I felt compelled to become an expert in
supporting people who I perceived as struggling to gain access to everyday
life. I am fascinated by human movement, psychology, and sociology, three
things that I quickly learned OT is unique at connecting together. I am so
proud to be an OT, even when I get frustrated by aspects of our profession. I
believe we have a broken society and it is in this kind of a place that
occupational therapy becomes ever so much more relevant and important. I do not
want my children to grow up to be a world like that represented in the world
“Wall-E” where people don’t move their bodies, interact with the natural world
and each other, and participate in the amazingness of life. Humans and life in
general is totally amazing. We need to find ways to support people to find
meaning and purpose in life…that is the gift of OT. Sounds like a good reason to become an OT,
right?
When
you started your occupational therapy career did you see yourself in a similar situation to where
you are now?
When I graduated, I
applied for one job and I got the job. I finished school on a Friday and I was
working within 10 days. I was interested in mental health and substance use, I
wanted to work in the community and so I immediately got a job there. What it
did was, it sort of denied me the opportunity to work in a diversity of
settings, so in some ways I think the journey now of a new grad is possibly
broader than what I would have gone through. Back then, 15/16 years ago we had
a real divide between mental health and physical health, which we don’t have
anymore. You see the confluence of both the physical health struggles and the
mental health struggles, as being intertwined and so as an OT, you need to be
able to do it all. In a lot of ways, I think probably because I am passionate
about my work, and I have invested in continuing education, I haven’t had an
issue finding work, and I’ve always loved my jobs. I’ve always defined my work
by the relationships I have with my clients. And I found that I graduated ready
to work with people and I’ve always felt useful, and I’ve derived, I’d say my
sense of self, my sense of professional identity by my outcomes with clients.
And no one can argue with that.
What
do you think will change or shape practice over the next five years?
Turf wars. If our system focuses on
real-world outcomes and actually cares enough to realize OT is a central
profession in supporting real world outcomes, we will be fine. If it focuses on
the status quo, on divide and conquer competitions between professions and
sectors, we might be in trouble.
What
has surprised you most about working as an OT?
I
read a lot, listen to a lot of podcasts, and take a lot of courses from within
different paradigms. I see all of the other professions moving towards an
occupational science orientation. I believe our world tried to specialize
different segments of human experience and create professions to target these
parts (called reductionist approach, I think), but now, as science has caught
up with understanding of humans, more and more are realizing occupation comes
first. I see so much psychological trauma. I don’t know that there is more than
in the past, but our society’s response to it is, in my view, not sufficient,
to enable people to bounce back and grow through the experience. This is once
again, in my opinion, based on views that trauma is always negative and
professional medical people, not family or community or occupation, is the
first line of support. It, in my opinion, makes OTs philosophy more and more
important. It is ever more important that our profession starts to step up and
educate. I am fascinated to think of where we will be as a profession in 50
years when hopefully the collective perspective is identical to how OTs view
daily life. Meaningful daily structure with purpose and connection to community
is a positive pathway for many of the diseases of civilization. Maybe we won’t
need OTs because we will see a fundamental shift in our societal view on
organizing our lives.
What
do you do when you aren't working and volunteering?
I do a lot of Parkour, also known as
free-running. It involves overcoming fear and gaining comfort with discomfort.
It has an amazing community and my whole family engages in this community most
days. My wife and 3 boys all take classes and participate in parkour events and
training opportunities. I get injured a
lot, but I persevere. I think it has an amazing ability to heal the mind,
spirit, and body, and it aligns with my goals of being anti-fragile. I would
like to find a way to incorporate parkour into my occupational therapy practice
as a way of supporting people with injuries, disabilities, health issues, or
just general dissatisfaction with their lives.
I also think it is cool to view life in terms of overcoming obstacles
and getting to places that are hard to get to.
Interview by Christl Bradley, fieldwork student with CAOT-BC
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