Jamey Schrier, PT, is an author, former physical therapy practice owner, and founder of Practice Freedom U. PFU solely focuses on helping practice owners work less, earn more, and reignite their passion for patient care. His book, The Practice Freedom Method has been an Amazon best-seller. Jamey is on a mission to help ambitious practice owners achieve their dreams of what is commonly called Practice Freedom. On this episode, Jamey shares about how changing one's mindset can transform and in some cases even save a business including a private practice. Here's how to connect with Jamey:Email - jamey@practicefreedomu.comTwitter - https://twitter.com/jameyschrier Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/PracticeFreedomU Instagram - https://instagram.com/practicefreedomuLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameyschrier/

On The air

The Mindshift for Practice Growth (Episode 119)

Hailey Scandin is a third-year student in the Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. She is currently in her final semester of OT school and is working on completing her Capstone project with Ability App. Hailey has always had an interest in advocating for individuals with disabilities and is looking forward to continuing to do so as she starts her professional career as an OT practitioner. When she is not in school, you can find her outdoors hiking, biking, or on the water with family and friends!To connect with Hailey and to learn more about Ability App:Instagram - @hailbail16Website - https://theabilityapp.com/

Boots-on-the-Ground Community Accessibility Ratings: Introducing the Ability App! (Episode 118)

Susan Mahipaul is an occupational therapist, an educator, a researcher, and a disability and health naviagator and advocate who completed a PhD from McMaster University in Hamilton, ON in Rehabilitation Science (2015) and a clinical Master’s in Occupational Therapy from the University of Toronto (2004). She identifies as a disabled clinician and a critical disability scholar. Her doctoral work explored how her own reflections on living with spina bifida can be used to critique normative assumptions on disability within rehabilitation practices and society at large. Her research, teaching, and writing interests include advocating for equity, justice, and anti-oppressive practices within the rehabilitation sciences; academic ableism; how rehabilitation science programs often exclude disabled students; and using narrative research in teaching critical disability studies concepts within rehabilitation and disability studies programs. Susan teaches as an instructor within the undergraduate Disability Studies program at King’s University College at Western University Canada. She guest lectures extensively throughout many Canadian OT programs on critical disability studies and anti-oppressive clinical practice. She consults on several national research projects underpinned by critical disability studies and disability researching partnerships. Susan also has a professional practice where she consults with, advocates for, and supports disabled and chronically ill women in navigating their disability and health related needs. Susan is married and lives in London, ON with her husband and her retired racing greyhound. She grew up in Austria, Germany, and Canada and loves the outdoors. Susan comes from an active family and participated in many sports, committee work and volunteer and advocacy initiatives, until chronic pain and challenges with pacing led her to reimagine her work-life balance. Susan is an avid gardener who loves propagating plants and gifting them to anyone she can. Follow Susan on Twitter @SMahipaulResources mentioned during this episode:"Perspectives on Disability and Rehabilitation: Contesting Assumptions, Challenging Practice" by Karen Whalley Hammel, PhD, MSc, OT(C), DipCOT"Disability Visability" by Alice Wong

Critical Disability Studies & the Politics of Intervention in Healthcare (Episode 117)

Karen Park, OTD, OTR/L, BCP, SWC, CLE, is an occupational therapist with extensive experience in pediatric practice in a variety of service settings including early intervention, clinic, school, hospital and outpatient children’s mental health. Dr. Park is Board Certified in Pediatrics by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and holds Advanced Practice certification in Swallowing Assessment, Evaluation, and Intervention within the state of California. Prior to joining the faculty at University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in San Marcos, CA (USA), Dr. Park was an Assistant Professor of Clinical Occupational Therapy and the Director of Academic Fieldwork Education at the University of Southern California, Chan Division of Occupational Science and Therapy. Her expertise in fieldwork education focuses on role emerging fieldwork experiences in children’s mental health settings; specifically mentoring OT students in identifying and establishing the role of OT in addressing the occupational needs of underserved children and families with a history of complex trauma. She was also clinical faculty at the USC University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) in the interdisciplinary Feeding Development Clinic serving children with feeding challenges, co-occurring neuro-developmental disorders and a history of medical or psychosocial trauma. She has taught courses on pediatric practice and given additional lectures on infant mental health and mealtime assessment and intervention. She also completed the certificate program in Sensory Integration at USC Chan. Dr. Park has lectured nationally and internationally on topics around interdisciplinary approaches to feeding assessment and intervention, the intersection of trauma and mental health factors on mealtime engagement and enjoyment, healthy weight for children with special healthcare needs, as well as developing and sustaining role emerging FW experiences.Note: We use the acronym "AAPI" throughout this episode in reference to the Asian Pacific American Islander community. Resources discussed on this episode: Stop AAPI Hate - https://stopaapihate.org/ AAPI Women Lead - https://www.imreadymovement.org/ Asian Pacific Heritage Month information - https://asianpacificheritage.gov/Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (COTAD) - www.cotad.orgCOTAD Conversations: Occupation, Invisibility, and anti-Asian Racism - see recorded talk with Dr. Karen Park on COTAD's IG account @COTAD_diversity (March 29, 2021)Connect with Dr. Park - Via IG @karenparkotd

