Out of the ashes

In true Phoenix style an OT has come created something new following the demise of Therapy Weekly. Therapy Webbly has risen from the smouldering ashes of the weekly rag to provide a new interactive UK based web resource. The web based resource will provide news, debate, CPD issues and forums to discuss a variety of issues. I think this is a fantastic new resource and I urge you to take a look. To you the creator - I notice you are hiding your light and appear to be anonymous - you know I know who you are! I would like to take this opportunity to say big CONGRATULATIONS on getting this sorted and up to date, and big THANK YOU for your efforts.

Cheers

Catherine

Sneak preview for you!

Here is some news hot off the press, before it is published in the British Journal of Occupational Therapy on 15th Feb. I have put together a special training package for Occupational Therapists interested in coaching. It starts on 21st and 22nd April 2007 with a 2 day workshop and is followed by 6 weeks of email coaching from me and a teleclass to keep the momentum going and put learning into practice.

For full details and to receive a free copy of "What is life coaching and how does it fit with occupational therapy" please visit www.occupationalcoaching.com

Come and join me in a great weekend, to start a journey of new possibilities and refound enthusiasm.

All the best

Catherine

Make 2007 a Great Year

Happy New Year! Now is the time we all start making plans and promises for the New Year. If you are working in the public sector these are challenging times. However I strongly believe that there are great opportunities of occupational therapists now, and we are being supported by strategies and policies. This is our time to claim the unique contribution occupational therapy can make e.g. to recovery; condition management; pathways to work. In order to make the most of this opportunity I believe we absolutely must demonstrate our worth and not shy from doing so.

You may be considering personal goals that you have for 2007. I would like to challenge you to share on this blog your professional goals for the next year. What will you do to secure your role and further the profession?

Fair’s fair so I will share some my professional goals with you for 2007!

a) By July 2007 to have set up and started a young peoples group for people with learning disabilities in Montgomeryshire.
b) By September 2007 to have written up an evaluation of the use of the Assessment of Communication and Interaction Skills and the Volitional Questionnaire in the day services.
c) By November 2007 to have established an OT transition service for young people with learning disabilities in Montgomeryshire and have developed working links with education.

Over to you now!

Until next time

Catherine

Wow! What a month I've had. It has been fantastic to have so many kind and encouraging words from my fellow OT's. Thank you all so much. I have also been slightly taken aback by the number of OTs who have contacted me feeling dissolution and fed up about their work and profession. I guess I thought this was the case, and that is why I provide a specific service for OTs, but wouldn't it be great if it wasn't the case.
This week I have had to deal with something at work which I was dreading. I knew that if I did not deal with it I was in danger of jeopardizing my new found enthusiasm. Again I was coached in how to plan and execute this, and to check to motivations behind it. Recognising the importance of my own personal and career values meant that I knew that I had to do it. Meeting over, and what a relief. I can now get on with the job without those niggly feelings in the back of my mind.
What would be one thing that would make a big difference in your life as an OT and what steps can you make towards it this week?

Bye for now

Catherine

Up and Running

At last, the website is up and running. It certainly has been a lesson to me in patience and I given me time to reflect on my values and how to deal when they are in conflict. To me being on time and meeting my targets is important - I hate letting people down. It is also important to me that things I create are of a certain standard and works well. I dealt with my initial dissapointment of the site being delayed by realising that if I went live when things were not working as well as I hoped, I would be letting people down. So I tinkered, and waited and now feel happy that the site is live.
What's it all for? I have benefitted greatly from a deeper understanding of coaching, and from working with my own coach. I believe OTs have much in common and want to open up a forum to discuss the similarities and differences.
So, Is OT life coaching? Well, my interest in coaching was sparked by my belief, and that of my husband (also and OT) , that they were the same thing. That this was something I did in my job and could do outside of my life in the NHS. On further investigation I realised that a quality life coaching course offered me the opportunity to develop new skills. I started my training and then the thinking really started. Much of the underlying philosophy is the same - looking at the here and now, setting personalised SMART goals and focussing on values and beliefs. However the non-directive approach to coaching demands a different stance of the coach to working as a coach. First and foremost coaching is not therapy or counselling and is only undertaken with healthy individuals. As a coach I have had to learn to stand back, never to offer advice or direct. I have recognised that my client-centred practice was not as empowering as I thought. In coaching the coachee is totally in control in setting and directing goals, the coach is non-judgemental resulting in people in achieving amazing goals. As an OT I work within an humasistic framework, however I recognise that my training has provided me with knowledge - medical and psychological, that can encourage me to make a "prognosis" about the goals a client can acheive. I have seen my role as an OT to be to "enable" a client to set achievable and realistic goals and grading activities. As a coach I have now questioned whether, at times, this has actually resulted in me hindering their progress and not truly maximising their potential.
There have been specific skills in questioning techniques that really developed the way I work. I have found coaching models for structuring sessions great within my OT work to keep me on track and have outcomes for the session.
I believe that coaching and OT sit very well together. Because of their training OTs can make great life coaches. However, whilst I continue to work both as an OT and coach, I have to keep in check that I keep my boundaries very clear.
Until next time
Catherine

So much to think about..

How I have changed in one year. Twelve months ago I was so disillusioned with working as an Occupational Therapist (OT) in the NHS I was desperate to find "a way out". I started a diploma course in life coaching, and to my amazement during the residential weekend I came away with exciting long term goals that included Occupational Therapy and left me feeling energised. Over the next months and through my own experience of being coached I began a journey of rekindling my passion for OT and staying in the job I'd hated. I want to share the experience to enable OTs out there who are feeling disillusioned, undervalued and misunderstood to create the role and job satisfaction that they dreamt of when ploughing through a tough course and all those clinical practices. I look forward to tackling those tricky issues in the near future.