Occupied

There’s very little I can say about RachelStarLive that she hasn’t expressed herself in one of her amazing youtube videos. So using her own words, Rachel is a “schizophrenic badass from Youtube and TV stuff.” She’s been on Americas Got Talent & Ninja Warrior. She is a Mental Health advocate. She’s a Schizophrenic (listen to the episode before you take offence to the word). She’s survived a flesh-eating bacteria. She’s a Stuntwoman. She is not a pornstar.   Her story is diverse, scary, inspiring, shocking and all that without even considering her schizophrenia. When people say they’ve “been through some stuff,” Rachel is the embodiment of that phrase.  I’ve personally used some of Rachel’s videos to help teach students about the lived experience of various symptoms etc. So when it came to wanting to highlight lived experience on the podcast there was no one else for me, It had to be Rachel.  There are a lot of things that originally drew me to Rachel’s content. Firstly her energy. The way she presents information is full of buzz and very engaging. As she discusses in the podcast, if you didn’t know she had schizophrenia, you wouldn’t guess by watching her videos. To a large degree that is one of the learning points, I liked from her content. Her descriptions of her experienced symptoms are dynamic, descriptive and strangely comprehend-able for a wide audience.  Rachel has been working on her own movie called Stuntgirl so give her Youtube a follow and stay up to date with all of her mental health and stunt content!  Keep occupied Brockbrock.cook@me.com@brockcookOT

Dr Twinley came into my life, as many have, via online connections and shared thoughts on Occupation and Occupational Therapy. When we first connected was just before she publicly released the concept of The Dark Side of Occupation. This concept very easily resonated with me. It integrated into my clinical practice and conceptualization very easily. It just made sense. The understanding that occupations having purpose and meaning, being contextually situated and having an impact on health are nothing new to OTs. Reflecting on “the dark side” of occupations and seeing that there are many people in society, you included, who engage in maladaptive, harmful or health decreasing occupations was profound. It’s something, that for many, doesn’t seem to have been given the focus it deserved until it was given a name. Why is it important? Since this time I’ve seen the concept spread and evolve and become more widespread. One thing I’ve seen is the evolution of how people used the term. It was good to get Bex’s opinion on this and how it differs from her understanding and presentation of the concept. It’s incredibly important that Occupational Therapists not only look at occupations that are health promoting but also those that may not have such a positive impact. Only then are we able to fully gain an adequate understanding of the people we work with and deliver effective health services. If you are wanting to get a better understanding of the concept then definitely start with the website linked below. The Dark Side of Occupation: a concept created and being developed by Dr Rebecca Twinley Also check out some of these: Related publications and presentations Twinley, R. (2017) Woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault, and its impact upon the occupation of work: A Learn at Work Webinar. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXGxvh96pnA Twinley, R. (2017) ‘The Dark Side of Occupation’. In: Jacobs, K. and MacRae, N. (eds) Occupational Therapy Essentials for Clinical Competence. 3rd edn. Thorofare, NJ: SLACK. Twinley, R. (2014) ‘Everyone is a moon’: The dark side of occupation. OT24Vx2014: A World of Health and Well Being. 3-4 November 2014. 24 hour Virtual exchange available at: http://www.ot4ot.com/ot24vx.html Twinley, R. and Morris, K. (2014) Editorial: Are we achieving occupation-focussed practice? British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 77(6): 275 Twinley, R. (2013) The dark side of occupation: A concept for consideration. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 60(4): 301-303. Twinley, R. (2013) Response to Re: The dark side of occupation: A concept for consideration. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 60(6): 459. Twinley, R. (2013) ‘The dark side of occupation’ Occupational Science Seminar Series. 24 April 2013. Plymouth University: Plymouth Twinley, R. and Addidle, G. (2012) Considering Violence: The Dark Side of Occupation. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 75 (4): 202-204. DOI: 10.4276/030802212X13336366278257 Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT

It’s OT Month in the states and I’ve seen a TONNE of social media posts promoting the profession and saying how amazing we are and outlining the wide variety of things we can do. What I haven’t seen is a large swell of people promoting the profession outside of the profession. I’m all for giving each other a pat on the back when we’ve done something awesome, 100% but don’t expect that pat on the back to be anything other then what it is. If we really want people outside the profession to understand what we do then we need to promote to them.  So why now? This all started after a conversation with Gail Whiteford. Sitting on my couch the other day I had the thought that I would put out my “elevator speech” to see if it was similar to other peoples. I also wanted to share with my networks (most of which are non-OT’s) with the hope that it might trigger the conversation where I could explain fully about our amazing profession. What I didn’t expect was the reaction these three little pictures would get. To date they have reached over 70 thousand people after over 1400 of you shared them with your own networks. To me, these numbers are INCREDIBLE! So I decided to put together a little episode to explore this and why I think it’s important.  I am most definitely not saying that OT Month/Week/Day activities that are about highlighting our professional strengths are a bad thing. Quite the opposite, in fact, I feel like they do serve an important place. What I am saying is it’s important that we continue to try and push the understanding of occupation and occupational therapy outside the profession if we expect to grow and be respected as a health profession.    Keep occupied Brockbrock.cook@me.com@brockcookOT

