The Brave OT Podcast

We all know the uncertainty that surrounds our profession, how we communicate it to others, how we define our scope and impact, how others see our value. Yet I think we deeply know our value and purpose as OTs. In my role supporting OTs in their personal and professional development, I know that this uncertainty sometimes undermines the confidence of OTs, particularly when stepping out of traditional roles and into private practice or emerging roles. What if we reframe that uncertainty as an opportunity rather than a problem? What if we look at it as a way to explore with our clients rather than dictating a path based on our “expert recommendations”? In this episode of The BRAVE OT Podcast, Brad Williams and I dive into the world of occupational therapy and explore how to stand firm in the values of OT and lean into the uncertainty that naturally arises. Brad is an Australian OT and founder of The Becoming Collective, an online community of occupational therapists who are trying to reconnect with the roots of their profession and understand what occupational therapy means to them as individuals. In this interview, Brad shares his insights on the importance of being brave and leaning into uncertainty, the value of understanding your own values and ways of seeing the world, and the role of occupational therapy in nature. He also talks about his vision for The Becoming Collective and how he connects with his own values by creating a community of OTs who are cruising in a similar direction and sharing tools to support each other. Brad and I share a philosophy about doing things imperfectly so that we can learn and grow in the process of implementation and co-creation with our clients, be they traditional recipients of OT services or the OTs in our communities. Join us as we explore the world of occupational therapy and discover the power of embracing uncertainty and leaning into our values. If you're interested in connecting with me, I'd love to hear from you at cneek@balanceworksot.ca or on Facebook As of mid-March 2023, Brad is opening up enrolment for The Becoming Collective so be sure to check it out if you're curious. If you are enjoying the content in this podcast, I'd appreciate a rating or review on your podcast platform or even send an episode to a friend. These actions help the people who need to hear these messages find them. Be BRAVE OTs!

Come jam with 2 mental health OTs, on 2 continents who coach other therapists and have similar names. Karlien and Carlyn at your service! We talk about finding our way in business, applying what we know to impact other therapists in how they find values alignment personally and professionally. Karlien Terblanche joined my ACTivate Vitality program last year and was gracious enough to come on the podcast to talk about the experience of being a mental health OT who coaches other therapists and how we all need to navigate challenges as we move along in our businesses. The good news is that you don't have to do it alone. If you find yourself wanting to jump into this conversation with us, maybe we should talk. I'd love to invite you to the ACTivate Vitality program where Karlien and I, along with many other fantastic OTs, are navigating growth together in community.  Book a time to chat with me. Mental health therapists in South Africa who are starting private practices are invited to connect with Karlien on Instagram @karlien_ot. Be sure to check out the Thriving Therapist Mini Podcast. Mentions: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Psychosocial Interactive Model - Irvin Yalom Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman Values-guided living Therapists getting the help they need

Imagine going about your work as an OT in a completely open, curious, exploratory kind of way, letting go of the bounds of externally imposed timelines, locations, goals, expectations and pace.  For some this might sound like occupational utopia. For others it may sound terrifyingly unclear and frustratingly aimless. Either way, you're going to want to crack your mind open and join Kary and I on a conversational journey as she describes how she has come to work in an entirely different way that follows the rhythms and seasons of her life, her evolving personal and professional values, and expanding into opportunities that arise in the space created by scrapping the 5 year plan. Our guest, Kary Gillenwaters is an occupational therapist and entrepreneur in Minnesota. She has spent most of her life collecting insights from lived experiences in her roles as an addictions counselor, friend, consultant, mother, wife, daughter, educator, and student. All of these roles, in retrospect, began with some variation of, "it was not what I planned." The learnings from these experiences have led her to her latest endeavors that are focused more on collective occupational needs than individual needs alone. You can find her blog, To a Life Well Occupied, here Authentic Connection is an Important Value of Mine. I am passionate about empowering OT business owners to THRIVE without the HUSTLE. If you need support and community to make important shifts in how your work is flowing as part of your life, I'd love to talk to you. I have a community of OTs just like you who are growing together in beautifuly personal and professional ways. Curious? Let's have a quick, casual 15 min chat. Book here.

