- Being a fieldwork educator and mentor
- Her passion for travel and international volunteer work
- How OT 4 Lyfe got it’s name
- The vision for the podcast
- Other OT Podcasts- http://www.otpodcasts.com/
Sarah and Sarah discuss
- Sarah’s love of OT history memorabilia
- The Healing Heart: The Story of Ora Ruggles Pioneer in Occupational Therapy
- What sparked her interest in evidence and research?
- Changes in evidence and research over the past decade
- Her personal and professional connection to evidence
- Evidenced-based practice as a tool to guide clinical practice
- OT Potential Club: https://otpotential.com/ot-potential-club
- Weekly article review
- Expanding evidence outside of OT
- Teaming up with a research librarian
- Impact factors
- 50 Most Influential OT Articles: https://otpotential.com/blog/influential-ot-research-articles
- Forum to promote community engagement
- Types of evidence
- Barriers to using evidence in practice
- NBCOT Evidenced-based Resources: https://www.nbcot.org/en/Certificants/Certification
- Advice for therapists wanting to incorporate evidence into their practice
- Most memorable OT moment
Contact Her:
Email: sarah@otpotential.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/otpotential
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/otpotential/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/otpotentialcom/
OT Potential: https://otpotential.com/
OT Potential Podcast: https://otpotential.com/ot-potential-podcast
Sarah and Devlynn discuss:
- AOTA’s Vision 2025: “As an inclusive profession, OT maximizes health, well-being and quality of life for all people, populations, and communities, through effective solutions that facilitate participation in everyday living.": https://www.aota.org/AboutAOTA/vision-2025.aspx
- Role of incorporating inclusion into the vision
- Respect for identity and use of pronouns
- Overview and definition of the letters of LGBT+
- Importance of identify, pronouns, and personal aspects
- Incorporating identity into our client’s occupational profiles
- Important statistics involving the LGBT+ community and healthcare
- Positives and challenges he has faced as a gay therapist and working in healthcare
- Advice for therapists experiencing difficulty with their identity within their clinical role
- Devlvynn’s discussion with Taelormade OT on OTea Time:
- https://www.facebook.com/TaelorMadeOT/videos/648430935609510/
- @taelormadeot on Instagram
- Devlynn’s posts on Shannen Marie OT’s ABCs of OT:
- https://shannenmarieot.com/
- @shannenmarieot on Instagram
- ADL specific tasks for the LGBT+ community
- Importance of access to appropriate public restrooms
- Resources for therapists
- National Alliance for Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org
- The Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org
- LGBT Health Edcuation: https://www.lgbthealtheducation.org
- Gay and Lesbian Medical Association’s Provider Directory: http://www.glma.org/
- Person Centered Care: https://www.healio.com/nursing/journals/jgn/2018-2-44-2/%7B4f46d2c3-4daf-4f4f-8950-70ea1093f985%7D/person-centered-care-for-lgbt-older-adults
- LGBTQ+ & OT: https://www.lgbtq-ot.com/
- Healthcare Disparities: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5478215/
- LGBTQ CCD: https://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/index.htm
- LGBTQ Task Force: https://www.thetaskforce.org/
Email: devlynnneu@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therainbowot
Website: https://www.therainbowot.com
Sarah and Miranda discuss:
- Her current OT role working in outpatient neuro and also teaching at a local university
- How she first heard about occupational therapy
- Transitioning from student to new practitioner
- Tips for incorporating evidence into practice
- Advocating for evidenced-based practice
- Collaborating with others using evidence to advance the profession
- A fun fact about Parkinson’s medication interactions
- Starting a PhD program
- Research as a practice area
- Surround yourself with people that support and challenge you to pursue your dreams
- OT Uncorked
- OT Potential
- The Rainbow OT
Twtiter: https://twitter.com/OTuncorked
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/otuncorked/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OTuncorked/
Website: OTuncorked.com
Podcast Link: https://feeds.transistor.fm/ot-uncorked
Sarah and Brynne discuss:
- Her current role as a OTD student
- Stressful time periods for students and practitioners
- How to define wellness
- How stress impacts a person’s life
- Implementing strategies before getting stressed to maximize effectiveness
- Engaging in occupations to alleviate stress i.e. painting with watercolors, walks, being in nature
- Picking one thing to focus on, rather than a bunch of different tasks that add to your to-do list
- Keystone habits
- Strategies to manage stress
- Mindful meditation
- Finding pockets to implement strategies
- “You can do anything, but not everything”
- The power of saying no
- Removing sorry for your vocabulary and asserting your communication
- Tips for staying organized
- Time Tracker: https://www.bewellbalance.com/timemanagement
- How the time of day impacts productivity/ motivation
- Prioritizing yourself
Contact Brynne:
Email: brynne.terry@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bewellbalance/
Website: https://www.bewellbalance.com/
Sarah and Rachel discuss:
- Link to first episode with Rachel: www.ot4lyfe.com/13
- What her orientation looked like
- The emotional rollercoaster it was applying to OT schools
- What it felt like to get the acceptance letter into an OT program?