Addressing the Occupational Needs of Children and Families from Underserved Communities with a History of Complex Trauma (Episode 116)

Jennifer Renker, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist who works as a travel therapist, traveling across the U.S. to provide services to in clinics that are short staffed and in need of assistance. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy in 2017 from Utica College in Utica, NY. Jennifer has extensive experience working with people with a variety of disabilities and challenges in different settings that has helped inform her as a therapist. Prior to going to OT school, she earned an Associate’s degree in massage therapy from Suny Morrisville in Morrisville, NY. Jennifer was drawn to OT because of its holistic nature and ability to look at all of a client’s needs to better assist each person. The fluctuating and changing needs of clients in both of these past settings has allowed Jennifer to become more adaptable and creative with the ability to focus on her client’s immediate needs, while allowing her to excel in the changing environments of a travel therapist. She enjoys spending time on her crafting hobbies which include jewelry-making, diamond painting, silver clay creations, and epoxy resin items. Jennifer has recently melded her two passions for crafting and OT together into a YouTube channel called The Crafting OT Studio that was launched December 2020. The purpose of this channel is to make crafting and leisure activities accessible to everyone no matter what challenges they may have. The channel is a combination of crafting videos as well as suggestions and ideas on how to adapt each craft for easier access and completion. The videos are fun and informative. Make sure to check her out on her YouTube channel as well as on FaceBook, Instagram, and TikTok @The Crafting OT Studio!

The Crafting OT Studio (Episode 115)

Nancy Peters, OTR/L, has been an occupational therapist for over 45 years. She attended the University of Buffalo at a time when there were not many occupational therapy schools in the country and the profession was fairly young. Upon graduation, she was offered a job at one of her fieldworks, the Buffalo VA Hospital, and worked there for 3 years until she left at the birth of her first child. Her next job was at Robert Warner Rehabilitation Center, providing therapeutic services for children. From there she became a school-based OT at Akron Central Schools. Nancy "retired" from the school job only to be called back into service at Summit Rehabilitation. Each job change required some study and continuing education to get up to speed with the different populations she was working with, but her OT background of looking at the whole person and helping them solve obstacles to their "occupation" made each job very fulfilling. Currently Nancy is working as a partner in DNS Designs, a company of which she is a co-founder along with her son and family friend, both of whom are engineers. The trio invented a product called Magzip and developed the brands are Ankhgear and Magzip using the motto "Innovations to Improve Life." Nancy has certifications in Infant Massage and Family Bonding and in Eastwest Somatics for Movement Therapy. She has taken multiple levels of CranioSacral Therapy, all levels of Reiki, Evaluation and Treatment of Sensory Processing Disorders, LomiLomi, Redefining Health from the Maryland University of Integrative Health, and numerous continuing education courses in diverse areas of study. She is a lifelong learner who delights in new information that can positively impact people's lives. On this episode, Nancy shares about her path into the profession of occupational therapy almost 5 decades ago and the many formative experiences she has had over the course of her career as an OT practitioner. She talks about her business venture, the beauty of universal design, and the development of the products like MagZip. As a special perk for listeners of the On The Air podcast, Ankgear is offering a 15% discount on anything on the website Ankhgear.com. The code for that is ONTHEAIR15.To connect with Nancy:Email: nancy@dnsdesignsllc.com IG: @otrnancyFB page: @AnkhgearWebsite: www.Ankhgear.com and www.dnsdesignsllc.com

Advancing Universal Design through Partnership between Occupational Therapy and Engineering (Episode 114)