You may remember Simone from episode 2! She is the creator of the Regulation Rocket and an amazing occupation based pediatric OT. Simone has definitely been one of our most popular guests. She has just got back to Australia after spending a year traveling the world (pretty sure the last episode was recorded from Japan!). Because of that I thought it was time to touch base again and explore her occupational brain.

Prior to meeting Jon Jon my measures of success were most definitely material and superficial. Since that time I’ve been a much more introspective OT. I met Jon Jon Rivero in 2014 when he came to Australia to deliver the keynote at the QLD State Conference. I’ve still never been to a more amazing presentation. There was singing, dancing, roundhouse kicks, beatboxing, harmonica as well as amazing occupation based practice stories. I learned about creativity and growth and finding yoURawesome.  Since that time we’ve kept in touch and I’ve followed along the success, growth and development of Qi Creative. Some of you may have seen me hinting at a link between my last guest, Meghan Harris, and Jon Jon and that link is that Meg also works for Qi!  The conversation ended up moving towards something that I’d been mulling over for a few weeks and thats, pulling success from failure. Jon Jon was open and honest enough to share an amazing story. He told how a large part of his professional self and his business birthed from a large “fail”.  I had an absolute blast talking with Jon Jon and left feeling inspired and motivated for the profession and the future.  Jon Jon on Twitter QI Creative Balikbayan Project   Keep occupied Brockbrock.cook@me.com@brockcookOT                

THIS EPISODE DISCUSSES TRAUMA & TRAUMATIC INJURY. ALTHOUGH THERE IS IS NOTHING OVERLY GRAPHIC OR NEGATIVE, PLEASE DO EXERCISE COMMON SENSE IF YOU FIND THESE TOPICS DIFFICULT OR TRAUMATIC. Meghan and I connected many years ago on twitter and I’ve followed her career and growth since then. Last year Meghan and a group of others from her cycling club were hit by a truck whilst out for a ride. She suffered vast and traumatic injuries and spent a long while in a rehabilitation hospital. Meghan is now back at home but still working through her rehabilitation. In this conversation, we explored Meghan’s experience right from the accident to this point in time through her occupational lense. The hope is that we are able to give therapists a view and perspective from the other side of the fence.  Through the trauma, Meghan remained positive and driven. This was something I was curious about and we did get to discuss the realities of this perception. Meghan is an amazing therapist and her views and observations of the process I find incredibly positive and inspirational.  qicreative.com meghan2@ualberta.ca Meghan’s Instagram Keep occupied Brockbrock.cook@me.com@brockcookOT                 w

SOME CONTENT IN THIS PODCAST MAY BE CONSIDERED EXPLICIT BY SOME PEOPLE. SEX AND INTIMACY TOPICS ARE DISCUSSED AND MAY INCLUDE SOME COLLOQUIAL TERMINOLOGIES. EXERCISE COMMON SENSE IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY THESE OR RELATED TOPICS. I discovered the OT After Dark podcast only 4hrs after they released their first episode (Sex as an ADL). My initial reaction was “Yes! Finally someone is brave enough to talk about sex and sexuality in a public forum!” But it got even better. Firstly, they’re hilarious and very personable. Secondly although speaking candidly about these topics they are exceptionally well read and well researched…. They also include, on their website, all of the research they discuss in each episode for your perusal. I firmly believe that sex, sexuality and intimacy are topics that OT’s often neglect for a variety of reasons. Similar to most social change I feel that opening the conversation is the first step. Exposure to the topics will hopefully ease some of the anxiety and awkwardness about addressing sex with our clients. I encourage everyone to check out the OT After Dark podcast on your favorite podcast app. Also check out their website or tweet them: https://otafterdark.com/ https://twitter.com/otafterdark Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

