My Journey to becoming an Occupational Therapist.
As Clinical Director of The Rehab Team, I thought it was time to say hello and show my face. Not easy for a middle aged woman with specs and wrinkles.
My journey started when I was 15 years old and a family friend invited me to shadow her working in an elderly day hospital. That was back in the days when occupational therapists would use basket weaving and clippy mats as a medium for hand therapy and social interaction. I was immediately hooked (pardon the pun).
After working as an Occupational Therapy assistant for a couple of years, I qualified as an Occupational Therapist (OT) in 1997. I secured a rotational basic grade post at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle before moving onto Darlington Memorial Hospital and James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. I later took a management position at Burton Hospitals NHS Trust, managing both occupational therapy and orthotic services. Not my most exciting job but it worked for me at that time.
During my career, I specialised in Trauma and Orthopaedic injuries, taking a particular interest in hand rehabilitation and burns and scar management.
After almost 20 years of working in the NHS, I eventually had become burnt out and disillusioned with my profession. I felt undervalued and had lost my way, focusing more on hospital discharges than patient care and rehabilitation. It was time for a change!
I left the NHS in 2012 and initially started working as a case manager before concentrating on private occupational therapy referrals and working as an expert witness for Somek & Associates. I have never looked back! Working in private practice has enabled me to work flexibly, enabling me to be there when my family needed me most. I have gained so much more knowledge and experience and seen the positive changes that occupational therapists make to peoples lives. I fell in love with occupational therapy all over again!
At the beginning of 2022, I decided to set up The Rehab Team Ltd. My aim is to promote the core values of occupational therapy and through the use of meaningful activities and therapeutic modalities, I believe we can enable individuals to maximise their independence, and hopefully improve their quality of life.
