Podcast appearances and mentions of brock cook

For this episode we listened to the 100th episode of podcast OT 4 Lyfe - 100 Episodes: The Good, the Bad, and Like Umm Ya Know the Ugly, listen to it here:100 Episodes: The Good, the Bad, and Like Umm Ya Know the Ugly | OT 4 LyfeIn the episode, host Sarah Putt and Occupied Podcast's host Brock Cook share their reflections on each having released 100 episodes. These are edited highlights of our chat inspired by them and their massive contribution to the world of OT podcasts

Absolutely honoured to be asked to deliver the keynote for the Wisconsin OT Association virtual conference. This is that presentation as well as the Q&A at the end of it for your consumption.  Look after yourself, look after others, and always keep Occupied Brock@OccupiedPodbrock.cook@me.com Transcript Brock Cook  0:00   Hi, and welcome to another episode I got asked, and still can't believe that I got asked to give the keynote presentation at the Wisconsin State ot conference a couple of weeks ago. And they asked me to give some lessons that I've learned in Korea that has involved a lot of empowering OTS to use online technology and an online space. So this is the presentation that I gave you guys also get the discussion towards the end of it, as well as the actual PowerPoint from the presentation and everything. So you'll have everything as if you were there. So I hope you get something out of it. I hope you enjoy it. Please do let me know either way. And let's roll it. Welcome to occupy plus the Patreon exclusive podcast for those supporters looking to inject some extra value into their practice. Thank you for your support, and enjoy. Host  1:11   Good morning and welcome to our 2021 Virtual World Conference. My name is Laura souls today and I am the VP of professional development in honor to kick off a two day agenda of expert speakers to set the tone and celebration of our professions. 100 years of resilience. today's keynote speaker comes to us all the way from Australia. Brock Cook is a seasoned occupational therapist with experience in working in acute mental health rehabilitation, delivering his expertise through innovating, approaches of podcasts and webinars. Currently, Brock is an associate lecturer for James Cook University, and will be presenting on the topics of lessons I've learned pushing ot into a digital world. Welcome, Brock. Brock Cook  1:59   Thank you very much very kind. Just give me one second while I work this shared screen thingamajigger me out. There we go. Hopefully people can see that. Cool. So yeah, hi, thank you for asking me to come and speak to you today. I'm flattered, honored. And hopefully, I can bring something that is of interest to a range of people I was asked to I've been involved in this world of OT and how its uses online technologies and social medias and that kind of thing for a very long time now. So I'm gonna go through a bit of my history with, I guess, technology in general, and how that led me into that space of being able to try and adapt it and use it for how I've used it within OT. And I'm hoping at the end, if we can, if there's questions, and I'm very much more of an interactive kind of person than just me speak to people through a screen kind of person. So I'd like to field some questions and try and explore I guess the future where to from here in that sort of question time towards the end of it, if we can so. So if I press the right button, that'll help. So having a look at my technological journey, so that not there we go. All right, I'll just do it this way. Sorry. where it started. So I was born in 1985. I my family we got our very first home computer. So one thing I will preface because I know this people have a whole wide range of ages in this room is I am of the generation that saw the start of pretty much all of the internet, that type of thing. So I remember a time before the internet, I remember a time before social media. And I was here when all of them started so I was kind of on the ground level learning all these things as they developed, which I think put me in a good position to start supporting other people and therapists to to actually use them and how to use them safely and effectively. So it started in 1990 When my my family bought the very first computer I remember dad bringing it home and it was absolutely enormous came in boxes that I don't even think I could fit in my car nowadays. It was heavy. I was five at the time. I remember it not having a clue what it was other than it looked like a big TV with another box under it. It cost a fortune. So back then I actually looked this up. The, it cost us about two and a half $1,000 Australian. Back then which equivalent today was over five grand, which is a very expensive computer had a whopping 12 megahertz processor, VGA screen and 40 megabyte hard drive. Which, if you know much about computers, it did make me laugh because my iPhone, which I have sitting right here in front of me, is 9,000% faster than that computer has more than 10 times the screen resolution and six and a half 1000 times more storage and cost a fraction of the amount. So we've come a long way since 1990. But this is where it began. So I learned the very basics of how a computer works and the different parts of it. And for me as a kid, I was the kid that liked to pull things apart and put them back together, which I don't know how my parents felt about that all the time. But I was very sort of enamored with this computer and how it worked. And I'd never seen anything like it. Fast forward a few years. So around 1996, we got our first internet connection, it was dial up many people probably remember the the weird dial up noise that used to make and you couldn't make phone calls while you were using it. That kind of thing. A whopping 56 kilobytes a second of internet, which is an I did this test yesterday is 5,000% slower than my internet that I'm currently talking to you on. So again, another leap forward in the last 25 years. But where it started to make a bit more sense about what we could actually do with this technology, for me anyway, was the birth of social media. Now MySpace wasn't the first social media it was, I think it was the second but it was definitely the largest and most, I guess, key to shaping what the internet was going to look like. So 2013 or 2003, sorry, which was the year before I started my ot degree, my undergrad, I joined this weird website called MySpace on the recommendation of a friend of mine. And sort of start didn't really know what to do with it. But then slowly realized that there were developing communities and you could connect with other people. And I actually that I still to this day have a friend that I met through MySpace, all those many moons ago. But it was the beginning of what we look at as web 2.0. So Web 2.0, if you haven't heard of that term, was the shift in internet websites and tools online to be more interactive. So all of your social medias, like versions of web 2.0. Back in the day, we used to have forums and messengers, like I CQ, and AOL that kind of stuff. Before that, when the internet was really a place that you just went to get information. So look up a website, you go to that website, you find the information you need. And that was pretty much it. It was very one way traffic, web 2.0 allowed for configuration and interaction with the content on the web. So this is where things like wikis were born, where you could actually create content and put yourself out there without having to know like coding languages. MySpace, what MySpace did that was unique to everything else on the web was it allowed you to configure your own little space, so you'd actually have your own room or last one sort of felt like you had your own space, you can make your page look like what you want. You could put your top five, like songs that you were currently into on there, you could highlight who your best friends were and prioritize them into groups and all sorts of stuff. You could configure the colors on the page, what pictures you wanted to share on the page. It was the first really easily accessible and free space on the internet that people could configure to make their own. And that's a really powerful that's one of the reasons why it was so big, why it was so massive. The origins of it were very much trying to replicate our social interactions that we were having in person. So back in that day I was probably your typical teenager, before MySpace came out posters on the wall of cars and all that sort of stuff, and bookshelves full of magazines of, you know, rock music and rap music, and probably not a lot of highly what would be deemed highly educational content. But that's the kind of personalization that kids in my era or in my area where I lived, just what you did with your space, it was a way to personalize your space. And my space offered you that in a virtual forum. The chats were all private, it was like messaging. Same as if you were having a one on one conversation with people. The music would be a few like recommending it. Like these are my favorite songs. Everyone at school knew who whose favorite songs were what it was very much replicating. In life interactions there was at this stage, and I'll get to this a bit later, there was no algorithm that was changing anything, if you posted something, everyone in your list could see it, all of your friends, etc. It was very basic, in a way. So when did ot come into this, obviously, all that up until that point, it happened before I even started my degree, started my IT degree in 2004. During that time, we had the lovely Facebook, enter the realm and swallow was I had the time period during my undergrad. So we did a four year undergrad here in Australia. So I have a Bachelor of occupational therapy. I was using all of these social medias and tools. I hadn't heard of anyone using it for any professional purpose. It was literally as it says on the box, it was just a social media. So you connect with your friends. So I kind of had three or four years with these tools to just play with them, I

HOWDY GUYS!On todays episode, we have got the absolute LEGEND Brock Cook unpacking all things OT with me. Brock has been such a huge support of my podcast from the get go and I feel so lucky to record this episode with him. Follow Brock on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/occupiedpodcast/Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollytheot_podcast/As always, todays episode is proudly sponsored by In Reach Co. (www.inreachco.com.au)Happy Listening!