You may know Mandy as Seniors Flourish. She’s an OT. Entrepreneur. Business Owner. OG OT Podcaster. Online OT personality. but most of all she was kind enough to come and have a chat with us here at OCCUPIED. Many of you may have come across her work on social media where she produces and curates tonnes of useful and interesting content for therapists in all areas of practice. Her work is, as the name suggests, predominantly targeted at those working with seniors in the aged care sector and we explored just why her passions lay in this practice area. It was an extremely fun conversation that had us both laughing a lot. We explored Mandy’s journey into OT, her business, her podcast, the evolution of digital tech and even her dance prowess. If you don’t already definitely get along and check out her website and social profiles: Facebook Twitter Instagram And if you are in aged care or have an interest in aged care her membership site, The Learning Lab, provides and unprecedented community of support and resources to help you develop your practice. SeniorsFlourish.com/learninglab Also we’re still waiting for her dance video….. Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

I’d like to reflect on a natural disaster. At the beginning of February 2019 the city where I live was stuck under a monsoonal rain even for over a week. This event dumped over 1.6m (5ft) of water in 7 days. Townsville being a typically dry place was not designed or ready to drain and divert more than its yearly rainfall in one week. What proceeded was a 1 in 100 year wet event with unprecedented flooding. Throughout the event I received so many messages from friends, family and fans of the podcast and I’d like to thank you for your thoughts and concern. It meant the worlds. Long story short, myself, my family and most importantly my dog are all fine. We didn’t even get the worst of it. Some of the suburbs on the south side of Townsville were completely devastated. In many cases lost everything they owned. The Podcast This podcast is some observations I made during the even through an occupational lens. My aim is not to sugar coat, nor shield anyone from the realities of natural disaster. I do discuss, death, loss of possessions, grief, etc so if this is something you are sensitive to then please ensure you are appropriately supported or alternatively skip this episode. I also touch on some of the amazing things to come out of such a difficult time. People pulling together to help each-other, rescue each-other, and dropping everything for each-other. In some cases even using their own tools and resources to help their fellow man without hesitation. Social media played a massive role during this natural disaster and I reflect on exactly how I saw this powerful tool being utilised. From that I also explore my own occupational experience during the floods. This video should give you an idea of the water levels and widespread devastation. Video by Cameron Laird Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

Kitty (@truly_radical_) contacted me over Twitter some time ago and emphatically stated that she wanted to talk with me about research. She told me that herself and fellow OT, Anna (@aurbanowicz) had a huge passion for promoting research to Occupational Therapists. She wondered if I would like to talk about it with them on Occupied…. definitely! Dr Anna Urbanowicz and Dr Kitty-Rose Foley did their PhD’s at the same time in the same place. This lead to two very different directions and experiences. Sitting down and chatting with the two of them highlighted the challenges and rewards of completing research and a PhD. Anna is Australian but currently in the United States as a VC Postdoctoral Fellow (Fulbright Scholar) at RMIT University. Learning inclusive research techniques to bring back to her work in Australia. We talked about their respective journeys through PhD and into Post Doc. From there we went on to explore why research is important to the profession and various ways that OT’s are able to get into it. The key takeaway is that research isn’t scary, it just takes a little bit of planning. With this in mind you have the opportunity to add to the evidence base of the profession using your own clinical experiences. For me personally this a great follow-on from episodes 013–014 about transitioning to academia and I’m def more driven than ever to get stuck into some research! I’m excited! Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

Leah Forman is a COTA and an OTD student whom I originally discovered from her Instagram. The very first post I saw was a photo of a pelvis and a comment about womens health, mindfulness and OT. This (strangely) caught my eye due to my good friend Melissa LaPointe and her business/interest/passion in the field.    I also noticed Leah had a blog and through reading some of her posts I got to see some quite similar interests to myself. The use of mindfulness and meditation being one of them. Connecting with her then and having further discussions it didn’t take long to work out we were on the same wavelength about a lot of different things. Seemed like a no brainer to get her on Occupied and see where the conversation took us!   Leah taught me about what a COTA is and what they do. We also explored the therapeutic use of mindfulness and meditation. Finally we looked into the links that can be seen between the concepts of mindfulness, minimalism and Occupational Therapy. The conversation was fun and came really easily and I’m sure you will get as much out of this conversation as I did.    Check Leah out in all the following places:  lifesoccupations.com www.instagram.com/lifesoccupations/     Keep occupied Brockbrock.cook@me.com@brockcookOT               