- Appreciating when things don’t always go as planned
- Volunteering not just in OT settings to understand the bigger picture
- Being a floater in a hospital
- Hippotherapy with a physical therapist
- Getting a snapshot of our lives through the podcast
- Fieldwork Mini Series: https://ot4lyfe.com/4
- Advice for pre-OT students
- What Rachel is most excited for about OT school and what she is most nervous about
- Importance of building and growing your professional community as a student
- Adjusting to changes in schedule and in life because of being in school
- Pre-OT Success: https://otgrowth.com/
- Standing out in you application
- Moving from an atmosphere of competition during applications to collaboration within a program
- Rachel turning the table on Sarah and asking her a few questions
- Embracing the time you have in school
- Paying attention to your self care while in school
- How to be confident in asking questions
- Getting involved in student leadership groups
Sarah shares:
- Arriving and checking in early to avoid lines
- Attending the SIS Networking Reception
- Developmental Disabilities, Academic Education, Children & Youth, Productive Aging, Home & Community Health, Mental - Health, Rehabilitation & Disability, Sensory Integration & Processing, Work & Industry
- For more information about SIS: https://www.aota.org/Practice/Manage/SIS.aspx
- Making plans, but not sticking to them
- Making the most out of your time at conference
- Attending the International Breakfast and other World Federation of OT events
The Keynote Address and Opening Ceremony
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiEHc2yJUss&feature=youtu.be
Tweet Up
- @OTBrianNY
- @davidsmcguire
- @BillWongOT
- @TheOTtoolbox: https://www.theottoolbox.com/
- @MissJamieOT: https://www.missjaimeot.com/
- @AlondraLaOT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgcga78K3rcZ4EK9ja-28lw
IG Meet Up
- @taelormadeot: https://taelor-madeot.com/
- @shannenarie_ot: https://shannenmarieot.com/
- @therainbowot
- @clinitote: https://clinitote.com/
- @otreference
- @allisontheotstudent: https://allisontheotstudent.home.blog/
- @mermaidsandot
- @carolineb_ot: https://barefootblogger59947443.wordpress.com/
- @ae_the_ot
- @jordanot_
- @occupational.tiffany
- @joy.energy.time: https://www.joyenergytime.com/
- @lgthefitot: https://www.laurenpgrabowski.com/
Meeting other OT Podcasters
- Mandy Chamberlain: https://seniorsflourish.com/
- Dr. Michael Roberts: http://iloveotpodcast.libsyn.com/
- OT After Dark: https://otafterdark.com/
- Ericka Del Pozzo: https://www.joyenergytime.com/podcast/
- OT Uncorked: http://otuncorked.com/
Meeting up past podcast guests
- Ijeoma Ikepeze: Episode 20: https://ot4lyfe.com/20
- Brandon Seigel- Episode 26: https://ot4lyfe.com/26
- Cami Culwell- Episode 7: https://ot4lyfe.com/7
Expo hall
- More Cow Belt: http://www.morecowbelt.com/
- Seeing Previous students
- Meeting up with you the listener
Investing in yourself
Mark your calendar for next year March 26-29, 2020
Meg and Sarah discuss:
- Common misconceptions about autism
- Looking at the broader picture of autistic children
- Utilizing the right tools for each individual child
- Importance of evaluation and re-evaluation
- Meg’s journey into specializing in autism
- Finding the right mentor who aligns with your purpose and values
- Working in early intervention and how that shaped Meg’s current work
- Common questions from other therapists about autism and play
- Selecting the right goals for working on play skills with children with autism
- Identifying play skill goals versus social play goals and when to use them
- Using simple activities to increase generalization from during therapy to the child’s daily routine
- Utilizing a balance between using resources within the client’s homes and bringing a therapy bag
- Use of naturalistic strategies to get them to start imitating
- Scaffolding up or down to adjust the strategies to teach them skills, especially when they are rigid
- How to structure your sessions
- Meg’s company Learn Play Thrive
Contact her:
http://www.learnplaythrive.com
Coupon Code for OT 4 Lyfe Listeners: OT4Lyfe25
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OTandAutism/
Email: meg@learnplaythrive.com
Jason and Sarah discuss:
- Concepts such as efficiency, time management, prioritization, and redundancy
- Learning in different ways
- Lack of consistency in school-based reports
- Common problems and complaints when writing reports
- His personal experience and OT journey
- How he identifies problems and then does something about it
- What led him to develop Double Tim Docs and what it is
- Tips for therapists to improve their own documentation process
You can find out more about Double Time Docs here: www.doubletimedocs.com
You can contact Jason here:
- Email: jason@doubletimedocs.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/doubletimedocs/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doubletimedocs/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doubletimedocs/
Sensory processing is a complex entity with lots of intricacies and is often times overlooked and misunderstood. As occupational therapists, it is our job to uncover underlying sensory processing and sensory modulation problems within our clients and then educate and provide tips and strategies to help them learn to integrate the information for success and optimal function within their daily lives. Rachel Harrington, COTA/L, AC and Jessica Hill, COTA/L come on the show to cover a broad overview of what sensory processing is, what it looks like, and some of their favorite activities to address sensory concerns.