Happy New Year! Welcome back for the first episode of 2023. Today's guest is the wonderful Megan Kummerow. Megan is an OT turned business owner, and we talk all things life as a new grad and how she ended up owning a successful business. Megan is honest, and wants to make sure other OT's don't end up in the same situation she was. Today's episode as always is brought to you by inreachco. (www.inreachco.com.au)Check out my instagram --> www.instagram.com/hollytheot_podcastListen to my interview with Brock Cook on Occupied: https://occupiedpodcast.com/149-2/

Let’s talk all about lifestyle optimisation and what this movement is all about. Brock Cook, fellow OT Aussie podcaster interviewed me for his podcast Occupied back in January 2021 to talk all about The OT Lifestyle Movement – our movement. I’m sharing the episode here, because after the podcast was release I had so many … 81 – Lifestyle, Occupation & OT: What It Means To Me Read More »

Let’s talk all about lifestyle optimisation and what this movement is all about. Brock Cook, fellow OT Aussie podcaster interviewed me for his podcast Occupied back in January 2021 to talk all about The OT Lifestyle Movement – our movement. I’m sharing the episode here, because after the podcast was release I had so many … 81 – Lifestyle, Occupation & OT: What It Means To Me Read More »

How we understand our role as occupational therapy practitioners makes a huge difference in how we show up for our clients. But, unfortunately, some theories of OT practice fail to aid us in practical clinical reasoning that focuses on occupation. Luckily, the theories of OT practice that are emerging are getting closer to capturing the care we aspire to deliver—and provide more useful frameworks to guide our clinical reasoning. Today we will dive into the CORE Approach. The approach is a mechanism for OTs to understand their practice from an inclusive, occupation-centric lens. It encourages OTs to ask reflexive questions related to the “core” areas of OT: capabilities, opportunities, resources and environments After reviewing an article on the CORE Approach, I am excited to explore this approach more fully, with Brock Cook—an OT from Australia, where this approach was born! Brock is a lecturer at James Cook University will help us understand how the approach can make a tangible difference in your OT practice.In order to earn credit for this course, you must take the test within the OT Potential Club.You can find more details on this course here:https://otpotential.com/ceu-podcast-courses/core-approach-inclusive-otHere's the primary research we are discussing:Pereira, R. B., Whiteford, G., Hyett, N., Weekes, G., Di Tommaso, A., &; Naismith, J. (2020). Capabilities, opportunities, resources and environments (CORE): Using the core approach for inclusive, occupation‐centered practice. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 67(2), 162–171. Support the show (https://otpotential.com)

Episode 53 – Values and Occupations Continuing with the Occupation and Occupational Science mini-series, I am joined by Brock Cook to have a discussion about Values and Occupations. Brock shares his understanding of Occupational Science and why it is important for the profession. The episode on Brock's podcast referred to is “009 – How do values fit with OT practice?” The values research referred to is called “The Theory of Basic Human Values” developed by Shalom H. Schwartz You can hear more from Brock on his podcast by visiting www.occupiedpodcast.com. If you have any feedback on this episode or you would like to be a guest on a future episode, please drop an email to “otandchill@gmail.com” or DM via Twitter (@OT_Chill) or Instagram (otandchill). --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/otandchill/message

We're back! I've been on somewhat of an unplanned hiatus with the podcast the last few months and in this episode, I'm joined by my friend, colleague and fellow podcaster, Brock Cook as we talk about where I've been and why I've been so quiet these days. In this episode, you'll hear me and Brock chat about all kinds of things related to podcasting, social media, setting boundaries with our time, managing our mental health and being authentic in what we share with our respective audiences. LINKS:You can connect with Brock through his website, Instagram and Facebook.If this episode inspired you in some way or if you resonated with anything we said, we'd love to know! And we'd love to share it with our community! Simply take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag us @otsgonerogue.We would also love your support in the form of a review, go to Apple Podcasts and let us know what you think! 

On October 15th 2021 I was honoured to be asked to give a short guest talk to the graduating class from Central Queensland University. The topic was left up to me and so I thought about what I would want to know if I was back in their shoes, about to step into the world as an OT for the very first time. So here it is, my lessons from a career in OT.  Look after yourself, look after others, and always keep Occupied Brock@brockcookOTbrock.cook@me.com If you want even more valuable content join for bonus podcast episodes, resources, mentorship and much much more! Transcript Brock Cook 0:02G'day all and welcome to another episode of occupied this episode I absolutely love I was honored to be asked to give a short presentation for the graduating class of Central Queensland University. Today, actually, and they left the topic up to me and after a bit of thought bit of what should I talk about a bit of freaking out, I developed this presentation of lessons from a career in occupational therapy. G'day, my name is Brock Cook, and welcome to occupied. In this podcast we're aiming to put the occupation in occupational therapy, we explore the people, topics, theories and underpinnings that make this profession so incredible. If you're new here, you can find all of our previous episodes and resources at occupied podcast.com. But for now, let's roll the episode. Alright, so yeah. Hi, thank you, I was absolutely flattered to be asked to come and talk to you guys. This morning. When I was first asked, the topic was left really broad, which is fine with me. But I started thinking about what I would have liked to hear when I was graduating many, many moons ago. And I started thinking about well, what if I was able to sort of, I guess, restart my career, but keep all of the the knowledge and stuff that I've gathered over these many years? What if I could do it again, but with my current learnings intact, and I think that's where I'm going to try and distill some of that down for you guys today. And hopefully, there's something that that you guys can can take out of it. So I'm going to try and present at least some of the major lessons that I've taken from a career in occupational therapy, which is still the best career option, in my opinion. So that's excellent. So one of the first lessons commonly referred to as outcomes razor, for those of you into a bit of philosophy is generally that the simplest explanation is usually the best one. And there's a little bit more to it than that. One thing not to get confused is that the easiest solution is the best one. But what I would like to really highlight is that the the main component of outcomes razor is to try and make sure that more you're making choices and decisions that using as fewer assumptions as you possibly can. And when I'm referring to this, I'm thinking about with the clients that you guys are going to work with. This key concept to me, was really important with regards to interviewing and analyzing interviews. So it taught me that I need to be continually working on my own self awareness that I'm not consciously or subconsciously filling in gaps of the person's story of their experience, that I'm not passing any judgment on their situations that I'm being able to come to a conclusion with as minimal assumptions as I possibly can. And I'll give you an example of this from earlier in my career. I was working with a lady on an acute inpatient Ward, mental health ward. And she just come in we were sitting in ward round. And she was telling us her story. And she told us that she back in the day used to date, Peter Andre. Now I understand that many of you are quite young, and may not get that reference that Peter Andre, and I can guarantee you that in the 90s. He was viewed as cheesy as that photo is now the default reaction from the whole team, including myself at the time was she must be psychotic. She must be delusional because you wouldn't make a story up like that. You wouldn't want a story up like that. Well, it turns out it was true and her she was also the father of her child, which again, no one had believed until she had brought in newspaper articles and photos and enough proof that the whole trading team was rather embarrassed. So that was an example of our bias, filling in the gaps to her story. to come out with what turned out to be the wrong outcome in the end. And I've never forgotten that story, mainly because it's Peter Andre. And it's super awkward still, either way. Another lesson that I've learned throughout my career is around this concept of the dark side of occupation. And this some semantic controversy around this one. But the understanding of the concept is that it's looking at those occupations that we are commonly ignoring, or not really viewing as occupations, because they're illegal, they're not really health promoting, they're awkward for us to talk about. So things like drug use, things like general delinquent behavior, graffiti, all of those things that we commonly don't view as occupations, per se, we might view them as something else. But we don't often consider them as persons occupations. I've worked with people, for many, many years who have used substance misuse, as a form of meeting a social need. It's not necessarily a chemical dependence that keeps them going, but more a method for them to connect with peers. Try and make friends, try and keep friends, that kind of thing. So if you're working with someone in that instance, and you're trying to or even if they want to, and you're encouraging them to either reduce their use or stop using using in the ideal situation, then just taking that away, because it's bad, isn't going to work, because there's still this need that needs to be filled. So I'd encourage you to Don't forget about those occupations that aren't commonly viewed aren't commonly discussed or might be somewhat awkward, including sex and sexuality, which is a big hot topic at the moment, within the profession about it being discussed more openly, without the people that we work with. One of the biggest lessons I learned was seemingly the most obvious and that was don't forget the people. Don't forget that. We are working with people. We live or we were part of a profession that prides itself on being science base prides itself on being unique, and being able to assist people in a very structured way at times. And I know that throughout most university courses, if not all university courses, those various structures, things like assessments, interventions, frameworks, models, all of those kinds of things are really heavily leaned on to get across to you, how Oaties operate, and how we think and that sort of thing. And that's 100% valid. I think that myself, in my career, when you first graduate, there's this inkling to try and impress and be the best ot that you can be when you first get your first job. And a lot of that seems to revolve in all I did in my head revolve around, trying to get my head around the assessments used and all of that sort of stuff as quickly as possible and be the most efficient or the best at administering them and that kind of thing. And I think, although that is a very, very important aspect to the profession. For me. It was a while later, maybe a couple of years after I graduated, when I realized that in focusing on that I was focusing not as much as I should have been on the fact that I'm working with a human being and their experience. I'm trying to make them fit into the interventions and the assessments that I had, rather than the other way around. So just a reminder that don't forget that we are humans working with human beings and that's sometimes more complex than just administering assessments and looking for the outcomes that we're hoping to find anyway. One of the biggest, this is probably one of the biggest revelations I had. So hopefully at this side at this stage, we're all aware of the P O we all know that the internet action between that person, the environment and the occupation where they intersect is representative of occupational performance. And we all know that on a basic level, what OTS do is we can modify, adjust, support each of those individual components. So we can help change the person, the environment or the occupation, in order to improve or increase that person's occupational performance. One of the biggest revelations I had, however, was that when you're engaging with the person that you're working with, you then become part of their environment. So for the longest time, in my head, conceptually, I would look at the person's environment, the person's occupation, and the person themselves. And me as this kind of outsider that was enacting an influence over these three things for the individual, without realizing that I'm part of that person's environment, the other health professionals working with that person, they're also part of their environment during that period that you're working with them. So anything that you bring to that table, whether subconsciously or consciously is going to have an impact on that person. Now, some of you may have heard of phenomenon like transparence. This is exactly what this is talking about. If I go into a room, and I've just had a really crappy day, it's nothing's going right, I'm feeling really down, I can't even bring myself to throw on a smile, that's going to have an impact on the people that we work with, because I'm part of their environment. And me walking into t