Annabeth Knight has been an occupational therapist for almost 9 years, practicing in a variety of pediatric therapy settings including an approved private school and private practice. She has her clinical doctorate (an OTD) and studied quality of life indicators for children with multiple neuromuscular disorders for her capstone project. Mara Jonet has been a speech-language pathologist for 5 years. She currently works in private practice and has a passion for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention. Together, Annabeth and Mara run The Fanny Pack Therapist Instagram account as a fun way to share information about assistive technology, minimalist therapy, and 1990s and 2000s nostalgia! On this episode, Annabeth and Mara discuss the importance of interdisciplinary evaluation and intervention for augmentative alternative communication and assistive technology, how to improve one's comfort and competency in these areas, and tips for minimalist (low stress, low prep) therapy sessions.Connect with AnnaBeth and Mara:Email - thefannypacktherapist@gmail.comInstagram - @thefannypacktherapistWebsite/blog - https://fannypacktherapist.wixsite.com/blog

The Fannypack Therapist (Episode 113)

Danielle Lorenz is a PhD candidate in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta which is located in amiskwaciwâskahikan, which is what is currently called Edmonton, Alberta. Danielle's doctoral research focuses on settler colonialism in Alberta's K-12 education system. She is also an Associate Editor for the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies.Hannah Sullivan Facknitz is a graduate researcher and teaching assistant at the University of British Columbia. She was born and raised as a settler in Harrisonburg, Virginia (occupied Monacan land) where she also did her bachelor of arts at James Madison University. In the middle of her time at JMU, she was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus, developing organ damage shortly thereafter and dropped out of college eight weeks from graduating. Now, with Danielle Lorenz, she's hoping the CJDS Cripping Pandemic Learning resources can help protect disabled students in higher ed by empowering instructors to prioritize accessibility preemptively.On this episode, we talk about the set of resources Danielle and Hannah have created and made available on CJDS Cripping Pandemic Resourcing, the ways pandemic learning makes learners with disabilities particularly vulnerable, and why educators should be more inclusive through preemptive planning to support learners with disabilities. Access the Cripping Pandemic Learning in Higher Education here: http://bit.ly/CPR2021 Connect with Danielle and Hannah:Twitter - @daniellelorenz and @HannahntheWolfBlog - https://hannahandthewolf.wordpress.com/

Pedagogy of Care: Tools for Disability Justice in Teaching & Learning (Episode 112)

Charlotte Foley is an occupational therapist living in Alaska, who feels that occupational therapists and physical therapists have a greater role to play than they currently do in working with people with ostomies. She has a passion for supporting fellow therapists in increasing their confidence with this population. Charlotte has worked in the adult inpatient rehab and acute care settings for the past 6 years, and she’s lived with a permanent ileostomy for 7 years (on and off for 13). Through her work as an OT and her personal experience with an ostomy, she recognized the benefit of OT and PT for ostomy surgery recovery. She started her business, Restorative Ostomy Solutions, in 2020 to provide educational information to therapists. Charlotte also supports "ostomates" - individuals living with ostomies - in living an active lifestyle through her website and social media. Check out the resources Charlotte is sharing on her website at https://backcountryostomy.com/ and on her Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ostomyrehab. Connect with her on Instagram @backcountry_ostomy

The Role of Occupational Therapy in Working with People with Ostomies (Episode 111)

Arameh Anvarizadeh, OTD, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist and a leader in the occupational therapy profession. An alumna of the University of Southern California (USC), Dr. Anvarizadeh earned her BS, MA, and Doctorate in Occupational Therapy with a minor in Neuroscience and an emphasis in Ambulatory Healthcare. In her role as the Director of Admissions and Associate Professor of Clinical Occupational Therapy at the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, she is responsible for ensuring the success of the admissions process by creating and maintaining effective admission strategies and procedures. She also oversees each academic program and makes certain the division is filled with high caliber diverse students.Dr. Anvarizadeh also serves as the Chair and is a founding member of the Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (COTAD), a non-profit organization striving to meet society’s occupational needs by developing local and national initiatives and aligning with key stakeholders to create a socioculturally diverse workforce that is able to provide culturally effective and client-centered services to occupational therapy consumers. An advocate and an ignitor of change in the field of OT as well as for social justice and human rights, Dr. Anvarizadeh is currently running for Vice President of the Executive Board of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). She has extensive leadership experience including through AOTA and the Occupational Therapy Association of California (OTAC). Within AOTA, she is currently a Representative Assembly Leadership Committee (RALC) member and the Credential Review and Accountability Committee (CRAC) Chair.She is listed on the AOTA Roster of Fellows and is a recipient of OTAC’s Janice Matsutsuyu Outstanding Service Award and Vision Award and an accomplished speaker who has served as the keynote speaker and presented on a variety of topics at both state and national conferences as well as lecturing internationally at the World Federation of Occupational Therapists’ (WFOT) congress. Dr. Anvarizadeh also serves on the Boards of Inclusion Clubhouse and Black Women for Wellness. She is passionate about building healthy, diverse communities through inclusion, health education, empowerment, and advocacy. She envisions creating sustainable communities through social entrepreneurship and policy using an occupational therapy perspective.On this episode, she shares about her path into the OT profession, her mantras and leadership philosophy, and her vision and plans for persevering and igniting change as she continues to create systemic change in the OT profession through action-oriented leadership. Connect with Dr. Anvarizadeh on Instagram @drarameh.