Sarah, Rachel, and Jessica discuss:
- Common misconceptions of sensory processing
- What sensory processing and sensory integration is
- An overview of the sensory systems
- The fine line between typical sensory functioning and dysfunction
- How they got into and interested in sensory integration
- What the Sensory Project is and how it started
Their favorite sensory activities and equipment: The Hammock Swing
Sensory resources for therapists:
- PESI
- Sensational Brain
- Rasing a Sensory Smart Child
- The Out of Sync Child Has Fun
- The Out Of Sync Child
- The Superkid’s Activity Guide for Conquering Everyday
Find them:
- Website: https://thesensoryproject.com/
- Etsy Store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheSensoryProject208
- The Sensory Project Show Podcast
- Email: thesensoryprojectshow208@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/thesensoryprojectshow
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/thesensoryprojectshow
Attending conferences is a great way to learn new things and connect with people within the occupational therapy community. And one of the biggest events each year within the United States is the American Occupational Therapy Association conference. This episode details specifics about what the AOTA conference looks like, how to prepare, and tips on how to make for successful conference experience.
What it looks like?
- Four days (Thursday, Friday, Saturday are full days, Sunday is a half day)
- Pre-Conference institutes on Wednesday
- Workshops, Short Courses, Research presentations, Conversations that Matter, Posters, Expo Hall, Alumni receptions
- Presidential Address, Eleanor Clark Slagle Lecture, First Timer’s orientation, Fitness Events
- Blood Drive and Book Drive this year
Benefits of going as a practitioner:
- Continuing education units (up to 24)
- Exposure to new research/ practice areas
- Networking/ meeting like minded people
- Inspiration and motivation
Attending as a student:
- Some schools offer a conference scholarship
- Student specific courses and presentations
- Networking with other students and practitioners
- Winning a free NBCOT exam
My favorite parts:
- International Breakfast
- Opening Ceremony
- Keynote address
- Grand Opening of the Expo Hall
- Tweet Up
- Meeting new friends and reconnecting with old friends
Tips to Prepare:
- Business cards
- Notebook and pen or notepad on phone to write down notes/ contact info for people you meet
- Water bottle
- Extra battery & charging cords for phones/ computers
- Wear comfortable shoes
- Bring a sweater or coat
- If going with a group, split up for courses and then share notes
- Connect with people online beforehand
- Be prepared that you can’t do it all
Other Resources:
- AOTA 2019
- Taelor-Made OT
- I Love OT Podcast
- AOTA Top 10 Reasons to attend AOTA
- Miss Jaime OT
- Mama OT
If you have questions or comments, hit me up on social media:
- Instagram: @ot.4.lyfe
- Twitter: @ot4lyfe
- Facebook: ot4lyfe
Understanding the business side of occupational therapy is pivotal for any therapist and practice owner to know. In order to be successful within our profession, we must be aware of the state of healthcare and be solid within our purpose as a clinician. Our guest today, Brandon Seigel, is a private practice business consultant and executive director of Wellness Works Management Partners with years of experience helping practitioners start, run, and advance their practices to the next level.
Brandon recently published a book called The Private Practice Survival Guide, outlining highly useful information for therapists and practice owners alike. He presents all over the country at local and state conferences and has an online course and private practice podcast launching soon. His goal is to help therapists in creating a business model that ultimately helps them excel both on a business side and on a clinical side.
Brandon and Sarah discuss:
- Brandon’s current professional life
- Wellness Work Management Partners- Consulting Firm
- Works with private practices all over the country and internationally (OT, PT, SLP & physician)
- Consultation services and management services
- Executive Director at Every Child Achieves in Southern California
- Speaking all over the country, including 3 courses at American Occupational Therapy Association
- New book just released called The Private Practice Survival Guide
- Creating a new private practice podcast
- Importance of prioritization
- Why he does what he does
- His start business and then how occupational therapy came into play
- Struggles in school as a child and how that played a role in his desire to help others
- Going to community college, then the University of Southern California, and graduating from California State University Northridge
- Starting the workforce after college with entrepreneurs and managing other companies and multimillion dollar projects
- His company was moving to a different state as he was marrying an occupational therapist whose mother had a successful therapy practice which needed some business support
- Revolutionized that company and then branched out to start his own consulting company
- Always felt a calling to purpose
- His willingness to help his clients at any time and any day
- How Brandon and Sarah met
- Power of clinical integrity
- Our current state of healthcare
- The most asked question that he gets from private practice owners
- Recognizing a therapist’s cost to a company
- Shifting the employee mindset
- Knowing the responsibilities of the employer and of the employees
- Tips for therapists to stand out when being considered for a job
- Resume building strategies
- Importance of writing a cover letter and quickly responding to any correspondence for a job that you apply for
- Self-awareness and his biggest perceived weakness is something that is not self-aware
- Be specific in your skills and attributes
- Discussing financials upfront
- How to cut ties with an employee?
