The BRAVE OT Podcast | Real Conversations with Occupational Therapy Trailblazers
The BRAVE OT Podcast with Carlyn Neek is all about empowering occupational therapists to step-up, level-up, blaze some trails, and maybe engage in a little conscious rebellion in service of the profession, our clients, our work, our businesses, and living our mission wholeheartedly. We are all about keeping it real, doing hard things, unhuslting, being curious, trying new things, growing through our challenges, and finding joy and fulfilment along the way. Really, we are OTing ourselves and each other. About This Podcast The BRAVE OT Podcast features authentic conversations with occupational therapists doing innovative and interesting work, from private practice owners to clinicians pioneering new approaches to OTs, creating entirely new paths for the profession. Through real conversations, we explore the challenges of trailblazing, the reality of navigating uncertainty, and how OTs support each other through it all. Whether you're an OT practice owner facing uncertainty, a clinician exploring new directions to escape environments that contribute to burnout, or an occupational therapist who's ready to do things differently, these conversations will resonate. We talk about the messy middle of building something meaningful, the isolation that can come with going your own way, and what it really takes to create sustainable work that aligns with your values. Host Carlyn Neek brings her lived experience as a multipassionate ADHDer, her decads of work with adult mental health with high achievers and her OT mentorship and business coaching to these conversations. Creating space for honest dialogue about the challenges we face as innovators in our profession is her superpower. The BRAVE OT Podcast is perfect for: Occupational therapists in private practice, OTs exploring entrepreneurship, clinicians seeking inspiration and community, and anyone interested in the evolving landscape of our profession. We aim for 2 episodes per month. ๐ An invitation from Carlyn: If you're an OT who has built a solid private practice but it's time to evolve to make your business work for you in this next phase of life, I'd love to talk to you. I provide coaching for occupational therapists and support for overwhelmed OT practice owners who want to THRIVE without the HUSTLE through my ACTivate Vitality program, an evidence-based approach to building entrepreneurial resilience with a neurodiversity-affirming community where you can find your people as well as the strategy to make intentional, values-led changes in your life and business. https://www.balanceworks.online/avprogram Let's create clarity together by figuring out what you need to make this important shift away from your business running you toward loving your life with a business to support it. ๐ค Book a Clarity Call: https://tidycal.com/carlyn/clarity-call ๐ Connect with me: https://www.balanceworks.online/contact-links
Episodes
One OT's Lived Experience Journey with Perinatal OCD with Guest Jen Anderson-Frost in support of Maternal Mental Health Week PART 2
โ ๏ธ CONTENT NOTE This episode includes open discussion of perinatal OCD, intrusive thoughts about harm to self and children. Everyone in Jen's story remained safe. If this content isn't right for you today, Episode 55, a more ACT-focused conversation with Jen, may be a better fit: Listen Here
What happe...
In this solo episode, I'm getting deeply personal about turning 50 and everything that milestone is teaching me about values-based occupational therapy practice, sustainable work, and letting go of the structures we've inherited without examining them. If you're an OT who's ever felt like the practice you built for a previous version of yourself is n...
The OT Who Showed Up at TED: Bill Wong on Visibility, Neurodivergence & Making Bold Career Moves
What does it look like when an occupational therapist refuses to stay inside the OT bubble? In this episode of The BRAVE OT Podcast, I sit down with Bill Wong, the first OT student or practitioner to deliver mu...
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in OT Practice through Jen's Personal and Professional Experience
What happens when an occupational therapist who supports others with mental health challenges experiences their own mental health crisis? In this episode, Jen Anderson-Frost shares their journey through perinatal OCD and how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy transformed both their recovery and their practice.
If you're an occupationa...
ACT for Occupational Therapists: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Any OT Setting
Have you ever worked with clients who seem stuck? The ones who don't follow through on goals they set themselves, the ones often labeled with judgy terms like "non-compliant" or "unmotivated"? As occupational therapists, we're often called in when all else has failed. But when psychosocial barriers keep people from engaging in meaningful occu...
Deinstitutionalizing OT: Field Research, Folk Wisdom & Creating Your Own Path with Dr. Josie Jarvis
What does it mean to deinstitutionalize yourself as an occupational therapist? In this wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Josie Jarvis and I explore everything from the historical roots of healthcare systems to why OTs need to reclaim field research and folk wisdom. If you've ever felt stuck in traditional practice settings or wondered h...
