Neuro Note 2: "My Beautiful Broken Brain"

     

 

(Retrieved from Netflix)

     My Beautiful Broken Brain is the story of Lotje Sodderland, a 34 year old year old female that experienced a cerebrovascular accident. This documentary follows Lotje as she attempts to understand her new world post-stroke and how she must essentially relearn how to do things such as reading, writing, and speaking. Her journey is slow and often times difficult, but because she is determined and committed to regain her abilities, she ultimately succeeds after the many ups and downs that she experiences during her recovery process.
     I would recommend this film to all occupational therapy students and healthcare professionals that work with people who have experienced any type of neurological trauma. This documentary does a wonderful job of showing just how frustrating recovering from something of this magnitude can be, while also showing how it is possible to achieve such incredible feats with a lot of hard work and a willing spirit. As healthcare professionals, treating clients with the same diagnoses often makes it easy to look past how the individual you are treating is coping with their new lifestyle, and this documentary is a great reminder of the reality that comes with living after a stroke. Another reason why I chose to write on this film and find it to be especially pertinent to occupational therapists, is because the film was made by Lotje herself during her time recovering, which provides us with a uniquely personal first-hand encounter of what it is like to recover from a stroke. She used her own occupation of film making as a therapeutic tool to help her process and understand what she was going through at the time. Little did she know, but she was essentially using OT think by incorporating her love of making films into her recovery, which was extremely beneficial for her in both cognitive and psychological ways.

Sodderland, L., & Robinson, S. (Directors). (2014). My Beautiful Broken Brain[Video file]. United Kingdom: Netflix.

SCI Case Study on John Stoker

From hearing about John Stoker's experience with his spinal cord injury, there were two main points that really stuck out to me. The first deals with his OT intervention. John received occupational therapy for bowel and bladder work, which helped him to learn how this feels when paralyzed. I found this to be rather interesting because I hadn't before thought about OTs helping with this aspect of spinal cord injuries. Previously, I had only known of an OTs role in teaching clients how to live with a catheter or a colostomy bag. The other aspect of his story that stuck out to me was how he obtained his injury. John's sustained his injury as the result of a surgical mistake, which is not something that is often brought up. Though it is almost unimaginable to put oneself in his position, John seems as though he handled his new and unanticipated injury with incredible grace and positivity.

The Collision of Science, Creativity, and Compassion

During my 4 months of OT school, I have learned so much about what it occupational therapy is, what is isn't, and what it means to be a practitioner in the field. Our professors have said so many incredible and enlightening things about what occupational therapy means to them and how they choose to describe what it is that we as OTs are attempting to achieve as service providers. To be honest, I have days where I wonder if I fully understood what OT really was before I began this program. Out of all the wonderful statements that have been made about our profession thus far, there is one quote in particular that has stuck out to me when I think about describing what occupational therapy is to someone that might not know otherwise. The quote spoken by Jessica Kensky reads, "occupational therapy is where science, creativity, and compassion collide." I think that this is a wonderful summary of some of the main pillars that make up our profession. Occupational therapy is in a unique position to achieve incredible results in our world because there are few other health professions out there that aim to involve each of these concepts. If done correctly, I truly feel that occupational therapy practitioners have the opportunity to change the lives of our clients and the world around us in a way that was never expected.

Changing Interests

As fresh, bright eyed occupational therapy students, many begin their journey with a destination in mind. Some are set on working in pediatrics while others set their sights on specific hospitals or organizations that they aspire to work for. Before I began school, I thought I might want to work as a traveling OT and have the opportunity to experience several settings before settling into my niche, or I thought I might enjoy the acute care or mental health settings. My answer would change depending on the day, which I find to still be true almost 5 months into my journey in OT school. I think that this is one of the great advantages of our field. Being able to work in a variety of settings and having the chance to change settings depending on your interests is such a unique and wonderful thing about occupational therapy. I have certainly found that the more I learn, the more interested I become in things I had not considered before now. I look forward to watching my own and my classmates' interests evolve as we continue to open ourselves to learning about the many wonderful qualities of our future profession.

Emerging Practice in Mental Health

As society and its needs change, so does the role of occupational therapy practitioners in the lives of our clients. To cater to this, there are many different emerging niches within the field of occupational therapy. As time goes on and society continues to evolve, this list will expand even beyond what it encompasses currently. Justas well, some of the niches that are currently emerging, will no longer be emerging in the future because they will be mainstream areas of practice for OT professionals. For example, a few of the emerging niches in mental health include the work of occupational therapists with depression, recovery and peer support programs, sensory approaches to mental health, and veterans’ and wounded warriors’ mental health. Occupational therapists are slowly but surely finding their place when working with these specific populations and they will continue to develop the role that they play in the lives of those that fall into these more specific mental health categories.  

Being Present with our Clients

As occupational therapists, we are in a valuable position to treat our clients in more ways than just addressing their physical needs. Sure we can test range of motion and implement activities that address certain client goals, but we can also address our clients' humanity and need for social connection through the often overlooked concept of the therapeutic relationship. One can go about establishing a therapeutic relationship in a number of ways, but one way this can be achieved is just by being wholly present with our clients as psychologist Debbie Hall says in her podcast on the power of presence. Being completely present is a state of being and not doing, which in American society, this concept is not necessarily valued because of the emphasis that we place on the need to do all things quickly and efficiently. By forming an intimate connection with our clients, we have the wonderful opportunity to prove the healing power that connecting with another in the quite of just being with them can have. One of the many wonderful impacts that being present can have is its ability to change all parties involved. Being present and just being there or listening to what our clients have to say is a very important role that we play as occupational therapists.

Vision 2025

As professionals in healthcare, it is important to have goals that guide us in our career so that we continually have a purpose and meaning behind what we are doing. Since this is an important thing to have as individuals, it makes since that a specific field within healthcare would have goals for the professionals working within it. AOTA has done just this, first with its Centennial Vision and now, with Vision 2025. Vision 2025 builds on the Centennial Vision, but goes beyond it by calling for, “occupational therapy to maximize health, well-being, and quality of life for all people, populations, and communities through effective solutions that facilitate participation in everyday living” (AOTA 2016). This vision calls for holistic and client-centered care for all persons in various populations and communities. It places emphasis on culturally responsive services, services that are collaborative in nature, therapy that is evidence-base and cost-efficient, and leaders that are influential in changing policy. These goals are crucial in proving the distinct value of occupational therapy as a profession and if achieved, have the potential to make a huge difference in the positive impact that occupational therapy can have on the world.

AOTA unveils vision 2025. (2016, June). Retrieved April 22, 2017, from https://www.aota.org/AboutAOTA/vision-2025.aspx