- Upcoming online course coming in 2019
Find his book here: The Private Practice Survival Guide
Contact Him:
Email: brandon@wellnessworksmp.com
Web: http://www.wellnessworksmp.com
Twitter: @wellnessworksmp
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wellnessworksmp
We all discover occupational therapy through different ways and it is always fascinating to hear how each therapist is first introduced into this wonderful profession. Our guest today is the whole reason that our host Sarah became an occupational therapist in the first place after meeting her while she worked at a local preschool. Francesca Avalli, MS, OTR/L has a wealth of knowledge from her years working in pediatrics, both in the school and clinic setting, and has a passion for the profession of occupational therapy that is undeniable. She runs her own pediatric clinic in Los Angeles, California and created an awesome product called Handee Band to facilitate her client’s strength and growth.
Francesca and Sarah discuss:
- Francesca’s current OT life
- How her professional life has shifted since having a child
- Working in the clinic setting
- Starting a pediatric private practice
- Her goal of mentoring and teaching newer occupational therapists
- How Sarah and Francesca met
- How Francesca inspired Sarah to become an occupational therapist
- The difference between working for yourself and working for a company
- The power of saying no and realizing boundaries as a therapist
- Playing within the clinic setting
- Her favorite treatment strategies and pieces of equipment
- Teaching confidence to kids
- Multiple uses of lycra within the clinic setting
- Her most memorable moment as an OT
- Managing client/parent relationships
- How and why she created Handee Band
- Who Handee Band can be used with
Find Handee Bands here: Handee Bands
Email: ot@therapyworksla.com
http://www.handeeband.com
Twitter: https://Twitter.com/handeeband
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/handeeband/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/handeeband
Travel therapy is a unique practice area that consists of traveling to different parts of the United States in order to provide therapy services to places in need. Usually, rotations last about 13 weeks and then the therapist moves on to another placement. Sometimes there can be a potential to sign on for additional time if the services continue to be needed. Emily Ann Becker, OTR/L, is a travel occupational therapist who is currently licensed in 6 states and works in a variety of different settings, including skilled nursing facilities and home health. She discusses the best and worst parts of working in travel therapy and how flexibility is essential. Throughout our discussion she sheds light on the complexities and opportunities that being a travel therapist provides, as well as her passion for helping to inspire others.
Emily and Sarah discuss:
- Being licensed in multiple states and the differences in state law.
- The trials and tribulations of being a travel OT
- The variety of settings that travel therapy provides
- The ability to specify the new jobs you are presented
- The best and worst parts of being a travel therapist
- How much the placement companies help you with your placements
- The personality that you need to be a travel therapist
- The importance of self-care
- Tips to becoming a travel OT
- Tax implications of travel OT placements
- Possibilities of international travel therapy
- Choosing one word as a focus for the year
Email: ebecker815@gmail.com
Instagram: @emilyann815
Dr. Michael Roberts, OTD, OTR/L, is the founder and current program director of the master’s degree program in Occupational Therapy at Regis College, in Boston Massachusetts. He has a strong passion for all things occupational therapy, as well as educating and empowering current occupational therapy students. His clinical background focused on adult physical dysfunction (inpatient, outpatient, and home care) with a specialty in oncology rehabilitation. He has completed research in fieldwork performance and next generation gaming consoles (Nintendo Wii) for health and wellness purposes, as well as presented at numerous state and national conferences, and independent oncology rehabilitation seminars. Dr. Roberts is the creator and host of the “I Love OT Podcast”, a show that highlights what is special, exciting, unique, and rewarding about the field of occupational therapy. His dedication and excitement for our profession pours out through his words as he shares wonderful stories and insightful wisdom from his OT experiences.
Sarah and Michael discuss:
- Michael’s current OT life
- Scope of working as a clinician vs being an educator
- His journey from clinical OT to being in academia
- Working in the home environment with children and adults
- The importance of being a fieldwork educator and what it provides for students, practitioners, and clients
- His research in fieldwork education
- Setting up an open communicate and a reflective process during the fieldwork process
- How student’s own ideas and activities foster the therapeutic process
- Thinking outside the box for each individual client
- Importance of occupation based practice within the natural environment
- Challenging aspects of OT/ getting knee deep in our client’s lives
- Memorable stories from the field
- How OTs have keen observation skills within their practice and in their personal lives
- Why Michael got into podcasting
- What he loves about OT
- Staying curious and continuing to learn within our profession
Find the I Love OT podcast here: http://iloveotpodcast.libsyn.com/
Twitter: @otdaddy
Instagram: @realotdaddy
Andy Nielsen, OTS is an business innovator having founded products like the patented 8Scape folder and a Facebook advertising company called Big Ocean Commerce. He currently attends A.T. Still University in Mesa, Arizona and is completing his masters in occupational therapy. Integrating his background in business and his holistic approach to healthcare, Andy started OT Growth, a website aimed at helping pre-OT students, current OT students, and OT practitioners succeed within the career. He is a family man who strives to lead a balanced life serving others and contributing to society in meaningful ways.