I am honestly so excited about this episode. When Gail first sent me a message asking to be on the podcast I almost fell off my chair. All my Occupational dreams come true! Professor Gail Whiteford has been an OT hero of mine for the longest time and even though we have met multiple times, getting to have a chat with her was a surreal experience. To say I was fan-boying was an understatement. Coming to the conclusion that she is not only one of the most intelligent and well rounded Occupational Therapists i know but also one of the most easy to talk to and engage with. I can’t thank Gail enough for allowing me to pick her brain. Professor Whiteford’s work has had a significant and lasting impact on the direction of the profession and Occupational Science. In particular her work with Dr Elizabeth Townsend in the development and promotion of the Participatory Occupational Justice Framework was something that resonated with me from the core of my OT beliefs. Being involved with OT organisations such as OOFRAS and working with some marginalised populations the framework instantly resonated with the work and professional experiences I had up until that point. The Conversation Our conversation started with her journey through the profession and the evolutions of OT she experienced throughout that time. Gail, on the spot, came up with ideas I would never have ever considered about the profession. Blew my mind wide open. Feel like im still processing it. We discussed the POJF and how it came into development. The current state of Occupational Therapy as well as what the future may hold for the profession. Definitely one of the deepest, most reflective conversations I’ve had and I really hope it blows your mind as much as mine. Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

December 2018 I was given the opportunity to co-present a webinar for the new WFOTvx series of professional development things. Myself, Karen Jacobs of Lifestyle by Design and Stephanie Lancaster of On The Air presented a Podcasting 101 webinar for Occupational Therapists. We covered everything from the workflow involved in creating and publishing a podcast as well as how OT’s can utilise this media space for their own professional development. A massive thanks to WFOT for supporting this presentation and to Karen Jacobs for facilitating and inviting me to be part of it. The recording of the webinar can be found here: Keep occupied Brockbrock.cook@me.com@brockcookOTOccupied is a member of OTpodcasts.com for all your OT podcasting needs               

Erika is an OT and entrepreneur who together with her husband, Mike, run their business Joy Energy Time. Their focus on burnout in health professionals is a contemporary issue that needs to be addressed now before it becomes an epidemic. How I found Erika I first came across Joy Energy Time on Instagram and, being the visual person I am, was instantly attracted by their awesome pineapple logo. I found the podcast and was an almost instant fan! I’m generally quite picky with the podcasts but i instantly got this sense that the content Erika and Mike were putting out was real and honest. I tuned into an amazing Instagram Live story where Erika explored a revelation she had recently had about her long term anxiety and burnout. She then turned that into a podcast which I have shared for you below. It takes a special something to be able to put yourself out to the world like that. It takes something even more special to take these experiences and turn them into an opportunity. This is exactly what Erika and Mike have done with Joy Energy Time. They aim to educate and support therapists around burnout and self-care practices. The Burnout Conversation We started chatting about the concept of “travel therapy” and the differences regarding this between the USA and Australia. We discuss our common burnout experiences and the contributing factors. We then unpacked some of the common impacting factors of burnout and highlighted some of the tools we’ve found that can help manage these factors. Of course, as you would expect from Occupied, we also related it all to Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science. Joy Energy Time offers an online course (Bash the Burnout for Healthcare Professionals) for clinicians. The aim of the courser is educating HPs about burnout and how to manage it. Information and enrollment in the course can be found at: www.joyenergytime.com Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

Alondra Ammon is an Occupational Therapist from California. She graduated with her masters in Occupational Therapy from Samuel Merritt University and is currently working as a school-based OT. Her passion is Diversity and the promotion of the profession! I first came across Alondra’s youtube channel and being a bit of a geek had a search around for the rest of her social media presence. After that, we engaged in some conversations over Twitter where I found that she had been on On The Air. The diversity of her professional experience, her bright and bubbly personality and her interest in promoting diversity throughout Occupational Therapy all added up to her being someone I just had to chat with. I have always found people with a broad and varied life experience have the most interesting perspectives on things and Alondra’s military and previous health service experience intrigued me. At the beginning of the episode, we discussed Occupied Ep 020 which wasn’t released at the time of recording. Alondra Added her ideas around the changing diversity of the profession and the impact it might have on Occupational Therapy as a whole. Occupational Passion: Throughout the chat I hope it’s evident that She has more passion for Occupational Therapy than your average OT. As a result, she is harnessing some of this explosive enthusiasm and channeling it into a media that she is hoping will have a positive impact on the profession. She has some important messages for all OT’s about promoting the profession and taking, the often scary, step to put yourself out there for the benefit of spreading the word among the general public. Check out Alondra’s Youtube channel where she discusses contemporary issues and interviews a variety of Occupational Therapists. I challenge you to watch and not crack a smile after soaking in her unbridled enthusiasm! Alondra La OT Facebook Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT                Subscribe the Occupied VIP community Email Address * First Name Last Name * indicates required