SOME CONTENT IN THIS PODCAST MAY BE CONSIDERED EXPLICIT BY SOME PEOPLE. SEX AND INTIMACY TOPICS ARE DISCUSSED AND MAY INCLUDE SOME COLLOQUIAL TERMINOLOGIES. EXERCISE COMMON SENSE IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY THESE OR RELATED TOPICS.  

I discovered the OT After Dark podcast only 4hrs after they released their first episode (Sex as an ADL). My initial reaction was “Yes! Finally someone is brave enough to talk about sex and sexuality in a public forum!” But it got even better. Firstly, they’re hilarious and very personable. Secondly although speaking candidly about these topics they are exceptionally well read and well researched…. They also include, on their website, all of the research they discuss in each episode for your perusal.  

I firmly believe that sex, sexuality and intimacy are topics that OT’s often neglect for a variety of reasons. Similar to most social change I feel that opening the conversation is the first step. Exposure to the topics will hopefully ease some of the anxiety and awkwardness about addressing sex with our clients.  

I encourage everyone to check out the OT After Dark podcast on your favorite podcast app. Also check out their website or tweet them:  

https://otafterdark.com/
https://twitter.com/otafterdark  

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Brock
[email protected]
@brockcookOT

Brock

Brock

[email protected]
@brockcookOT

Brock

Brock

I am honestly so excited about this episode. When Gail first sent me a message asking to be on the podcast I almost fell off my chair. All my Occupational dreams come true!

Professor Gail Whiteford has been an OT hero of mine for the longest time and even though we have met multiple times, getting to have a chat with her was a surreal experience. To say I was fan-boying was an understatement. Coming to the conclusion that she is not only one of the most intelligent and well rounded Occupational Therapists i know but also one of the most easy to talk to and engage with. I can’t thank Gail enough for allowing me to pick her brain.

Professor Whiteford’s work has had a significant and lasting impact on the direction of the profession and Occupational Science. In particular her work with Dr Elizabeth Townsend in the development and promotion of the Participatory Occupational Justice Framework was something that resonated with me from the core of my OT beliefs. Being involved with OT organisations such as OOFRAS and working with some marginalised populations the framework instantly resonated with the work and professional experiences I had up until that point.

The Conversation

Our conversation started with her journey through the profession and the evolutions of OT she experienced throughout that time. Gail, on the spot, came up with ideas I would never have ever considered about the profession. Blew my mind wide open. Feel like im still processing it.

We discussed the POJF and how it came into development. The current state of Occupational Therapy as well as what the future may hold for the profession. Definitely one of the deepest, most reflective conversations I’ve had and I really hope it blows your mind as much as mine.

Brock

December 2018 I was given the opportunity to co-present a webinar for the new WFOTvx series of professional development things. Myself, Karen Jacobs of Lifestyle by Design and Stephanie Lancaster of On The Air presented a Podcasting 101 webinar for Occupational Therapists.

We covered everything from the workflow involved in creating and publishing a podcast as well as how OT’s can utilise this media space for their own professional development.

A massive thanks to WFOT for supporting this presentation and to Karen Jacobs for facilitating and inviting me to be part of it.

The recording of the webinar can be found here:

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Brock
[email protected]
@brockcookOT

Erika is an OT and entrepreneur who together with her husband, Mike, run their business Joy Energy Time. Their focus on burnout in health professionals is a contemporary issue that needs to be addressed now before it becomes an epidemic.

How I found Erika

I first came across Joy Energy Time on Instagram and, being the visual person I am, was instantly attracted by their awesome pineapple logo. I found the podcast and was an almost instant fan! I’m generally quite picky with the podcasts but i instantly got this sense that the content Erika and Mike were putting out was real and honest. I tuned into an amazing Instagram Live story where Erika explored a revelation she had recently had about her long term anxiety and burnout. She then turned that into a podcast which I have shared for you below.

It takes a special something to be able to put yourself out to the world like that. It takes something even more special to take these experiences and turn them into an opportunity. This is exactly what Erika and Mike have done with Joy Energy Time. They aim to educate and support therapists around burnout and self-care practices.

The Burnout Conversation

We started chatting about the concept of “travel therapy” and the differences regarding this between the USA and Australia. We discuss our common burnout experiences and the contributing factors. We then unpacked some of the common impacting factors of burnout and highlighted some of the tools we’ve found that can help manage these factors. Of course, as you would expect from Occupied, we also related it all to Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science.

Joy Energy Time offers an online course (Bash the Burnout for Healthcare Professionals) for clinicians. The aim of the courser is educating HPs about burnout and how to manage it. Information and enrollment in the course can be found at: www.joyenergytime.com

Brock
[email protected]
@brockcookOT

Alondra Ammon is an Occupational Therapist from California. She graduated with her masters in Occupational Therapy from Samuel Merritt University and is currently working as a school-based OT. Her passion is Diversity and the promotion of the profession!

I first came across Alondra’s youtube channel and being a bit of a geek had a search around for the rest of her social media presence. After that, we engaged in some conversations over Twitter where I found that she had been on On The Air. The diversity of her professional experience, her bright and bubbly personality and her interest in promoting diversity throughout Occupational Therapy all added up to her being someone I just had to chat with. I have always found people with a broad and varied life experience have the most interesting perspectives on things and Alondra’s military and previous health service experience intrigued me.

At the beginning of the episode, we discussed Occupied Ep 020 which wasn’t released at the time of recording. Alondra Added her ideas around the changing diversity of the profession and the impact it might have on Occupational Therapy as a whole.

Occupational Passion:

Throughout the chat I hope it’s evident that She has more passion for Occupational Therapy than your average OT. As a result, she is harnessing some of this explosive enthusiasm and channeling it into a media that she is hoping will have a positive impact on the profession.

She has some important messages for all OT’s about promoting the profession and taking, the often scary, step to put yourself out there for the benefit of spreading the word among the general public.

Check out Alondra’s Youtube channel where she discusses contemporary issues and interviews a variety of Occupational Therapists. I challenge you to watch and not crack a smile after soaking in her unbridled enthusiasm!

Alondra La OT Facebook

Keep occupied

Brock
[email protected]
@brockcookOT

Today’s discussion stemmed from a number of observations of late. Seemed like too much of a coincidence that the topic came up multiple times in a very short space of time so I decided to put together my thoughts. I’m very aware that for some people this topic is quite sensitive. I do encourage you to have a listen with an open mind as I am simply trying to highlight an idea that I haven’t seen spoken about in the literature. That idea is that changing the demographics of Occupational Therapy will change the profession fundamentally. I definitely don’t have a definitive answer to any of these raised concerns but the (well rounded) discussion needs to happen.

I compare some of the reported experiences from the literature to my personal experience. My belief is that the experiences are legitimate but my interpretation of the cause of these experiences seems to differ greatly from those presented in the articles that I have read. I’ve seen a lot of very heated discussion on the topic of sex disparity.

My concern is that the views being taken into these discussions are not conducive to effective discussion. When the chat gets heated, this is stilting the ability for clinicians to have a well-rounded view. Another question I wanted to pose is if this is an issue from the perspective of men as my personal experience has never highlighted it as an issue but also I’ve not read any papers on the topic that have included men as authors….. so if you know of some shoot them through to me because I’d love to read.

Beagan, B., & Fredricks, E. (2018). What about the men? Gender parity in occupational therapy. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 85(2) 137-145. doi: 10.1177/0008417417728524

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Brock