What draws someone to paediatric OT and what keeps them there?

In this first episode, Cory, Michelle, and Tracy introduce themselves and share the stories that brought them to this work and to each other. Cory found her way through the Sensory Gym and Camp Jabiru. Michelle made a career pivot into paediatrics in her forties. Tracy came through neuroscience and decades of clinical leadership at Children's Hospital Denver. Three very different paths that converged into this podcast.

We talk about what mentoring actually does for a clinician, why university can only take you so far, and what it looks like when knowledge finally lands in your body and changes how you show up in a session. Tracy introduces the SPIRIT Model as the clinical reasoning framework that will run through the whole series. And Michelle names something that doesn't get said enough: this work carries a load, and without the right support around you, that load can become too much.

This episode is the on-ramp to everything that follows. If you're new to the podcast, start here. If you've been listening for a while, it's worth a revisit.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Welcome and introductions
• 00:24 Introducing Tracy Stackhouse and Developmental FX
• 01:01 Tracy on the SPIRIT Model and the name Spirited Conversations
• 02:25 Shout out to Sarah McInnes Flemming and the Seed team
• 03:01 Cory's story — how she found paediatric OT and Camp Jabiru
• 04:26 What Camp Jabiru is and how it shaped Cory's clinical journey
• 09:51 Michelle's story — from a farming community in Trundle to paediatric OT in her forties
• 16:58 The Seed mentoring culture and learning together as a team
• 17:59 Tracy's story — Children's Hospital Denver, neuroscience, and the STEP-SI tool
• 27:22 Bill Greenough and the audacity of OT — experience changes the brain
• 28:49 Cory on what happens when mentoring shifts your clinical thinking
• 30:36 Michelle on finding your people and creating synergy
• 33:34 The value of seeking mentoring early and proactively
• 35:38 Tracy on mentoring as the space where knowledge becomes integrated practice
• 40:42 Find those mentors and collaborate
• 42:04 Tracy on integration as a cornerstone of effective practice
• 45:43 A preview of the series ahead
• 47:46 Composite cases — why we use them and how they'll work
• 49:28 The planned topic arc: posture, regulation, social relationships, sensory discrimination, executive functioning
• 52:13 Starting with the postural system and why
• 54:52 Michelle on burnout, carrying a load, and the vision behind the podcast
• 56:31 The podcast as a backup for therapists who don't have a team around them
• 56:56 Email us and come back for Episode 2
• 57:53 What's coming next: postural control

Resources mentioned:

Children Adapt — Gilfoyle, Grady & Moore (1981) Clinical Reasoning: Forms of Inquiry in a Therapeutic Practice — Mattingly & Fleming (1994) STEP-SI: A Clinical Reasoning Tool — Stackhouse, Trunnel & Wilbarger (1997) SPIRIT Model — Tracy Stackhouse, Developmental FX Dr. William T. Greenough — neuroplasticity research

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a colleague and take a moment to leave a review — it genuinely helps more people find us.

Check out DFX's Learning Journeys to build your clinical reasoning skills: https://dfxlearningjourneys.thinkific.com/

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