by Jessica Miller, OTR/L, CBIS
I knew my body was telling me I needed out of my current work environment. I wasn’t ready to throw in the OT towel, but I wasn't sure what to do next.
Sometimes OTs just need to be OT’d...
So, I sought out an incredible mental health OT in Canada and joined her coaching program - ACTivate Vitality. Her website said it would help me learn how to create and sustain an OT business in alignment with my values and priorities. And, boy, did it deliver.
First, Carlyn helped me do a self-assessment. Of course she did! I journaled in her planner about what activities in my day gave me joy and energy, because frankly I didn’t feel like I had a lot of either. This is where I learned:
👩🏻⚕️Working 1:1 with patients was still very enlivening to me.
When I was sitting with a patient, completely immersed in helping them learn skills and strategies that would help them meet their goal of making a pecan pie for Thanksgiving dinner…or figuring out safe mobility to get to their grandchild’s baseball game…it filled me with a deep sense of purpose.
✨Helping other therapists talk through difficult patients lit me up!
Other therapists and students would pop into my treatment room to talk through difficult patients. We explored interventions they’ve tried and how to modify or progress them. We looked at how cognition or vision or emotional regulation was impacting their daily life. Sometimes these convos led the therapist to the hard realization that the family was expecting them to have the magic wand they didn’t have. 😔
Sometimes these talks helped the therapist realize the self-doubt they’d been experiencing was misplaced. We practiced how to have these hard conversations about persistent disability, lack of progress, acceptance of sucky things, learning to compensate, discharge, what’s next in life…
Watching these therapists exhale with a clarity for how to better support these patients made me come alive.
🤫Lord knows I had plenty of late documentation b/c I was way more motivated to have these conversations than write up the day’s SOAP notes 😅
I told Carlyn, “I want to do THAT…but mentoring isn’t actually a ‘real job.’” She held that vision for me until I could see it for myself.
🧑🏼🧑🏻🧒🏼Family time strengthened me.
Through my reflective journaling, I had little ⬆️ emojis next to things like family dinner, cuddling with my kiddo, laughing at Netflix standups with my partner…these things fueled me in a different way. I wanted to have the energy to show up as a mom and a partner.
🌱These became the seeds for my OT businwww.balanceworks.online/activate-vitality-program-planneress….
What gives YOU energy in your days? What helps you feel alive and gives you fuel? I'd love to hear. 👇🏽
Some of my burnout resources:
❤️🔥The book "Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle" by the Nagoski sisters
🌱Carlyn Neek's ACTivate Vitality program and planner
🌳💚A state park pass - the trees always help ground me
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