Sarah and Andy discuss:
- Andrew’s early life as an entrepreneur
- “Just Start” cause there is always more to learn
- The book “The Power of Starting Something Stupid” by Richie Norton
- Using OT’s creative skills to develop life changing ideas
- Finding your calling in your life
- Taking risks to find what keeps you engaged
- Changing your mindset to handle failures
- Setting up your life to prioritize your time
- Considering the worst case scenario
- Pushing through adversity to get to your goals
- Setting yourself apart for your applications
- The importance of advocating for OT
He graciously created a list of resources just for the OT 4 Lyfe Tribe, which can be found here: https://otgrowth.com/ot4lyfe
Link to the Design Your Freedom video
Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyknielsen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andyknielsen/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andy.nielsen.355
Dr. Karen Ni, OTD, MA, OTR/L, CPDT-KA is passionate about using animal assisted therapy as a meaningful and powerful therapeutic tool. She uses her dogs, Dottie and Tater, as her canine co-therapists to assist in her therapy sessions and provide a different perspective and aspect to therapy interventions. She has also opened her own private practice, Sun Dog Therapy, that offers occupational therapy services, dog training, and other types of services related to caring for and learning about dogs. Sarah and Karen discuss:
- Clarifying and defining terms that pertain to Animal Assisted Therapy.
- Understanding the animal’s well-being during therapy and thinking of them as co-therapists.
- The need for certification and training for animal assisted therapy.
- Designing your schooling to emphasize your interests.
- How dogs are incorporated into a variety of therapy sessions.
- The difference in training for therapy rather than obedience.
- Empowering the client by allowing them to train the dog and show others their results.
- Transitioning skills from individual skills to generalized skills.
- Starting SunDog Therapy as a private therapy practice
- Lessons learned while starting a new business
- Becoming involved with service dogs through other facets than specifically OT
Animal Assisted Intervention International - https://aai-int.org/
SunDog Therapy - http://www.sundogtherapy.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sundogtherapy/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sundogtherapy/
Email: karen@sundogtherapy.com
Ijeoma (EJ) Ikpeze OTA/S is a OTA student at Erie Community College who recently finished her school work and is about to embark on her first Level II fieldwork. She has a passion for leadership and profound interest in promoting the profession of occupational therapy. EJ is currently the only student and only OTA representative in the AOTA Emerging Leaders Development Program. Sarah and EJ discuss her experiences, including:
- OTA school workload and her interests for fieldwork
- Learning and getting comfortable with practicing in early intervention
- Getting exposure to a variety of practice settings
- Going back to get an Associates Degree after getting a Bachelor’s degree
- Being accepted into the AOTA Emerging Leadership Development Program
- Going to “Hill Day” at the Capitol Hill in Washington DC to lobby for OT
- What defines a leader and being a leader as an OT
- Getting involved state legislature to make a difference
More info about the AOTA Emerging Leaders Development Program:
https://www.aota.org/Education-Careers/Advance-Career/ELDP.aspx
Contact her at: ijeomaikpeze@gmail.com
Elizabeth DeBlasi, MS, OTR/L is a professor at Long Island University who woke up one night with a passion for international volunteer work. Within two weeks she was on a plane to Cape Town, South Africa to learn more about Therapists Without Borders. She and Sarah discuss their passions for pediatric therapy and how much they value sharing their knowledge around the world. They discuss:
- How many hats OTs seem to wear on a regular basis
- Getting to Cape Town with 2 weeks notice for WFOT
- Finding your calling in OT and combining your passions
- Empowering parents to make the primary difference in their child’s life
- Passion for teaching and training students
- Getting inspiration in the middle of the night
- Balancing work with passions outside of work
- Using yoga with sensory stimulation for young children
- What happens at a Silence Retreat
- Volunteer work within traveling, positive and negative experiences
- Advocating for yourself and skills when volunteering
- What makes Therapists Without Borders a great organization
- How volunteering affects both the therapist and the client
Contact Elizabeth:
Instagram: @the.ot.movement
Find out more about Therapists Without Borders: http://twbinc.org
Pediatric occupational therapists work in a variety of settings which present their own challenges and advantages. School Based OT’s have their own distinct perspective on working in pediatrics and working in conjunction with teachers and school administrators to provide the most benefit to their clients. Jayson, Abby, and Sarah discuss a variety of topics relating to school based therapy.