Through her teenage years Carissa experienced the pressure of managing her eating disorder on top of all of life's stressors. How does this hyper focus on food, eating, comparison, judgement and hiding all of the above from your closest people impact your life? Carissa was amazing enough to come in and share her first hand experience. This experience has shaped her journey into OT and where she is wanting to take her career.  Look after yourself, look after others, and always keep Occupied Brock@brockcookOTbrock.cook@me.com If you want even more valuable content join for bonus podcast episodes, resources, mentorship and much much more! Transcript Brock Cook 0:00Hi, and welcome to another episode of occupied. Today I had the absolute pleasure to speak with the lovely Clarissa Daya around her experience of an evening having an eating disorder going right through and into a recovery program for that right through to now studying occupational therapies impact, or potential impact for people with eating disorders through her doctoral Capstone, so just a trigger warning, but gonna be talking about eating disorders and the impact that it has on people's lives. If there's a trigger for you feel free to skip ahead or not listen to this one. It's definitely an amazing episode was just so open and honest, and I can't thank her enough. So strap in, get ready and roll the episode. Get a My name is Brock Cook and welcome to occupied. In this podcast we're aiming to put the occupation in occupational therapy. We explore the people, topics, theories and underpinnings that make this profession so incredible. If you're new here, you can find all of our previous episodes and resources that occupied podcast.com. But for now, let's roll the episode. Carissa Dyer 1:30Oh, yeah, yeah, um, well, originally when I went to undergrad, I was going in as a physical therapy major. And in the States, we don't have like, this is my physical therapy like bachelor degree, or at least at my university, we did it. So I was exercise science with a concentration in physical therapy. But my family and I went on vacation in Florida, like down a little further south in Florida. And we were on the beach and I heard this baby just like wailing crying, I think I was about I was a spouse be a sophomore in college. And I was like, Mom, that dad back there who looked so stressed out. He added like a little kind of toddler on the sand. And then somewhere was a baby wailing. And he just looked really stressed. His wife had just walked away with their other child to go into the ocean. And I'm like, I'm gonna go ask him if he needs help. And she goes, Okay. Um, so yeah, I went out and like, sir, you look really stressed. Like, are you okay? Like, I hear crying? What's going What's wrong? And he's like, Oh, my gosh, you're a lifesaver. So I started talking to this family, who, such a small world lives, 30 minutes away from where I grew up in Kentucky, and the mom comes back and her little boy has Down syndrome. And I love kids. I've always, you know, worked with kids growing up babysitting kids. And he has Down syndrome, and I'm just, you know, talking to her about her kid and, you know, services that he gets, because I tell her I'm a physical therapy, Exercise Science, pre PT. And she goes, Oh, well, we really got a lot out of occupational therapy. I'm like, Oh, what's that? And that kind of just started this spiral of me, really researching OT and I just really like how it's more holistic, and really client centered, where we make our goals based off of what the client wants, not just moving your body, which physical therapy is important. Um, I just feel like they have a different important aspect into someone's plan of care than what we do. Brock Cook 4:02Yeah, definitely. On the there's a spot for the professions that we have. It's just yeah, it just yeah, we we've, we're unique, and we just need to do that as well. So yeah, so random. action from the beach. Carissa Dyer 4:19Yeah, yeah. And, I mean, I still keep in contact with that family. I'm still friends. Yeah, yeah. And I'm 25 now and I met them when I was, I think I was about to turn 19. So I've kept in contact with them for a really long time. I was gonna do, they do the buddy walk. Every year. It's a walk for people with Down syndrome in the States. And there are different locations all throughout the US and pretty major cities. And I was going to go to that one, that they have a team every year for their son, but circumstances just didn't line up for me to go But I've still always like wanted to go. Yeah, yeah. Brock Cook 5:06So did you like change immediately like after that experience like Yep, now I'm doing it. Carissa Dyer 5:14I'm pretty much yeah. Yeah, once I cuz I was still on summer break at that point but once I got back on campus for the start of my sophomore year, which that's our second year in undergrad in the States. That's so weird to say that because talking to someone that's not us. Brock Cook 5:35I've watched enough movies I know thing. Carissa Dyer 5:37Yeah, yeah. Um, but yeah, pretty much as soon as I got back, I changed my major to, which is not that much different. It's really like once you get more into like, your senior year where the classes start to really vary. Yeah. On the prereqs for grad school, so but then I decided to pick up a health administration minor, and a psychology minor. Brock Cook 6:04Interesting. Yeah, yeah. So yeah. They were Where are you finished now? Are you still got Carissa Dyer 6:17my undergrad? Yeah. Yeah, I graduated my undergrad in 2018. And then I started graduate school for to get my doctorate degree and ot last January and 2020. So we were about a month and a half into school, and we went on spring break, and our professors are like, we're not sure if you're gonna come back and then we never came back. Oh, so that was great. I had to do cadaver and anatomy and physiology online. Which was terrible. Brock Cook 6:52That probably was in my personal preference. I hated doing those. Yeah, yeah. I was the smell. I couldn't do it. So online. Oh, suited me? Carissa Dyer 7:02Yeah. Yeah. I, I didn't really care about the smell. I just wanted like the hands on learning because I'm paying so much money, even though it's loans right now. But I was like, wow, this really sucks. Yeah, their pictures. were like, what are we looking at? Yeah, that doesn't even look like a femur. Brock Cook 7:19Yeah, yeah, that aspect of it. I can understand. Yeah. So how long have you got to go for your doctorate? Carissa Dyer 7:27Um, I graduated in August actually graduate on my birthday. Winning August. Yeah, yeah. August 13. So I have until the end of that month to get on my own insurance. That's great. That's how I'm looking at that. But uh, no, I'll be married by that time. So that'll be hopefully good. I can just hop on my future husband's insurance so yeah, in the states you get kicked off of your parent's insurance when you turn 26 Brock Cook 7:59I don't even though Yeah, we don't have that system so I don't have to worry about Carissa Dyer 8:03Yeah, yeah. Brock Cook 8:06Very American type of problem I think. Carissa Dyer 8:09Oh yes, it is. Brock Cook 8:11So what's at the moment obviously going through you Will you do like projects? And that's what like thesis projects and stuff for your doctoral program. what's what's your sort of current interest area? What area of practice you're leaning towards? Carissa Dyer 8:27Yeah, so mental health? Um, I have had my proof Yes. Considering your podcasts very concentrated around that. Um, yeah, mental health I didn't even know that ot you could do mental health I kind of had a very basic understanding of what ot can do going into grad school. And now I love it even more than when I told you that I met that family on the beach and decided to change my major. I'm just yeah, I look at like everything now through an OT lens. And I'm like, wow, this is pretty cool. Um, yeah, I, when was it? fall of last year was when we came back in the classes. And I started with a girl in the class ahead of me, the mental health specialty pathway. So at my school, we have we're allowed to do small difference, kind of like specialty clubs. We have a hand club, an older adult club, nikkyo pedes Club, an ergonomics and technology club, and now mental health club that myself and a girl in the cohort above me founded and it's still going strong. I'm proud of the people that took it over it. I check in on him every now and then just Make sure that they're doing okay. But it? I mean, yeah, cuz it's in its second semester of running. So I had no idea what I was doing, but I was just like, I hope this works. And people like it's Brock Cook 10:13usually the best idea stop. Yeah, yeah. So pretty much everything I've ever done started. I have no Carissa Dyer 10:21idea correct? Yeah, yeah. Brock Cook 10:24So it was so you said earlier that you did a site subject was that sort of where the passion for mental health came from or does that why you enrolled in that subject you already had an interest in it? Carissa Dyer 10:37Yeah. So I already had an interest in that subject because of my own personal experiences with mental health. And I