Work-life balance, occupational balance, balancing roles, finding balance. These are all terms that roll around in conversations among business owners. Well, occupational therapists are probably the only ones talking about occupational balance. What is it? Where do we find it? OTs often come to me searching for this elusive thing we call balance and in the next breath they tell me they want to be more productive. I think the thought process there is, "If I get more done in less time, I can have more time to do the things I want to do outside of work." No! Here's the thing, you probably are getting a lot done in the time you're working. What you probably need is to shift how you are looking at your resources, your expectations, your definitions of success, and ultimately show up with more flexibility.  Ashley Reina is my guest on this episode and we dive into all of it. Ashley is a leader in the area of OT business. She and her husband co-own Therabyte which is practice management software.  They have 3 kids and Ashley has a pediatric private practice. She's also a fellow Canadian and University of Alberta grad. We talk all about breaking up with hustle culture, balance, filling your own up furst, boundaries, making your business goals work for you and finding the kind of support you need to thrive. On February 15, 2023, we are engaging in another conversation. Therabyte is hosting me in a webinar, Building a Business and Confidence One Small Towards Move at a Time. Register to join this free event here. If you have any questions for Ashley, you can reach her at ashley@therabyte.ca. Want to know more about how you can get the support of ACTivate Vitality Ashley described? I'd love to talk to you. Book a quick 15 min intro chat with me here.

Well behaved women seldom make history. That is what Alice's shirt said when I met her in the UK in the fall of 2022. I knew we'd get along famously at that point. Alice Hortop has made conscious rebellion an art form. In this episode of The Brave OT Podcast, Alice shares how she sees human occupation as more belonging-centred than independence-focused and it makes a world of sense.  She describes the process she took to deconstruct the common concept and explored it with curiosity and experience to come up with another way of seeing our focus as occupational therapists.  We talk a lot about navigating our own well-being as humans who happen to be occupational therapists including themes of overfunctioning, isolation, involuntary childlessness, striving, and productivity as a value. As serious as that sounds, you'll be sure to laugh along with us. Please pop into my Facebook group, OTs Rising Together, and let's keep the conversation going. Connect with Alice in her Facebook group, The Belonging Movement, to learn more about belonging-centred practice.

Ugh! Are you tired of hearing about how you should be doing more self-care, better self-care, and loving every minute of it? I bet you're even beating yourself up about not doing as much as you'd like. But you're busy. There's too much to do. There's nothing left for you at the end of the day after you've taken care of everybody else. Sound familiar? This is NOT another self-care guilt trip. This is taking self-care and dissecting it, turning it upsdide down and inside out and coming at it from a completely different perspective. It's about WHY and HOW of self-care and not so much about the acts of self-care. Let me know how you like this episode by subscribing, sharing, and rating the podcast. Want to talk about finding more support in THRIVING and UNHUSTLING in 2023, book a call with me here: https://www.activatevitality.online/call

In this episode my friend, Arno van Vuuren of The OT Minute, helps me introduce myself to you and why I started The Brave OT Podcast. We dig into my personal and professional mission and the values that underpin how I show up in everything I do whether I'm acting in my role as occupational therapist, business owner, personal development coach, mom, potter, traveller, or, now, podcaster.  Make sure to subscribe and leave a review so you don't miss any new episodes. You can find more of Arno's work at his YouTube channel: The OT Minute I have a Facebook group for OTs who want to banish burnout and find their mojo so you're welcome to join me in there as well: OTs Rising Together

I am Carlyn Neek. I’m the host of the Brave OT Podcast and I’m thrilled to have you join me as I dive in and explore what being a brave occupational therapy practitioner is all about. I have a lineup of important topics, and juicy conversations to share with you and hopefully inspire you to be just a little more brave in all you do. Let’s start with getting clear on what being brave is. Important note, Brave is not being fearless. It’s quite the opposite actually. Brené Brown says “The key to whole-hearted living is vulnerability. You measure courage by how vulnerable you are.” She starts every day by putting her feet on the floor and saying, “Today I will choose courage over comfort. I can’t make any promises for tomorrow, but today I will choose to be brave.” Yes! Yes! Yes! Connecting with values is important so here are the values that underpin The Brave OT Podcast: Values Alignment  Unhustling  Authenticity & Transparency  Embracing growth  Self-compassion  Balance  Optimism without toxic positivity  Abundance mindset  Conscious rebellion  All with a spirit of Curiosity - Creativity - Humour & Playfulness  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to be sure you don’t miss an episode and hop over to my Facebook group, OTs Rising Together. As always, keep it real and Be Brave, OTs.