They discuss:
- Random findings in the laundry
- Funny stories from the daily life of a pediatric OT
- Helping kids understand more difficult parts of life
- The job market for school based OTs across the US
- The best and worst parts of school based OT
- Finding and being mentors through your career
- Advocating for other types of services for clients within the school settings
- Experiences that led them to their passion in OT
- Strategies on how to deal with and avoid burnout
- Why they started their podcast
- Professional development units by listening to podcasts
Follow Them on:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/otschoolhouse/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/OTSchoolHouse
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OTschoolhouse/
Contact:
- Abby: Abby@OTSchoolHouse.com
- Jayson: Jayson@OTSchoolHouse.com
OT School House Podcast:
https://www.otschoolhouse.com/podcast
Guidelines for OT Practices:
https://www.otschoolhouse.com/ot-practice-map
20% off Promo Code for OT School House Professional Development Credits: OT4LYFE
Physical therapy in early intervention has a very distinct view. Collaborating with occupational therapists allows each practitioner the ability to see the same therapy intervention from a fresh set of eyes. Jennifer Ogawa joins to discuss collaborating in early intervention.
Sarah and Jennifer discuss:
- The benefits of collaborating between disciplines
- How to beat traffic in Los Angeles
- The advantages of home based therapy
- Their favorite toys to use in therapy
- The joys of working in early intervention
- The benefits of being a well rounded therapist
- The craziest thing they have experienced in a client's home
- How to get into early intervention and what is required
You can find Jennifer on Instagram here:
@cookinlovinmomma
As occupational therapy clinicians, our jobs drastically shape our values and perspective on life. We share a unique outlook and approach to meaningful engagement in all of life’s occupations. Today is the first round table session in which Brock and Erika, a few OTs from different practice areas, come together to discuss topics within the field.
Guest Panelists:
- Brock Cook, BA OccThy - Lecturer - James Cook University - Mental Health
- Erika Downs, COTA/L, MSG - Geriatrics
We discuss the following topics:
- The beach
- Apps & social media: MySpace, Facebook, Marco Polo
- Structure of our jobs in per diem, home health, mental health, and academia
- Hardest parts of current jobs
- Limitations on our jobs as a therapist imposed from our healthcare systems
- Dealing with tough cases and death of a client
- What we wish more people knew about occupational therapy
- Why people do not know what occupational therapy is
- Our favorite/ last watched TV show
- Mental health as a practice area in the United States and Australia
- Our paths to the field of occupational therapy
- Importance of gaining exposure in numerous practice areas
- Best parts of being an occupational therapist
The student’s first Level 2 fieldwork is over:
- Feelings during the last couple of weeks
- Level of growth and now possessing a new prospective
- Structure of Level 2 fieldworks: back to back or having more schooling in between
- AOTA Final Evaluation and the Student Evaluation of the Fieldwork Experience
- Reflections on their perceived strengths and weaknesses from first episode
- Recognizing their continued challenges and their biggest positive takeaways
- Balancing self-care with demands of fieldwork
- Overall feelings throughout their experience
- Considerations of recording their experience
It’s week 9 of Level II fieldwork and Rachelle and Maya are here to discuss their current state’s as they head into the last few weeks of their clinical rotation:
- Current expectations at the end of their fieldwork
- How to handle schedule changes
- Strategies for documentation and report writing
- The benefits of having a support system outside of OT
- Work-life balance
- Importance of working with the family in pediatrics
Coping strategies for dealing with the mental, physical, and emotional stress of fieldwork.
Every occupational therapists journey begins with OT school. And before school, comes pre-requisites, the GRE, volunteer hours, and applications. Being right in the middle of this process, Rachel Moore discusses how she is managing all the requirements and preparing to begin applying to OT programs. She shares some great insight into resources she has found helpful and tips for what to expect as a volunteer.
- How she found occupational therapy
- Instagram post celebrating World Occupational Therapy Day
- Finding sites who accept volunteers and getting ongoing observation hours
- What to expect during the volunteer experience
- Importance of attending the American Occupational Therapy Association conference
Steps to take for the OT application
- OTCAS: Occupational Therapy Centralized Application Service
- GRE: Graduate Record Exam
- Advice for pre OT students and volunteers
Occupational Therapy resources
- USC Student Ambassadors Blog
- Gotta Be OT
- Mama OT
- AOTA Youtube Channel
- New Grad Occupational Therapy
It’s Midterm and Rachelle and Maya have completed 6 of their 12 weeks of fieldwork. Sarah reconnects with Rachelle and Maya to discuss details regarding the AOTA midterm evaluation and to get updates in regards to their current fieldwork experience. We’ll hear information about:
- AOTA midterm evaluation
- Communication with supervisors
- Pros and cons of videotaping students during treatment sessions as a learning tool
- Student’s progress towards becoming an entry-level practitioner
- Challenge of incorporating occupation-based treatments
- Documentation challenges and strategies to address them
- Exposure to non-clinical roles as an occupational therapist
- Advice for other students as they embark on Level II fieldwork experience
- Effect of fieldwork experience on Rachelle and Maya’s future aspirations as occupational therapists
While working as a school-based OT, Deedee Levine MS, OTR/L, YT-200, CD has found gardening and gardens to be a unique and integral part of her Occupational Therapy treatments. In addition to that, it’s helping children understand their overall health from a whole new perspective. Using Occupational Therapy as a pillar of her holistic healing approach, she has branched out into multiple other facets of health care. We discuss:
- How she blends environmental science with occupational therapy
- Impact of outside gardens on youth in schools
- Cooking is the most important OT treatment session
- Skills utilized during cooking activity
- How taking care of a plant can influence children
- Food justice and implications of availability of fresh foods in low income areas
- Empowering families to be able to grow and make their own foods to be healthy
- Microscopic versus whole view lens
- Disconnection between where our food comes from these days
- Grants and funding opportunities for therapists
- Engaging the entire school and not just students receiving therapy
- Occupational therapy can also be seen as opportunity therapy
- Incorporating yoga and Ayurvedic doula into occupational therapy
- Relatedness of sensory processing and Ayurveda
- Promoting health and wellness at the beginning, rather than only addressing it once something goes wrong
- An explanation of her private practice, Deedee Levine Therapeutics
Find out more on her site: https://www.deedeelevinetherapeutics.com/
Or follow her on:
Instagram: @deedeelevinetherapeutics
Facebook: DeedeeLevineTherapeutics
It’s Thanksgiving in the US and that means it’s time to sit down and reflect on all the things in your life that you are thankful for. Sarah sits down to contemplate all the things and people she is thankful for in her life, including:
- The ability to impact the lives of her clients
- Being a fieldwork educator and impacting the next generation of OT’s
- Opportunities for volunteering abroad and the ability to travel
- Elaine at CRECER
- Olga at Háskólinn á Akureyri
- Pushing through the limiting beliefs to get the Podcast live
- The guests that took a chance to record before the podcast went live
- The Level II Fieldwork students that recorded the mini-series.