Are you client-centered? Are you sure? Does your initial reaction to a situation indicate that you are too? After coming across a little video of a man learning to use his new prosthesis with no supports outside on the grass. He falls multiples times but gets back up and keeps trying. Unfortunately, the original video has been removed so I can't show you all but I still wanted to share with you my reflections on the reaction to this video.  Look after yourself, look after others, and always keep Occupied Brock@brockcookOTbrock.cook@me.com If you want even more valuable content join for bonus podcast episodes, resources, mentorship and much much more! Transcript Brock Cook 0:00Good day and welcome to another episode. Before we get started, I just want to say a massive thanks to all of the the patrons that are supporting occupied on occupied plus over@patreon.com, forward slash occupied. Plus, you guys are amazing. I've had a couple of supervision slash mentorship sessions that I've jumped into in the last couple of days. And I'm just overwhelmed by the quality of clinician that is out there at the moment, this profession I can safely say is in very safe hands, going forward so warms my heart and makes me so happy to get to know you guys, and even happier that you are open and willing to support this podcast this projects, get the extra resources not always stoked when I get your reflections on those extra resources be that episodes or assessments or reflections that I put out. Yeah, it's overwhelming. If you are interested in joining those amazing people pop on over to patreon.com forward slash occupied plus there is a tier for your budget for your wants for your needs. There is something there for you. pop on over and have a look and just see what you might be able to get out of it. That always amazes me when you come across things that make you reflect on your own practice, no matter how small the things usually are. This episode is about one of those things so I'm very keen to hear your opinions, whether or not you have reflected and can relate, etc. So hit me up in the comments send me a DM send me an email, let me know. Get a My name is Brock Cook and welcome to occupied. In this podcast we're aiming to put the occupation in occupational therapy. We explore the people topics, theories and underpinnings that make this profession so incredible. If you're new here, you can find all of our previous episodes and resources at occupied podcast.com. But for now, let's roll the episode. So, picture this if you will. You rock up to Starbucks and order your favorite pumpkin spice macchiato. Chai whatever drink and the person behind the counter guys. Oh, that's a lot of sugar. I'm gonna give you an Americano instead. Because it's better for you. Would you be super stoked about that? Either they right? Does that matter? Let's level look at it. So technically, is an Americano, better than one of your super sugary pumpkin spice whatever's they're not wrong? Does that make it better for you? Well, objectively on paper with nothing else taking into account. It is a healthier drink than the other one. Taking into account the context of your diet being eaten around that how you exercise your current physical status. Yeah, it gets a little bit more complex. But for the most part, on average, most people would probably agree much lower in galleries like 10 calories versus 2000. Probably a relatively easy decision as to which drink was healthy physically. Now, mentally, on that day, you are just really fighting to get your teeth around some pumpkin spice. Because apparently at this time of year, that's the thing to do. That person has made the decision for you that no, this is going to be better for you. You're not having that you're having this instead. How does that make you feel? You're thinking about this drink all day, hanging for it. You've planned out a time where you can go and get it you're going to sit down you're going to enjoy it. How does it make you feel having someone else tell you not gonna do it this way. I want you to have a reflect on that. Positive if you need I'll get to the point behind in a second, but I really want you to work out how you would feel in that situation. For me, I am quite consciously aware that I am not the best one being told what to do. I've always been that way. I don't know whether it was growing up listening to punk rock, or captaining sports teams or, you know, just always wanting to be in some kind of leadership position as a kid. I don't know what it is. But I've never been particularly fond of just being told flat what to do. Now if I'm told what to do and I get a good explanation and then I kind of agree with it. Or for it, no worries at all too easy let's go ahead let's do that plan. But just being told not I know what's better that for you than you know what's better for you. The that doesn't fly. I suspect that there's probably quite a few of you listening to this that may lean towards that maybe not to that extreme. But being able to make your own decisions and not have the made by someone else for you, is probably something that a lot of you find quite important. I would imagine I would love to hear from you if you disagree, or if you agree with this. But here's the point that I want to get to. I was scrolling through Facebook as you do one of my not so favorite pastimes but something I definitely still do. And I came across this video this video was posted in a Facebook group. It was a video of a sort of, from what look like a middle aged man who had lost part of his leg and seem to be learning again, there was no context to this video. It was just the video seems to be learning how to walk again with a prosthesis. He was walking on like a grassy area there seemed to be some kind of therapist or doctor or someone with him someone in scrubs in the sort of background, but he was trying to independently mobilize using this prosthesis. He was for the first few clips anyway like making it one or two steps and then falling over on the grass. And the video was in continually like it was short clips of him continually trying to walk independently without any aids other than the prosthesis obviously without any support from other people without any walking rails treadmills, any of that stuff. To me initially the video was kind of nonchalant it wasn't anything that I was like oh wow, look at that. That's amazing. I'm like okay, that's cool. I've seen similar videos in the past. I've seen videos of pulled together people may or may not know of him if you haven't definitely look him up. He is an ex Navy Diver clearance diver from Australia who was attacked by a shark in Sydney Harbour lost one leg and one arm and yeah, and I've read his books and followed his story for a long time but I've seen him do a very similar video about himself when he got a new prosthesis I think it was a running processes as opposed to just his everyday walking what he calls his walking leg and him trying to get used to that and doing a very similar thing trying failing trying failing trying failing trying failing trying failing until eventually he got it the thing so like I said that video to me when I first watched it I'm like cool. Yep, that's pretty cool. But it wasn't anything dramatic. And then I found the comments. Again, this is in an OT group so I am presuming majority of these comments are coming from either OTS or ot students the comments for the vast majority of them were trashing the the health service whatever service that may have been that that person was involved in for not implementing all of these supports walking rails Why was there no one hanging on to him? You know, why are we letting him fall over what if he gets hurts all of these kinds of things which on face value, again, objectively without any other context. Potentially valid arguments. But there was one thing missing from all of these replies. So I being me, couldn't help myself but point out this one thing that was missing. And that was the fact that what if that was that person's preferred way of learning? What if that was how they wanted to do it? What if they didn't want to be that person who relied on grading things right down to walking hanging onto two rails which don't know about you, but I've never done that in my life. in everyday life, I've never gone all of two rails and grabbed onto them and walked hanging onto two rails. Understand completely, I'm not saying that they don't have their place. But I need people to be a little bit more open minded when they're looking at these things. Here's the reply that I put into the group. So I write honestly, if you're thinking of the operational issues before thinking of the client, you're doing it wrong. If I was in the situation, and the therapist wanted to put all of those restrictions on how I learned how to use my prosthetics, I'd probably tell them to get effort as well. I don't think therapists recognize how disenfranchising it is having your choices and wishes ignored, because a process of processing quotes. Now, this is assuming that it is his choice, and he wants to learn on the grass with minimal supports. I'm not saying it's the safest or most efficient method, but it's his method. Don't shut down every idea just because your initial reaction is in quotes. That's not how I do it. Because you're not right, there is no absolute truth. Now, I want to unpack that a little bit. And I did a little Episode A while ago,

