Episodes

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@...

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 ...

About Michael Michael Sy, University of the Philippines Manila I am a Filipino occupational therapist and currently designated as Associate Professor at the National Teacher Training Centre for the Health Professions, University of the Philippines Manila. I did my Ph.D. in occupational therapy where I studied about bridging the concept and practice of occupational justice among occupational therapists and justice workers in the field of substance addiction. My exposure to drugs and addiction sch...

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 🙂 Look after yourself, look after others and always keep Occupied Brock...

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 ke...

OCCUPIED is proud to continue our partnership with the All About Occupation series of seminars being hosted by Rebecca Twinley from the University of Brighton. In the 2nd seminar we present to you the amazing Dr Nedra Peter! About Nedra Dr. Nedra Peter, PhD, Adjunct Professor and Research Associate at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Toronto, Canada I completed my doctorate in the field of Occupational Science at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. My PhD thesis explored the occ...

So recently I was given the opportunity to present to the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Section for Children, Young People and Families. At the time I was toying around with the concept of the “Art & Science of OT” so as part of my looking into that I built this presentation that looks at where that came from and what it means for modern occupational therapists. If you would like to hear the discussion/questions, as well as the full webinar and the slides, are available ove...

Professor Liz Townsend is a name that almost every OT around the world would know and have learned about some of her work. I wanted to learn how a person could get to the point that they could even conceptualise ideas as MASSIVE as the ones she has had through her career. Her story is amazing and really does show someone who has not only made opportunities but made the most of those opportunities. Look after yourself, look after others and always keep Occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookO...

Amy Tippol cohosts The Occupation Station podcast with her friend Ana Milanese. Today we explored Amy’s journey though OT school, starting a podcast and now transitioning into the profession. We explore different learning styles, sensory preferences, and overcoming challenges. Stoked to be able too call Amy a friend and to bring you this super chilled conversation. Look after yourself, look after others and always keep Occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT

OCCUPIED is proud to announce a partnership with the All About Occupation series of seminars being hosted by Rebecca Twinley from the University of Brighton. We will be bringing these seminars to you on the podcast and am SUPER stoked to have the very first one of the series with the phenomenal Karen Whalley Hammell! About Karen Karen Whalley Hammell is Honorary Professor, Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. I am a ...

DURING THIS PODCAST TOPICS SUCH AS SUICIDE AND MENTAL ILLNESS ARE DISCUSSED. IF THIS IS A TRIGGER OR MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE, LOOK AFTER YOURSELF AND DON’T FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO LISTEN. DURING THIS PODCAST PERSONAL OPINIONS AND EXPERIENCES WITH MENTAL HEALTH CARE AND MEDICATIONS ARE DISCUSSED. THESE ARE OUR PERSONAL OPINIONS AND EXPERIENCES ONLY AND YOU SHOULD DISCUSS YOURS WITH YOUR DOCTOR. Ellie Frith found herself in an acute mental health ward after experiencing some issues with her mental h...

Taryn is Occupied’s first physiotherapist! I’ve known Taryn since university and since that time she has developed a unique perspective on her practice which has grown into a business that offers integrated woman’s pelvic floor health services. We explore the journey she took in getting to this place in her career, and how she navigates some of the common queries such as scope of practice and evidence based practice. Some of the techniques Taryn uses to help women to explore & expand their relat...

A nice, short and sweet episode reflecting on the last 3 years of this podcast. So much work but for me personally its resulted in so much growth. Thankyou to everyone who’s been involved in the podcast in any and every small way. Heres to the next 3 years Look after yourself, look after others and always keep Occupied Brock@brockcookOTbrock.cook@me.comwww.occupiedpodcast.com

Laura brought her business to my attention via LinkedIn and right from our first conversation I was completely intrigued with what she was trying to do. As the CEO and founder of Theratrak Laura is walking a line not commonly travelled by those in the OT profession. She is not only a private business owner, an entrepreneur but she is developing a product that aims to bring OT into the digital age. We delve deep into what Theratrak is, why she started it, and where she hopes to take it. If you ar...

Been a big fan of Kwaku Agyemang since he started his podcast, OT & Chill. The cool laid back vibe, amazing guests and epic conversations really connected with me and my learning style. As I got to know him through the podcasting community I realised, “hey this dude is really quite unique”. His ever positive perspective, impecable clinical reasoning and passion for the profession drew and instant connection. Getting him on Occupied was a must! But what would we talk about? His work in prisons? H...

DURING THIS PODCAST TOPICS SUCH AS SUICIDE, SELF HARM AND MENTAL ILLNESS ARE DISCUSSED. IF THIS IS A TRIGGER OR MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE, LOOK AFTER YOURSELF AND DON’T FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO LISTEN. In episode 098 I put out an episode about my personal experience with depression. Not long after that Erik (you will remember him from episode 039) messaged me expressing how much he related to the episode. Erik explained that he was currently going through something similar and wanted to come on and h...

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@brock...

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 h...

Crowd favourite Dr Khalilah Johnson is BACK! and this time we are delving deep into the realities of inclusive practice. We started out discussing her research around including within a disability context but soon exploded to inclusion in many other contexts. There are many parts of OT that need improvement and we explore the lip service that is often payed to topics around inclusion with different populations. This is an important topic, especially in todays overly connected society where infor...

So it took 35 years but in early December 2020 I had my first experience being admitted to hospital. It was eye opening to say the least and my experience highlighted for me certain things that I NEVER considered when working for the same hospital system. These are my reflections on my hospital experience. Look after yourself, look after others and always keep Occupied Brock@brockcookOTbrock.cook@me.comwww.occupiedpodcast.com Automatic Transcription 104 My Hospital Stay Reflection 00:00:01 – 00:...

Waaaaay back in episode 090, the lovely Clarissa Sorlie came on the show and discussed her exploration of graffiti culture. After this episode aired I was contacted by an anonymous therapist, Mr Toy Division. Mr TD was an occupational therapist who has been a part of this relatively unexplored culture for many many years. We arranged for him to come on the show and give a “lived experience” of being a part of graffiti writing culture. Now Mr TD has done an episode previously on OT & Chill which ...

DURING THIS PODCAST TOPICS SUCH AS SUICIDE, SELF HARM AND MENTAL ILLNESS ARE DISCUSSED. IF THIS IS A TRIGGER OR MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE, LOOK AFTER YOURSELF AND DON’T FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO LISTEN. A while ago I asked the audience what topics they would like episodes on and there was a big swell of support for an episode on how to have conversations with people about difficult topics. On top of that, there was a lot of people recommending that I get this gentleman in to have that conversation wit...

Kawa Model has to be the topic that I’ve been asked to do an episode on the most. As well versed as I am in the model and its application I’ve held out for 2 1/2 years until this very moment when I could bring the one and only Dr Michael Iwama on to talk about it himself. This has been on my list since before I even started Occupied so I’m soooo happy that we finally made it happen! I’ve known Michael for quite a number of years through various online networking and he has always been an incredi...

What a journey podcasting has been. Mid-April 2018 I finally pulled my finger out on an idea that I’d been tossing around for years. I got the equipment (what I thought I needed), learn the process, set up the accounts and made some graphics. On May 17th 2018 Episode 001 of Occupied launched to the world and I couldn’t be prouder having put a whole 22min of content out for public consumption. I shared that first episode with, friends all over the world via email, in Facebook groups, and Twitter....