OT 4 Lyfe

Being a lifelong learner is something that is constantly brought up within the profession of occupational therapy. From being a student in OT school, to becoming a new practitioner, to doing research to further the knowledge base for our profession, we are constantly learning new ideas, picking up new skills, and gaining a deeper understanding of how occupations influence health for us as practitioners and for our clients. Miranda Rennie, OTR/L, joins me today to share her journey into the...

As occupational therapists, we are faced with many responsibilities in life, including both professional and personal ones, and sometimes maintaining a balance can be quite a struggle. This is something that we help our clients and educate others with, but often times we find ourselves as therapists also struggling to maintain a healthy balance within life. In today’s episode, Brynne Terry MA, OTL/R from Be Well Balance joins us to share some strategies on how we can live well and have a...

There are many steps to becoming an occupational therapist, starting with completing an occupational therapy program. Rachel comes back on the show today to share her OT journey thus far as we catch her only days away from starting a graduate occupational therapy program. It’s an exciting time for her, but she’s also nervous as she will be meeting her classmates and professors in the next few days. We chat about what has happened since the last time we chatted and what she is looking forward...

A few weeks ago, OT 4 Lyfe attended the 2019 American Occupational Therapy Association conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. This episode runs through some of the highlights from the conference, including things I did and people I got to meet.

Many kids with autism have significantly delayed play skills, as well as they have difficulty learning new skills and expanding upon the skills they already have. More often than not therapists find themselves trying to teach children with autism how to play through imitation, but these children often have major difficulty with the imitation of others. Combine that with poor engagement and visual regard for others and learning to play for a child with autism can be daunting task. In this...

Documentation. It is something that all therapists are faced with and unfortunately, it is something that tends to take up a lot of our time. While some of it is very important stuff that we need to include, there are other parts of documentation that are just time sucks. It is commonplace that most reports take between 2-3 hours (or more) to write and that is outside of completing the necessary observations, interviews, standardized tests, scoring and interpreting results, etc. Jason...

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...

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.

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....

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...

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...

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...

Andy Nielsen, OTS, is a current OT student at A.T. Still University in Mesa, Arizona who comes to our profession after many years in tech sales and business. He has designed his life with purpose and intention in order to maintain a family-friendly lifestyle, as well as to serve others and contribute to society in a meaningful way. Over the years he has developed a strong passion for entrepreneurship by creating things to help others and assisting people achieve success. Currently, he runs...

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...

Ijeoma (EJ) Ikpeze OTA/S is an OTA student at Erie Community College who recently finished her school work and is about to embark on her first Level II fieldwork. She is also the only current student and only OTA accepted into the prestigious AOTA Emerging Leaders Development Program.

Elizabeth DeBlasi, MS, OTR/L has developed her passion in pediatric occupational therapy into international travel and volunteer work. She immediately took action to make her dreams about volunteering internationally come true. She has since become an integral part of the new non-profit Therapists Without Borders.

Jayson Davies, MA, OTR/L and Abby Parana, MS, OTR/L are pediatric occupational therapists that work in a school based setting. They have a unique view on how to provide treatment and advocate for their clients. They also host their own OT podcast: OT School House.

Occupational and Physical Therapists often work together on clients to achieve similar goals through different lenses. Jennifer and Sarah discuss how they approach early intervention from each of their view points and the benefits of collaborating between disciplines.

This is the first edition of the OT Round Table, a casual discussion with OT practitioners from different background about the best and worst parts as well as what we wish others understood about our profession.

The fieldwork rotation is a vital part of becoming an OT. Follow 2 students as they transition into occupational therapy practitioners. This is episode 6 of a 6 part mini-series.