Emily Roberts has really begun to champion the niche of body image within the OT community. She has @thebodyimageOT on Instagram where she posts excellent information and resources all about healthy body image. I wanted to have a conversation with her and find out more about OT's role in this space and what drew her to this area of practice and passion.  After you've listened definitely give her a follow if you're not already

Connecting with Allie has been an absolute blessing. You may know her better as @patchesofot and the host of the Patches of OT podcast. Her content is super unique and deeply personally engrained. This engrained passion is what initially drew me to her. We discuss all things trauma and her experience she had through researching it through her doctorate.  If you don't already, jump on and follow Allie on insta and also give her podcast a listen! Look after yourself, look after others and always keep Occupied Brock@brockcookOTbrock.cook@me.com If you want even more valuable content join for bonus podcast episodes, resources, mentorship and much much more! Transcript Brock Cook 0:01Hi, and welcome to a brand new episode. This episode, I sat down with the wonderful Allie Watkins, you may know her on Instagram as patches of OT, her Capstone for her doctorate program was around looking at essentially the the vicarious trauma caused in a forensic nursing setting in an emergency department. And so we delve into that, and what lessons may be learned for Occupational Therapists from that as well. I will preface this by saying that we do talk broadly about a variety of different traumas that we're seeing through that emergency department. If that is something that triggers you, then please feel free to skip this one and hang out for the next episode. But it is a very valuable learning experience. And I thank Ollie a ton for coming on and having the conversation with me. So let's roll the intro. Get a My name is Brock Cook, and welcome to occupied. In this podcast, we're aiming to put the occupation in occupational therapy. We explore the people topics, theories and underpinnings that make this profession so incredible. If you're new here, you can find all of our previous episodes and resources at occupied podcast.com. But for now, let's roll the episode. Allie Watkins 1:33That's a great question. I started out at my bachelor's degree studying Science Technology and Society, which is a degree pretty much for the unknown. And I was going to be a it is very, very broad. And so my goal and undergrad was to become a pediatric oncologist, a doctor. But I went through a lot of life events that made me reconsider. One was in high school. I helped a victim drown, and it was a friend of mine. And I thought it was a sign of that I need to get into the health field. And I developed PTSD. from that situation, I didn't know that I developed PTSD. And so I went years having these symptoms and thinking that there was something wrong with me. And I was like, How can I be a medical doctor if I am triggered by saving someone's life. And so I started reconsidering, you know, what I'm going to do for my career. And my aunt currently at the time was working at an OT program, and she's like, you should do occupational therapy. And he said, I have no idea what that is. I am not interested. Brock Cook 2:56No, not like PT, Allie Watkins 2:57like I was the no one knows. And she said, You know, they work with kids, they work with adults. They even can work with cancer patients. And I was so interested in that. And I was like, Huh, so I started researching it my senior year of college. And, you know, I was like, wow, this is sounds exactly what I wanted to do. You can, you know, then I was considering at the time PT versus OT, and I really liked how ot looked at the mind. And, you know, mental health part of it. And so, you know, having PTSD and depression and anxiety, and going through all that I was like, oh T is more my route. And I can probably help people more with those mental health issues than their physical bodies in general. And so I applied for ot school, I had to take one year break to take like anatomy courses that I never took at my undergrad school because it was pa and pharmacy driven where I went to school and so I had never had the opportunity to take the anatomy courses. And so that's where my ot journey kind of begins. Brock Cook 4:09So what was the Why would you find it? I've not heard of someone so young having such an interesting cancer was their experience that sort of drove you to that? Allie Watkins 4:27Yes, when I was really young, I have a younger brother and we went to daycare. And our friend My brother's best friend developed leukemia. And that was the first time we've heard what they call the C word which is cancer. And, you know, we would go to his house and play with him and he would get sick and then we would go to the Children's Hospital here in Indianapolis called Riley's and we would make treats for all the families who were in the oncology department. And so, the weekend before he passed, we went and visited him. And I went to the room next to him what was a cancer patient and his sister, the, the child's sister asked me if you want to play a board game, and I said, Okay, why not. And she looked really sad when I entered the room. And then once we started playing, I think it was Candyland. a board game. She was so happy, it changed her whole outlook of the day, just to have three little girls all in one room in her hospital bed playing a board game. And from there, I said, I want to make kids happy when they're going through such a toll of cancer. And so that moment on I knew that that's kind of what I wanted to do. Brock Cook 5:56That's beautiful. Allie Watkins 5:59Thank you. Brock Cook 6:02This Yeah, thinking about it. I'm sorry. Yeah. Allie Watkins 6:07I said, Just thinking about it right now. I'm like, wow, I forgot about that, like story. You know, I don't get to talk about it that often. But it's like, oh, you know, it does, like, bring, it's emotional. But definitely wasn't one of the one of the most rewarding things in my life at a young age, especially to learn and develop empathy as a child. Brock Cook 6:31Yeah. And that's, that's a, that's a pretty heavy experience for for any kid to sort of go through. That's why I was, it's, I've not heard of anyone straight out of the gate going, like, I want to work in oncology. I'm like, that spot didn't even know what oncology meant when I was a kid. So I would assume there was some history there. But it sounds like it was a fairly pivotal moment in your development, if even if it wasn't to do with your career, but Allie Watkins 7:03Oh, definitely, I would, you know, everybody asked when you're growing up, what do you want be when you would be an IV, like pediatric oncologist and be like, what? Brock Cook 7:13fireman or Superman and you want a pediatric? Yeah. Allie Watkins 7:21And, you know, I'm, I'm very lucky that with OT, you can work with patients, it's, it's hard to get into, I will say, and, but you can work with people that have an oncology department, and I hope one day that I could do that. Brock Cook 7:37So that's still the goal is to work in that field. Allie Watkins 7:44I think so, um, you know, now that I've been on rotations there, like I worked a lot in outpatient pedes. And so you see, I've worked with a couple kids that have survived cancer. And, you know, I still am very rewarded with that I feel when you are so compassionate or passionate about population, and then you get to work with them. And then your kind of cup is filled, and you're not as burnt out. And so, I'm working with them. I'm like, okay, like this, I also had a placement in Hippotherapy, and I loved it, there was so magical to see the kids get on the horses, and with all different diagnosis, and they felt like they were included for the first time that they could do something that other people could do. That was hard and challenging. And so I think that is also something I could see myself doing. Brock Cook 8:40I'm sure there's probably even areas we can bind to. I'd be surprised there wasn't given the just how those caper theory how hypnotherapy works, etc. Allie Watkins 8:57Oh, sure, I was going to do my capstone on service animals and cancer. There's a big research on how kids with cancer develop a high a score due to medical trauma that they are going through in all the mental health issues that they will continue to have if they survived cancer, because if you develop cancer at a young age, you're always going to have that fear once they're going to come back. Yep. And so being, you know, an OT, to help kind of work through that trauma. And usually when people are impacted at such a young age with trauma, they are they like lack social skills, they lack the ability to just have those developmental milestones meet. And so I think it would be super, super interesting to have an OT who specializes in animal assisted therapy and then oncology to help with that gap. Brock Cook 9:58So with the Just thinking about all what you just said then about how kids who develop cancer, when they, when they, when they're kids, obviously, when they're younger, tend to have this sort of constant fear about when it's coming back. Was there any sort of, I guess, similar fear but vicariously for you going through the experience you had with your brother's friend? Did you sort of develop this, like all it could happen to me kind of, I guess fear at a young age. Oh, Allie Watkins 10:31oh, totally. I like I constantly I actually have found cancer on my body. And so I'm a freckly girl. And so I have to get like my moles and freckles checked. And so I actua