Creating Systemic Change in the Occupational Therapy Profession (Episode 110)

Lindsey Vestal is an occupational therapist and is the founder of The Functional Pelvis, the first in-home pelvic health practice in New York City run by an occupational therapist. She has helped thousands of people overcome chronic pelvic health challenges like incontinence and pelvic pain. Her goal is to empower women and men to listen to the wisdom of their own bodies—without resorting to invasive surgeries or prescription drugs—so they can heal and get back to enjoying life again. She understands that no one else knows a person's body better than that person. She considers the whole person, not just outward physical symptoms. Lindsey offers online training for other OT practitioners who want to pursue pelvic health. This course, which is called OT Pioneers: Intro to Pelvic Health for Occupational Therapists, opens twice a year, with more information available at https://ot-pioneers.teachable.com/In addition, she offers two free interview series featuring OTs in emerging practice fields (women's, men's and pelvic health) where OTs can learn so much about how to enter these fields, how these OTs made it, they favorite continuing ed courses and more. The first series is entitled Pelvic Soma Hour (more info at https://functionalpelvis.lpages.co/pelvic-soma-hour); the second is called How to Break Into An Emerging Practice Area (more info at https://functionalpelvis.lpages.co/ot-emerging-area-of-practice/).Connect with Lindsey via Facebook at The Functional Pelvis, on Instagram @functionalpelvis, or through her website at www.functionalpelvis.com.

The Functional Pelvis (Episode 109)

On Episode 53, Stephanie Goodman, an OT practitioner from Kansas City, MO, shared about her work as a coach at The Parkinson's Exercise and Wellness Center in Overland Park, KS. On this episode, two individuals with whom she works - Sarrisa Curry and Jacob Weiss - both of whom are pioneering innovative work with people in the Parkinson's Disease community, talk about their work and research with people with Parkinson's Disease. From a young age, Sarrisa has been fascinated by the human body's ability to adapt to the stimulus, positive and negative. She sought a career that would allow her to pursue this passion. She achieved her Massage Therapy certification in 2002. Over the next few years she added certifications in multiple forms of health including weight training, group fitness classes, and nutrition supplementation. She became a NASM Certified Personal trainer in 2014. She spent 6 years as the manager of operations of a high end Racquet Club, learning the ins and outs of the fitness industry. In 2016 she began working with people with Parkinson's Disease in an exercise setting, boxing specifically. Very quickly she saw that the brain, even in a diseased condition, can adapt and positively change with exercise. She witnessed miraculous changes in people's movement, balance, mood, and neurological function after just a few sessions of boxing. It was a lifechanging interaction. She shifted her entire focus to the Parkinson's Community and soon thereafter founded The Parkinson's Exercise and Wellness Center (The PEWC), a non-profit organizations dedicated to offering exercise as a form of therapy for people with PD. She has surrounded herself with 4 other coaches who share the same passion for the PD community and Health. Together they provide 6 different forms of exercise formats in over 25 classes a week via Zoom and in person. The impact her organization has had on hundreds of people in The Kansas City area is phenomenal. Her life was shaped by her fascination and all the paths she traveled prepared her for the mission of The PEWC. She loves the path her life has taken her. She walks along with her husband and co-Founder David Curry. Together they are raising 3 daughters and 2 sons, 2 dogs and a Holland Lop Rabbit. Dr. Jacob Weiss is the founder and the director of HandEyeBody, a social enterprise with a mission to help people of all fitness levels move better, focus better, and function better. Since graduating from Princeton University and completing his PhD in Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt University, he has developed and shared his interactive training programs with conferences, corporate teams, schools, and non-profit organizations. He also has toured the world as a professional juggler and social entrepreneur, bringing laughter and joy to communities and families that need it most. Dr. Weiss currently runs HandEyeBody Academy, a global online training platform to bring accessible and fun movement methods to health, wellness, and fitness programs.To connect with the guests, visit their website at https://www.handeyebody.com or follow their work on social media @handeyebody (Twitter and Instagram) or www.facebook.com/handeyebody (Facebook).