- Mastermind Mind groups with Leo, Debra and Alexis, Jayson & Abby
- Alex and Kiara for putting together show notes and helping fine tune ideas.
- Brock Cook at the Occupied Podcast - www.brockcook.com
- Sarah’s husband Ray for setting up all the background, promoting and editing.
- The listeners and community that is building around this podcast
A giveaway - snap a picture of a review in your favorite podcast player and email it to sarah@ot4lyfe.com
Thanks again everyone!
Having a love for travel and pediatric occupational therapy, Lauren Stanley-Alpert, MS, OTR/L, C/NDT felt the drive to combine her two passions. After struggling to find reliable organizations to volunteer with, she decided to create her own organization to provide a more affordable, responsible, and sustainable volunteer experience for other therapists. Therapists Without Borders aims to connect occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech language pathologists to individuals and communities across the globe that have a significant need for therapy services while making sure that the services provided has a long lasting positive effect on the population.
They discuss:
- Attending the 2018 World Federation of Occupational Therapists conference
- Issues with current international volunteer opportunities
- Sustainability of carry over of services for people with special needs
- Importance of researching volunteering opportunities
- What to expect when volunteering
- Dealing with difficult experiences and differences abroad
- Why people should be interested in volunteering in less fortunate areas
Website: http://twbinc.org
Instagram: @properjetiquette
After 5 weeks of their Level 2 fieldwork, Rachelle and Maya are back to debrief about their experiences so far. They are just about halfway done and being expected to do more and more every week. Their caseloads are increasing and the demands are becoming more challenging as they bridge the gap between student and practitioner. They discuss:
- Daily and weekly responsibilities
- Adjusting to the high demands of fieldwork
- Tough conversations with parents
- Importance of seeing things in context
- Interactions with supervisors, students, and other professionals
- Importance of taking initiative and advocating for yourself
- Benefits of reaching out to school faculty for guidance during fieldwork
- Favorite experiences from fieldwork thus far
Occupational therapy and entrepreneurship have a lot in common. Cami Culwell, MA, OTR/L was having trouble with existing bags during her day to day practice as a treating therapist. Clinitote was born out of a drive to make something that is vital to every practitioner’s life more functional and fashionable. Sarah and Cami cover a lot of topics during their talk including:
- Their most memorable experiences as OT’s
- How to deal with the loss of a client
- Importance of having a mentor
- The challenges of starting a business
- Implementing work/life balance
- Overcoming criticism
- Advice for an aspiring entrepreneur
- How being an OT has helped overcome the challenges of being an entrepreneur
You can contact her on:
Facebook: @clinitote
Instagram: @clinitote2017
For a 30% discount on any Clinitote purchase use the promo code: OT4LYFE30
Maya and Rachelle return to the podcast with two of their twelve weeks of fieldwork completed. We touch base with them to see how everything is going, shed some light on what the beginning of fieldwork could look like, and discuss strategies for making the jump from observation to hands on practice. The following topics are covered:
- Current successes and challenges in fieldwork
- Managing difficult behaviors in pediatrics
- Supervisory experience
- A typical day as a Level II student
- Time commitments and management during and outside of fieldwork
- Exposure to notes and documentation
- Transitioning from observing to leading sessions
- Reviewing client population and ages
- Work/ life balance
Ultra-running and endurance hikes test one’s ability to overcome exhaustion, mental blocks, and limiting beliefs. Besides being a favorite occupation of Dr. Leo Valenzuela PT, DPT, they have also taught him many life lessons that he has utilized in order to start his own physical therapy private practice, Los Leones Physical Therapy. Sarah and Leo meet to chat about how they formed a mastermind group in order to accomplish their goals of starting a PT practice and an OT podcast. They discuss the importance of community and how it held them accountable and taught them pivotal skills in pursuing their dreams.