On Occupied we get to speak to a lot OT's from all over this amazing world but when I heard that there were OT's in the Arctic I was blown away! This is why I had to bring in Rachel Schooley on to explore this very unique part of the world to practice in. Exploring how Rachel navigates living on traditional peoples land and working with their populations. This convo was absolutely eye opening and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Look after yourself, look after others and always keep Occupied Brock@brockcookOTbrock.cook@me.comwww.occupiedpodcast.comwww.patreon.com/occupiedplus Transctiption Brock Cook 0:00Have you ever been to the Arctic? Have you ever worked in the Arctic? Have you ever even considered what an OT might do in the Arctic? Well, this episode is gonna hopefully shed some light on that, as I had the amazing Rachel skoolie come in and talk about her job doing exactly that. The Arctic OT, we discuss a lot of the challenges benefits of this very unique environment. Get a My name is Brock Cook, and welcome to occupied. In this podcast, we're aiming to put the occupation in occupational therapy, we explore the people, topics, theories and underpinnings that make this profession so incredible. If you're new here, you can find all of our previous episodes and resources that occupied podcast.com. But for now, let's roll the episode. Yeah, so Rachel Schooley 1:04I was working in group homes for many years, kind of, you know, between my teens into my 20s, and have done a degree in sociology and women's studies, that was my undergraduate degree. And my partner had just finished a degree in biology and was applying to become an OT, and I had no idea what ot was at that time. After a bit of investigation, yeah, it just seemed like all the parts of the job I already had, that I loved the most really like finding things that were meaningful for folks that are improved quality of life and bring joy to activity. And so I thought I would apply as well. And we actually ended up doing the OT program at the same time with a with a baby and it was great. You know, I learned a lot and definitely opened my eyes to a lot of different parts of ot some some that really fit well with what I wanted to do with my life and others not so much. But I think that's the beauty of the profession, too, is that you can kind of make it fit with with what you're looking for, in some circumstances, others maybe not so much. Brock Cook 2:24Yeah, definitely. And that's something I try and tell people a lot is that it isn't, I don't view it as sort of this unique, while it is unique, but this sort of very individualized profession. It's kind of something that you combine with skills that you already have, or experiences you've already had, and then you turn it into whatever you want. Rachel Schooley 2:46Absolutely. Yeah. And it's interesting, because, you know, my first year of our ot program, and it's a master's level program in Canada, I guess, probably all over the place it is. But I thought like what have I done? Just doing, you know, anatomy courses, and like I said, Bachelor of sociology and women's studies, like never touched anatomy with a 10 foot pole. That's no, not nominated. Yeah, exactly. And it's pretty intense. Like we had three months to learn the entirety of it. And I felt a little bit like my first placement was on stroke rehab, and I really did enjoy it I loved. And because I had the experience with the group homes, I was trusted to do the transfers and different parts of the placement that maybe if I were a fresh grad with no work experience I would have been able to do and so that was really great. But my second placement, student placement that I had was at the AIDS committee of Kitchener Waterloo. And so working with folks that, you know, were living with HIV, and it was more of a systems level placement. So less clinical work, but more looking at like, how are we informing the programming that's available to these folks and speaking to policymakers and so that was like my first dose of, of systems level OT and I loved it, and I love the social justice components that that I could dive into with ot. And it kind of just snowballed from there. My next placement was with the hepatitis C clinic who I actually ended up working for after graduation. They have an amazing mobile health unit. And so yeah, yeah. Brock Cook 4:46What I've never heard of it working on a health clinic, what's what's the OTS role on Rachel Schooley 4:55the clinic itself, you know, it has the medical side of things. But because, you know, the people that are most at risk for hepatitis C, or those who, you know, are using intravenous drug because and maybe unstably housed or or houseless. And so a big part of my role there was exploring, I mean, a big part of it was really exploring what it does, because there was no team working there when I did my student placement. And so it was doing a lot of outreach with this incredible team, like Dream Team, and they had a mobile health unit that would go out when I was there, I think it was only once or twice a week in the evenings. And they would literally meet people where they were at. So we'd go to various parks or whatever, and provide, you know, harm reduction supplies, but also just necessities of daily living. And my role was like a slow, it was a slow roll out. So initially, like gaining trust of folks, but then really, like, there was one fellow who was just kind of like always tapping on things and, and got to know him a little bit and found out that he used to play the drums and really enjoy playing the drums and found that was really soothing. And so like, I didn't need to talk about what occupational therapy was right? Like, that wasn't important, but how do I help facilitate access to this occupation that's meaningful for him? Yeah, and so that was kind of it, I did a bit of support coordination for them after graduation. So not all, specifically, OT but there was a lot of cognitive component to and, you know, working with folks on this harm reduction idea of, Okay, if you want to, you know, use less substance in your life, what, what can you do during that time that will be enjoyable for you and will make, you know, the reduction of substance use more attainable? It was awesome. I love that job is great. Brock Cook 7:03So that that harm reduction thing, as I assume were you and Rina connected Rachel Schooley 7:08yes, yes. Yeah, it's funny, you know, I didn't I until I listened to her episode with you, I didn't realize that she was, you know, the moderator for harm reduction ot or whatever the Facebook group is. I remember that being kind of an early connection for me with my old Facebook profile that I'd left behind a couple years ago, but because I really at that time, couldn't I didn't have any connections of other OTS doing the work. And I remember even asking my call, like, how do I document my interactions with people when they don't trust enough to even give me their name? Well, their health? You know, like, I don't need to know how, and they were like, well, if they're not giving you their name, like are they really in a place where they should be getting occupational therapy services not struck me a lot is like, maybe there needs to be a change in our profession a little bit, because I think anybody could use occupational therapy services, and everyone is deserving of them. But especially folks who are super marginalized, like we have this ability to kind of assess the situation in a holistic way and and figure out the best means of support moving forward, and it could be delegation, you know, like, connecting the person to a social worker connecting them to support coordination and connecting them to health care. But I think Brock Cook 8:36Yeah, yeah, Rachel Schooley 8:37I think ot I'm glad to see it moving in that direction a little bit or not, you know, I've chatted with Rina, a bit about it as well. Because it was a huge area of passion of mine before moving up here. And it remains a huge area passionate, it fits whatever geographical area you're in. So yeah. Brock Cook 8:57So you made mention of it just then when you said moving up here, and that was one of the reasons why we are why your account on Instagram originally caught my, my eye and what we originally connected over and what I wanted to have a chat with you about. So your Instagram account is Arctic ot. And I was like, that sounds interesting. Because I feel like the majority of the world probably outside of your area of the world when they think of the Arctic they're either gonna think of Polo Santa. So are you able to explain I guess why you are called the Arctic OT? Rachel Schooley 9:39Yeah, why am I Well, I mean, I guess I was looking for like a simple way to connect with other OTS and hoping really to connect with other OTS working in the circumpolar region because we're You know, in, in this entire region where I'm in right now, there's three of us, and one is my partner, and myself and then another fellow. And I think we're pretty limited in terms of ot support or the type of work that we're able to do. And so I was really looking to connect with other people living and working in the solar

