Once in a Blue Moon - September 2023

 Blue Moon - Ask me anything - September 2023

Based on some of my previous posts, you can probably tell that I'm a person who likes a good routine. That wasn't always the case, but I've learned that my life functions better, and I achieve my goals more consistently, when I put as many things as possible on auto-pilot. In starting my private practice (Calder Mental Health Services) and this associated blog, one of the routines I've set up is a consistent posting schedule of rotating topics:

- The (self-) Maintenance Team

- The A.V Department

- The Reference Library

- The Gratitude Division

But this leaves me periodically with a fifth Friday in a given month, that doesn't fit the routine. That's where the Once in a Blue Moon - Ask me anything! post comes in.

At the start of the month, I'll post a prompt on Instagram (@caldertherapy) to get input about what questions you would like to have answered. Feel free to ask me at any time, of course! And if the topic you've asked about wouldn't fit into one of the four other weekly themes, then I'll do my best to answer those questions on these Blue Moon posts.

One of the questions I've been asked through the years is: 

Why did you become an Occupational Therapist?

It's a great question! Occupational Therapy is a relatively small profession, so most OTs do have a story about how they discovered it; I'm no exception.

I decided to make a career change in my early 30s and I went back to school to get a bachelor of psychology, knowing that I wanted to be a therapist. I assumed that meant I would become a Psychologist, though I knew that there were more options out there too; no matter what path I chose, I would probably need the undergraduate degree in psych as a first step and I figured I could puzzle out the next step of the journey while I was working on that.

I worked my butt off, assuming early on that in order to reach my goal I would need to get into a Clinical Psychology graduate program. The Clinical Psych programs are incredibly competitive to get into, but I was determined. I knew I would need to graduate with an average in the 90s and to get some research and extracurricular experience in order to be a competitive applicant - so I did all the things! I was in my 30s - I was not messing around.

When I was at the start of my final year of the bachelor's program, I started seriously looking at my graduate school options and applying for scholarships/grants. I knew I would be a good candidate for the Clinical Psychology programs, but the competition is SO stiff that I thought I should consider a plan-b. I'd also learned a little more about the Clinical Psychology stream during that time, and what I learned didn't really appeal to me. You see, I'd had the opportunity to meet a couple of Clinical Psychologists to ask them about their careers and I shared with them my aspirations; both, independently, warned me that the chance to do therapy wasn't a big part of their job. They were more often called upon to do specialized assessments and they did not provide ongoing treatment to the clients they assessed. Still, I persisted - they could do therapy and I was determined that I would make choices in my career that steered me toward treatment, with less emphasis on assessment-only services.

When considering what my plan-b would look like, I knew one option would be to go into a research psychology Masters program, with plans to continue on to a PhD afterward (in almost all Provinces, you need a Doctorate degree to practice as a psychologist) and I'd find ways to gain the clinical experience I would need to become a registered psychologist down the road. In service of that option, I began to reach out to Research Psychologists who were studying topics of interest to me, particularly in health psychology. If I read an article that piqued my interest, I would send the author an email along the lines of "I read your article and I liked this about it. I'm also interested in research on that topic and am applying for graduate school next fall. Are you accepting any students for supervision in the coming year?"

Some of the professors didn't reply and others did; some were taking students and some weren't. But one of the responses I received changed my life. A researcher at the University of Western Ontario replied to let me know that she wasn't accepting students in the coming year, as she would be taking a parental leave. However, given the research interests I expressed in my email, she suggested that I look into the research of a colleague in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. Upon doing so, I discovered that the researcher was an Occupational Therapist and I thought "what's that?!"

Once I learned about occupational therapy, what OTs do, and their orientation to human health, I never looked back! This profession is everything I was looking for. OTs are relationship focused professionals, who help people to reconnect with things in their life that give them purpose, meaning, connection, and joy. They look at humans holistically and focus on strengths, rather than deficits; OTs don't pathologize, we adapt, accommodate, and problem-solve a path forward.

There are some additional reasons that I committed to OT so completely, once I knew it was an option. But this post is long enough 😆 The moral of the story is that I never pursued the option to become a psychologist, once I discovered occupational therapy. I applied exclusively to OT schools and I went to the best school there is (IMHO), McMaster University School of Rehabilitation Science.

I am an Occupational Therapist and I love my profession. It has given me an identity and a career that has been meaningful and rewarding. OT allows me to bring the best of who I am to my work, in service of my clients and my teams. I can't imagine doing anything else!

If you'd like to know more about Occupational Therapy, here are some options:

- How I apply OT in my private practice: Calder Mental Health Services

- The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists

- McMaster University's OT Program

Thanks for taking the time to learn a little about me! If you have any other questions that you'd like to see answered in the next edition of Once in a Blue Moon, feel free to comment.

Petrina