Dr. Ellen Nicholson is the Head of Department at the Aukland University of Technology’s, Department of Occupational Science and Therapy and has had a vast and profound influence on my own career being the inspiration for Operation Occupation. We talked about everything from her journey into OT, the professions move back towards Occupation, and the role of Occupational Language in that journey.

I first came across Ellen’s work in ~2012 when she presented at the OT24VX on her PHD research. This really hit me at a time in my career when I was having a professional identity crisis. I was struggling to even work out if i was working as an Occupational Therapist. Ellen was super friendly and easy to connect with. She normalised a lot of the feelings and experiences that I was having at the time and acted as a super intelligent, amazing soundboard.

Using her references, ideas and inspiration i not only changed my own practice but also started a couple projects that aimed to support other clinicians to do the same for themselves.

Check out her work here:

There is evidence of a growing tension within the occupational therapy profession regarding the legitimate knowledge and practice of occupational therapists. While occupation is described by many as the legitimate knowledge base for occupational therapy practice, the history of the profession, and the practice context, often appear to endorse accepted practices that are not overtly aligned with an occupational paradigm. Oppressive, dissatisfying and disempowering social conditions, revealed in the knowledge, power, and discourse which underpin occupational therapy practice, have likely further influenced the meaning and intention of occupational therapy practice with children and families over time.This thesis describes a critical participatory action research project which sought to investigate and affect how occupational therapists working with children translated knowledge to inform and transform their practice. Embedded in shared concerns about the legitimacy of accepted practices with children and families, and using a contemporary occupational therapy theory as a framework, eight occupational therapy co-researchers engaged in two phases of critical action; deconstruction-planning and action-reconstruction. Positioned in between the phases, the resolution of a subjective quest for validation was revealed as a principal catalyst to transformative action. Practice stories and critical dialogue, gathered as project information, was reflectively analysed to progress both the dialogical inquiry and the transformative intent of the research.Implications for practice drawn from the research findings include a suite of action-oriented strategies which will enable practitioners to discover and advance practice transformation within their own practice. These strategies have been consolidated into the VENIA model, which is presented as a practical solution to changing the practice of occupational therapists, and strengthening the political agenda of the occupational therapy profession.

and you can access her full thesis right here:

http://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/handle/10292/6075

Keep occupied

Brock

We’ve looked at values and how they may highlight a person’s occupational needs so the next logical progression is to have a look about what happens when someone changes the occupation that fills a need. That gap between occupations is a time that I feel OT’s can really have an incredible impact on peoples lives. Let’s explore the different types of transitions and how this can impact on the interventions and OT could perform.

Keep occupied

Brock

We continue our chat about Sarah’s experiences overseas, what developed country OT’s could learn from these limited resource experiences, professional understanding of culture and OT’s use of diagnosis.

Sarah Putt is pediatric OT and fellow podcaster! She currently runs her own practice but has practiced in more countries than I was able to count and has some amazing stories to go with it! As expected we discuss the amazing medium of podcasting and how OT’s can benefit and engage in it and she also introduces me to Hippotherapy and the occupation based benefits for service users of this very unique practice modality.

You can find the OT4LYFE podcast anywhere you can find Occupied

Also check out the FB page:

or Insta:

or contact Sarah Via Twitter:

Brock

Sarah Putt is pediatric OT and fellow podcaster! She currently runs her own practice but has practiced in more countries than I was able to count and has some amazing stories to go with it! As expected we discuss the amazing medium of podcasting and how OT’s can benefit and engage in it and she also introduces me to Hippotherapy and the occupation based benefits for service users of this very unique practice modality.

You can find the OT4LYFE podcast anywhere you can find Occupied

Also check out the FB page:

or Insta:

or contact Sarah Via Twitter:

Brock

As requested! an expansion of Episode 009 – How Do Values Fit with OT Practice by having a chat about how I’ve used these concepts in practice. Looking at a very practical way of finding a person’s occupational needs which can then be used to guide the occupation based practice direction.

Super keen to start the discussion an hear if other clinicians have used any values-based perspectives in Occupational Therapy

Keep occupied

Brock
[email protected]
@brockcookOT

The 2nd half of our roundtable discussion with Michelle Perryman and Dr Jessie Wilson about the challenges of transitioning from a clinical OT role into an academic role. Between the three of us we are from 3 different countries, pre, during & post Phd, varying clinical backgrounds, and all have recently moved into academia.

Keep occupied

Brock
[email protected]
@brockcookOT

A roundtable discussion with Michelle Perryman and Dr Jessie Wilson about the challenges of transitioning from a clinical OT role into an academic role. Between the three of us we are from 3 different countries, pre, during & post Phd, varying clinical backgrounds, and all have recently moved into academia. Being able to compare multiple experiences from around the world fostered some amazing conversation that I hope any people considering a move into academia will find interesting.

Brock

Stephanie Healey graduated from the University of the Sunshine Coast and moved into her first OT position with the Department of Education in her home state. This position turns out to be quite unique in Australia and I wanted to learn all about it. Steph explained the types of intervention she does with her students, her journey into OT and her dream roll!

Brock

The one and only Dr Anita Hamilton has had a MASSIVE influence on my career and volunteered me for a number of amazing opportunities I would not otherwise have had the fortitude to tackle. Anita is an expert and leader in the space of OT’s utilising online technology and has been a massive proponent of the OT4OT group who founded and help facilitate the whole range of 4OT facebook communities.

Stay tuned to the end for a WORLD EXCLUSIVE ANNOUNCEMENT regarding the ongoing future of the OT24VX virtual conference!!!

Also find the “first follower” video discussed in the episode:

Anita’s video highlighting the use of her model of knowledge dissemination “the IM-KT Framework”:

Brock
[email protected]
@brockcookOT