Health, Wellness, & Community for People with Parkinson's Disease (Episode 108)

Occupational therapist Allison Sullivan, DOT, OTR/L, was the recipient of the 2017 Catherine Trombly Award for Excellence in Research and Education from the Massachusetts Association of Occupational Therapy and the 2018 Faculty Excellence award from American International College. She is Lead Faculty for AIC’s Post-Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy program, where she mentors doctoral capstone projects and teaches courses for the PP-OTD in scholarship of teaching and learning in occupational therapy and occupational therapy theory, as well as providing instruction for the entry-level MSOT program in courses on group dynamics, the development of psychosocial occupations and the mental health process in OT. Her research interests include pedagogy in occupational therapy education, cognitive disabilities, and trauma-informed care. Dr. Sullivan’s study, “Impact of a Fieldwork Experience on Attitudes Toward People with Intellectual Disabilities”, is published in the 2017 November/December issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy. As an occupational therapist and educator, Dr. Sullivan has dedicated her career toward improving the lives of individuals with cognitive disabilities and health conditions that interfere with social participation and quality of life across the lifespan, working in day habilitation services, school-based occupational therapy, and residential settings in a career spanning three decades. She is the chair of the MAOT Western Massachusetts Mental Health Special Interest Group, a certified group exercise and yoga instructor (RYT), and the co-founder and leader of #OTalk2US, a Twitter chat for occupational therapists with tens of millions of views of tweets carrying this tag.In this interview, Allison shares about the results of our recent study, which describes effects of participation in an innovative computer simulation training in screening and brief intervention and occupational therapy students’ confidence and preparedness in selecting appropriate responses when using this skill in a virtual assessment. In addition, we talk about trends and advocacy on social media, international connections, and mental health as an integral part of the OT profession. We also discuss the book StrengthsFinder 2.0 from Gallup and Tom Rath. To connect with Dr. Sullivan, follow her on Twitter @_allisulli.

Computer Simulation Training in Occupational Therapy Education (Episode 107)

Tanya Peterson, MS, OTR, has been an occupational therapist for over a decade. She began her career in acute care at Upstate Medical University, eventually transitioned into pediatrics, and then became a full time faculty member in an Occupational Therapy Assistant Program. Eventually she branched out on her own to open The Tot Spot Play Center in Upstate NY. And her most recent project aligns her passion for helping other OT Entrepreneurs do the same - Tanya and her business partner are launching Tactical Shift Healthcare Consulting in fall 2020.On this episode, Tanya talks about her innovation and how she became an entrepreneur in the field of occupational therapy and shares tips and resources for other who are interested in pursuing a similar path. To find out more about her work, to access free content, and to request support, check out Tactical Shift Healthcare Consulting at https://mailchi.mp/74317e68f845/tactical-shift-healthcare-consulting-beta-launch. Learn more about Tanya's clinic, The Tot Spot Play Center, via the website at www.thetotspotplaycenter.com or on Facebook or Instagram @totspotplaycenter

A Path of Entrepreneurship: Leveraging What You Know to Start a Business as an Occupational Therapy Practitioner (Episode 106)

Liz DeFinnis is an occupational therapist and a busy mom of three young children. She graduated from Misericordia University in 2009 with a MS in Occupational Therapy. A few years later she continued her education and graduated from Capella University in 2019 with a PhD in Psychology. She has spent the last several years exploring various approaches to understanding the intertwined dynamic of the body, mind, and spirit. It is now her passion to help others on their journey to prevent, cope, and recover from the stressors of life while finding their way to inner harmony. She utilizes her background in OT and psychology to combine methods for holistic healing, such as reflective journaling, guided imagery, mediation, aromatherapy, and relaxation techniques. Her recently published book, Path to the Aligned Soul, is available for purchase on Amazon. The book is a journey of self-discovery as it walks readers through 30 devotional topics to provide readers an opportunity to step into that alignment in order to achieve living a harmonious and balanced life. Liz has also recently launched a new program called The Peace Project - Pattern Balance to Anxiety Healing, which is designed to provide clients an opportunity to dive into topics such as coping with unexpected life change and releasing control while balancing routines, rituals, roles, and habits. Additional information can be found at www.lizdefinnis.com.Liz is on Instagram and Twitter as @lizdefinnis and has a Facebook Page -www.facebook.com/lizdefinnis/ - as well.

Occupational Therapy & the Spirit of Positivity (Episode 105)

Welcome to On The air, a podcast for individuals interested in learning about the profession of occupational therapy. Through interviews and dialogue on each episode of the show, we will explore topics, exchange ideas, become better informed, and gain a dose of inspiration as we talk about topics and ideas related to the field of OT.

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On The air

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