They discuss a range of topics including:
- Ultra-running and endurance hikes
- Pushing limits and challenging yourself
- Starting a private practice
- Hardest part of getting it off the ground
- Pushing past boundaries
- Maintaining consistency
- Most exciting part of starting his own business
- Going against the grain
- Importance of having a community
- Helping with finances, marketing, website design
- Motivation from others who are also wanting to start something
- Our favorite physical therapy podcast and Facebook group
- The PT Entrepreneur Podcast
- PT Entrepreneur on Facebook
- Mastermind groups
- Being held accountable
- Changing your life personally and professionally
- Limiting factors and impostor syndrome
- Setting goals to be better than the month before
- Failing forward
- Advice for others wanting to start their own practices
The PT Entrepreneur Podcast
You can reach out to Leo at Los Leones Physical Therapy: LosLeonesPT@gmail.com
On Instagram: @losleonespt
Or at his site: https://www.losleonespt.com/
For occupational therapy students, going on a fieldwork rotation is exciting and also a little nerve-wracking. It is the time that they finally get the chance to integrate the information that they learned in the classroom and apply it directly into practice. We had the opportunity to chat with two Masters level students, Rachelle and Maya, who are about to embark on their first Level II fieldwork experience. This episode will be the first of 6 as we follow along with them over their 12 week rotation. Sarah and the students will delve into the following topics:
- Transitioning from the classroom into a practice setting
- Students’ strengths and weaknesses going into their first Level II
- Students’ feelings and emotions before beginning fieldwork
- Current level of preparation and methods to further prepare before starting fieldwork
- Working with clients and caregivers in various settings
- Importance of self-care throughout fieldwork
- Models of student supervision
- Advice to students from a supervisor’s point of view
- Meaning of occupational therapy to students
Students bring an unique perspective and undeniable passion to the profession of occupational therapy. Each one enters bringing values and previous experiences imperative to growing the scope and capacity of occupational therapy as a whole. Alex Villanueva, Christina Villasenor, and Regina Sarnicola, three students from California State University Dominguez Hills, join Sarah to discuss what the life of an occupational therapy student is really like. They share extensive insight into what lead them to the field of occupational therapy and actionable tips for anyone looking to apply to OT school.
- Finding occupational therapy as a second career
- Lessons and skills learned from their past jobs
- Going about the application process
- A day in the life of an occupational therapy student
- What excites them about the profession of occupational therapy
- Advocating for our profession as a student
- Advice for prospective OT students
If you want to reach out to our guests today:
- alexv773@gmail.com
- reginagloria1@gmail.com
- cmvillase@gmail.com
Every year, occupational therapy professionals and students come together to celebrate the profession and connect with like-minded individuals at the American Occupational Therapy Association conference. It is always a good time and this year’s conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah,was no different. Join us as we hear from fellow conference goers straight from the halls of the conference and hear about their experience attending this year’s event.
- Amy- VA pediatric mental health, Virginia
- Cami Culwell- Clinitote
- Kat- Winston Salem State University
- Cynthia- School-based OT Phoenix, AZ
- Dominic Lloyd-Randolfi- @NewGradOT, New Grad Occupational Therapy
- David S. McGuire- @davidsmcguire- Tennessee Occupational Therapy Association
- Dr. Bill Wong- @billwongOT
- Leah, Bria, Davonte, and Asiya- Florida A&M University
- Grant Mitchell- Millennial OT, @millennialot
- Irene Ghattas- @insidemyotbrain
- Dr. Karen Jacobs- @KarenJacobsOT- Boston University: Sargent College
- Pat- San Jose State University
- Rachel- exploring sensory integration materials
- Rosaleigh, Emily, Cat, and Elyse- University of Alabama Birmingham
- Serena, Alexandra, and Serena- University of Southern California: Mrs. TH Chan Division of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science
- Lesly - Cincinnati State
Sometimes life takes twists and turns and might not end up how you expected it to. For Roxie Fernandez, the birth of her second son lead her to find her passion in the profession of occupational therapy. Over the years, Roxie moved from working with adults in a hospital to finding her niche working with children and specializing in sensory integration. Roxie shares her journey through being a student, an early occupational therapy practitioner, and eventually to opening her own private practice. Many topics are discussed, including:
- Their favorite pieces of equipment to use in a sensory clinic
- Roxie’s experience as a mother of a child with a disability
- Transitioning from OT student to practitioner
- Importance of having a mentor
- OT as a constant learning process
- The evolution of Roxie’s career that led her to opening her own practice
- Zensory’s unique multi-sensory environment and what it offers to children and families
- Favorite part about OT and the biggest challenges when working with kids with disabilities
- Advice for practitioners working with parents of children with disabilities
- Advice for parents of children with special needs