It's OT Month, and also Nicole's birthday month! In this brief little treat of an episode, we talk about word choice. She's a mild gal on the OT spiciness scale. We begin by examining some terms identified by Brock Cook, in the most recent episode of his OT podcast Occupied, as terms that should be used with caution, or perhaps, not at all. Per protocol, we had thoughts to add, discussing the way we have used these terms in our episodes. With Autism Awareness Month underway, we also wanted to discuss the use of language around autism, citing this article from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network to start the discussion. Though we didn't mention them in the episode, Autism Level Up is also doing excellent work in this area, and is an amazing resource to learn more about autism advocacy. Changing habits around language use is difficult work, but it comes much easier when you understand other perspectives!

So many times over my career I've heard cliche's and platitudes used by therapists and often wondered….do they know what that actually means? Recently I've had a number of discussions on this podcast about terms used that are used incorrectly OR used as lip service and I thought it was about time I did an episode and explored some of these.  Terms explored in this episode include: HolisticWoo WooFunctionServingand more…. Tune in to hear my reflections from my brain and a dictionary. I'd love to hear from you. Drop me an email or a DM on socials and talk to me about how I can give you even more value. If you know other OTs who would also get value from Occupied or Occupied plus then let them know and send them to occupiedpodcast.com. I can't wait to see you next episode. Look after yourself, look after others and always keep Occupied Brock@brockcookOTbrock.cook@me.comwww.occupiedpodcast.com Transcription Brock Cook 0:00A quick message to let you know that occupied plus has launched over on Patreon. If you are looking for some extra value from occupied extra podcast episodes, downloadable resources, access to me supervision, mentorship, and many, many, many, many more things that I will be continually trying to add more and more to than jump over to patreon.com forward slash occupied plus, and check us out tiers starting from $4 us a month, it is bargain basement for extra value that can add to your clinical practice. Now let's check out this episode. I've been meaning to record an episode like this for some time. And I finally got around to putting it together and bringing this to you. There are quite a few things that ot say on the daily that I see very regularly on social media, in ot related groups, etc. that I don't feel like OTS fully understand what they're actually implying when they use certain terms and certain words. So I was actually have a look at the definition of some of the things that we say and see whether or not it actually matches up with what we are intending it to say. Get a My name is Brock Cook and welcome to occupied. In this podcast. We're aiming to put the occupation in occupational therapy, we explore the people, topics, theories and underpinnings that make this profession so incredible. If you're new here, you can find all of our previous episodes and resources that occupied podcast.com. But for now, let's roll the episode. All right, so firstly, I want to lay out there that this is absolutely in no way intended as an attack on anyone or anything like that. This is simply me looking at patents that I see within promotional material things that people put out there with regards to the profession, how we work, what we do with people, etc. That has never fully sat right with me because I just had this sort of gut feeling that some of it didn't make a lot of sense based on my understanding of the definitions of these words. I know often the the the term semantics is often thrown around for Potato Potato. Why does it matter? But semantics matters, semantics is the use of linguistics, the study of language and what words actually mean. So it's kind of important, especially from a profession that is continually complaining that the one word that we use to define our our profession is used or known for a different definition by the general public. I don't think we can have our cake and eat it too in this instance. So I just wanted to have a look at some of these words. If you've got other ones, let me know. And I can do a follow up and we can explore other words, but these are a few that. Some of them I've spoken about before some of them I have never mentioned. But let's have a roll, let's have a look and see what we can find. So the first one is one that I've explored many times on the podcast, but I would be remiss if I left it out, and that is function. So actually having a look at definitions of functions, it's looking at effect is related to or dependent on other factors. Now when I explained my aversion to using the term within our profession, I use the example of mathematics as does this Deaf dictionary definition as well, where it explains that this factor dependent on other factors is for example, the price is a function of supply and demand. That's some basic mathematical formula that you can use to work that kind of stuff out. But when you input some set of numbers at the end, you're going to get exactly the same format the exact same function out the other end of it because it's consistent, and people are not consistent. People do not conform to if I input the same data into one situation in a person, I'm not always going to get exactly the same outcome. So that's my aversion to function. There are certain professions that use that term quite successfully. For me Apple, if you're looking at sort of manual muscle testing and that sort of stuff, if you put a certain charge through a muscle, you're going to get a certain reaction, there are parts of the body that do behave in a functional manner. But the person as a whole, yes, there is some predictability but not completely to the point where you could say, Yeah, they're they work functionally. In that instance, and we have other words, we have occupation, as a lot of therapists have an aversion to using the term, I've explained quite a few times how you can explain it, that just makes sense to people. But we have terms that we can use that one better explain what we actually do. But to also better encapsulate the breadth of service that we actually can provide. The next one that I want to have a look at. And I know that some of these words are going to get some people's backs up. But what I would encourage you to do is if you do have an aversion when I bring up a word or a term, have a think have a reflect, because why you're reacting to something is also a very important thing to reflect on. So the next one I want to bring up is holistic. For a long time, I've often been of the ilk that we're not holistic, OTS are not holistic, there are very few professions, if any profession that actually are holistic. When we look at the definition of the term, from a philosophical point of view, it's the theory that whole entities as fundamental components of reality have an existence other than as the mere sum of their parts. So you know, that you will have heard that in textbooks that people are more than the sum of their parts, that kind of thing. There is more to a person, then just the different systems within the body, you know, we have our limbic system and our gastritis, and all those sorts of things. And we put those all together, and that is a person. No, there's a lot more to it. And yes, if you're looking purely at that, you could probably maybe justify ot as holistic. When we look at medicine, like a medical definition. It's looking at the care of the entire patient in all aspects of wellbeing, including physical, psychological, and social. And I believe that if you take those last three areas out of context of the whole definition, then yeah, OTS, right, we look at those things, as a profession, as an individual therapist, you should be at least see during those things. But we don't care for the entire patient, based on all three of those things at the same time. Ideal? Well, yeah, it would be amazing if we can. But in reality, as a profession, there are probably enough people working in enough different areas that we could call IoT, as a profession, holistic as a health service, I would hope that a really well designed Health Service has enough different professions, looking at all of the different aspects that make up a person's health and well being that the health service could be deemed as holistic. Now, I know there's a lot of issues with different health services. So I'm not going to say that health services are but in the ideal world, you would hope that a well designed well resourced health service could follow fall into that classification. And individual therapists, I think you would really struggle. I know for one, me as a, an OT work who worked in mental health, yeah, psychological social, all over that. All over that the physical stuff, I can make recommendations, there are a lot of physical aspects of ot I have absolutely no idea about and I would not look at, I might get someone else to do it. But again, that's because the health service I was working within was holistic, not me as a as an occupational therapist. And I believe that the I guess morphing of this term, is where we're getting slightly stuck with our use of it. So yes, we do look at the person as a whole but we don't provide care for that person as a whole. We can't, we can't we just don't have have the resources, I don't know if one any one person has even the brain capacity for the amount of knowledge that would be required to do that. But the term in more recent years has almost been hijacked and sort of modified in this term holistic health. And what Holistic Health tends to look at is those professions that aren't generally you identified during general health discussions. So you're gonna have things like counseling, art therapy, being a youth worker, kinesiologist hypnotherapist, a lot of Eastern style, alternative and air quotes, alternative medicine type professions, tend to come under the moniker of holistic health. Now, that's n