Ever feel like you're drowning in documentation while the work you actually trained for gets squeezed into the margins? Or maybe you're curious about AI tools but worried about privacy, security, and whether using them is even ethical? You're not alone and this conversation might be exactly what you need to hear.
In this episode, I sit down with Raj Paul, Director of Engineering at Jane, where he leads t...
Ever wonder what happened to some of our OT entrepreneur trail blazers who went quiet?
If you've been around OT social media or podcasts, you probably know Trish Williams from her brand, OTs Get Paid. In this raw, honest conversation, Trish opens up about why you haven't heard from her in more than a year and it's not the story you might expect.
Ep. 50: Sustainable Practice - Purpose + Profit with Jason Stein
In this milestone 50th episode of The BRAVE OT Podcast, I sit down with Jason Steinโacupuncturist, executive coach, and the cowboy-hat-wearing wellness practitioner who's mastered the art of building a sustainable occupational therapy practice that honors both purpose and profit. If you're an overwhelmed practice owner wondering how to create more vitality in your wor...
This week on The BRAVE OT Podcast:ย So many neurodivergent OTs like us have spent our careers trying to squeeze ourselves into systems that weren't designed for how our brains work, for our sensory needs, or for how our values need to align deeply with our work. It is a brave move to one day say "I'm going to create someth...
Waiting until you feel ready to make your next move? Convinced you need more training before you can call yourself an expert? Think entrepreneurs are just naturally fearless?
Join me as I talk with traditional Chinese medicine doctor, Dr. Lorne Brown, about the mindset shifts we need to make to move through fear and think like an entrepreneur. Lorne s...
How do you define success in your business? Is offering a variety of services scattered and unfocused or a wise path to multiple income streams? Or maybe success isn't about money at all for you?
I'm pulling back the curtain on my own current business reality, sharing the revenue proportions, time commitments, what energizes me versus what drains me, ...
Ever feel like you're the only OT who doesn't have their career path mapped out? Like you should have it more figured out by now or you thought you were on the right path and something's not right?
Meet รine and Jen, two multi-passionate OTs who've built thriving practices by embracing the messy, non-linear path of figuring it out as they go. From car crashes that changed everything to setting up busines...
What happens when your business feels out of alignment with who you are and you're brave enough to admit it?
In this episode of The BRAVE OT Podcast, I sat down with Dr. Jess Reynolds, a collaborator and traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and educator, to talk about what it really looks like to reimagine your l...
In this episode, we hear from Jenny Gill and Krista Frahm, both occupational therapists and copywriters, as they discuss the dynamics of their professional relationship and the balance between collaboration and competition. They explore their individual journeys in the field, the importance of finding one's niche, and the challenges they faced when ...
Jacqueline brings her entrepreneurial spirit and curiosity as we discuss my experiences and reflections on choices I made and ways I adapted at different phases of my OT career and business.ย
We draw some parallels between the transition from OT student to emergi...
A Lunchroom Conversation with STEMinist Fiction Author and OT, Jaima Fixsen
In this episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jaima Fixsen, a Canadian occupational therapist and USA Today bestselling author who writes STEMinist fiction novels while balancing roles as a mom and OT. We dive deep into how she uses her OT skills to support her creative work and manage the unstructured nature of writing and the midlife desire to ...
Episode Summary:
Is perfectionism keeping you stuck in "figure-it-all-out-first" mode? You're not alone and you're not broken.
In this solo episode of The BRAVE OT Podcast, I explore a powerful reframe for occupational therapy entrepreneurs who stay in perfecting mode, immobilized by self-doubt and a need to get it right ...
Ep. 40: Embracing Professional Curiosity Through Supervision in OT with Guest, Lynsay McFarlane-Shaw
This podcast conversation explores supervision in occupational therapy with Lynsay McFarlane-Shaw. Lyndsay brings 30 years of pediatric OT experience and has evolved her career to focus on supervision and mentorship.ย We discuss the the concept of supervision in the UK as well as various other ways OTs support each other like coaching and mentorship.ย If you've ever wondered about ways to enhance your professional development or su...
In this episode, we talk about a lot of parallels between the process of starting a business or a product and the familiar assessment and intervention process we use...
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