In this episode, I meet Brock Cook: an occupational therapist with a wealth of information and insight into mental health. We discuss what on earth an occupational therapist is, how occupational health can support mental health suffers and how Brock's own mental health journey contributes towards his own dealings with patients. Join us! You can find Brock here: https://brockcook.com/category/podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/Occupiedpodcast/ https://twitter.com/brockcookOT You can rate me here: https://ratethispodcast.com/chewy Social Media Follow me on Twitter: @headchewy Instagram: chewyheadpodcast Facebook: chewyheadpodcast Gmail: chewyheadpodcast@gmail.com Music Attributes Upbeat Forever by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5011-upbeat-forever License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Feelings matter- if you're contemplating suicide seek help: Samaritans 116 123 Crisis 0800 028 8000 Suicide Prevention Hotline 800-273-TALK (8255) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/chewy-head-podcast/message

Occupational therapist from DOWN UNDER, Brock Cook, shares his experience working in mental health. His experience helped him identify coping skills for when things in his own life took a turn. Brock role-models self-awareness, trial and error, and multiple self-care modalities, so don't miss this one! *Facebook* : groups/doseofsuppor ( http://www.facebook.com/groups/doseofsuppor ) t *Website* : www.doseofsupport.com ( http://www.doseofsupport.com/ ) *Patreon* : Link ( http://www.patreon.com/doseofsupport ) *SHARE YOUR STORY* : Link ( https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TJ56P7Z )

What is occupational therapy? How can we best describe it? How do we bring occupation to the forefront of our practice? Why shouldn't we be conforming to the medical model ways? What language should we use in our practice? Why should we be looking beyond the diagnostic label? Your questions answered.

What is occupational therapy? How can we best describe it? How do we bring occupation to the forefront of our practice? Why shouldn't we be conforming to the medical model ways? What language should we use in our practice? Why should we be looking beyond the diagnostic label? Your questions answered.

For this group we listened to the OT Roundtable podcast episode 3, Who is the Imposter? In this episode hosts Sarah Putt, Brock Cook and Michelle Amussen are joined by Alondra Ammon, to discuss their experiences and knowledge of imposter syndrome. Listen to it here:http://www.theotroundtable.com/03-2/ Our conversation developed around themes of definition, belonging, feedback, normalisation and the influence of the environment.

In this episode we were inspired by the Occupied podcast episode Online Technology for Occupational Therapy, listen to it here:http://www.occupiedpodcast.com/060-2/In the episode, voted in the top 4 of Occupied episodes last year, Brock Cook chats with Anita Hamilton, an expert and leader in the space of OT's utilising online technology. Anita has been a massive proponent of the OT4OT group who founded and continue to help facilitate the whole range of 4OT facebook communities.Our conversation ranged from talking about student experiences and learning, OT4OT itself and other uses of technology, social media more generally, the impact of covid-19 and our first experiences of joining a podcast club.

We meet australian occupational therapist Brock Cook, who speaks about his journey to becoming an OT. Brock also hosts a podcast series in occupation and OT and interviews guests from all over the world. You can find more about him and his work at http://www.brockcook.com/

Sarah and Brock discuss: His favorite things about OTHow his podcast Occupied has impacted his own learning: http://www.brockcook.com/category/podcast/Hero vs Anti-hero theoryImportance of understanding complex theories and how they apply to understand people betterSelf-awareness as a therapistThe great coriander debate“Pot Stir Thursday” on MH4OT: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MH4OT/How he came to think about things differentlyEmpowering his students to think for themselvesThe fear of failureTaking a step back to realize where you areEpisode 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 learningWhere he wants to see the profession of occupational therapy go in the futureBrock’s episode with Professor Gail Whiteford: http://www.brockcook.com/024/What Brock has learned from podcastingThe 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/ottalkContact Brock:Website: http://www.occupiedpodcast.comEmail: brock.cook@me.comTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/brockcookOTInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/occupiedpodcastFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/occupiedpodcast 

Comorbidity is the presence of one or more additional conditions co-occurring with a primary condition. In this episode, host schizophrenic Rachel Star Withers with her cohost Gabe Howard will be discussing comorbidity with schizophrenia. Comorbidity is associated with worse health outcomes, more complex clinical management and increased health care costs. Occupational therapist Brock Cook will be joining us to discuss ways that he works with people with schizophrenia to manage multiple health issues. 

Comorbidity is the presence of one or more additional conditions co-occurring with a primary condition. In this episode, host schizophrenic Rachel Star Withers with her cohost Gabe Howard will be discussing comorbidity with schizophrenia. Comorbidity is associated with worse health outcomes, more complex clinical management and increased health care costs. Occupational therapist and host of the podcast Occupied, Brock Cook, will be joining us to discuss ways that he works with people with schizophrenia to manage multiple health issues. 

Comorbidity is the presence of one or more additional conditions co-occurring with a primary condition. In this episode, host schizophrenic Rachel Star Withers with her cohost Gabe Howard will be discussing comorbidity with schizophrenia. Comorbidity is associated with worse health outcomes, more complex clinical management and increased health care costs. Occupational therapist and host of the podcast Occupied, Brock Cook, will be joining us to discuss ways that he works with people with schizophrenia to manage multiple health issues. 

Mental Health in Occupational Therapy- quite the oxymoron right? At least in the United States. In this episode we got to chat with Brock Cook, an occupational therapist from Australia and a mental health advocate. Brock shares his approach to mental health, his experiences as a professor, an overview of the Australian healthcare system, and more. Brock is all-around a cool guy that we had so much fun chatting with and exchanging our own experiences with healthcare. If you enjoy this episode and the show, we ask you for a HUGE favor. Please rate us (ahem, preferably those five stars) and leave a short yet sweet and honest review! Nothing moves our show forward more than that. It makes us so grateful and we always do a little dance when someone takes the time to make our day like that. We thank you so much! Connect with Brock: http://www.brockcook.com/ Connect with Brock on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keeperbarbell/ Occupied Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/occupiedpodcast/ Occupied Podcast: http://www.brockcook.com/subscribe/ Show Notes/blog post: www.joyenergytime.com/blog/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/burntouttolitup/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/burntouttolitup Free Ten Tips for Occupational Therapists on Using Mindfulness Interventions: joyenergytime.mykajabi.com/p/ot-mindfulness-guide Free Stress + Burnout Guide for Healthcare Professionals: https://joyenergytime.mykajabi.com/p/freeburnoutpreventionguide Support the Podcast! patreon.com/burntouttolitup Our website: joyenergytime.com/podcast

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!