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In this candid episode of Moments in Mind, Lisa Bowker offers a glimpse into the incredible moments she’s witnessed as an occupational therapist. It’s a conversation that covers her clients’ highest highs and lowest lows. It also reveals the vital role that standardised assessments play in helping people to live their lives.

This article contains edited excerpts from the podcast. To hear the full episode, click on the audio player above or listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. A full written transcript of the podcast is available here.

Andy McLean: Occupational therapy (OT) is a term that is oft-used and oft-misunderstood. Can you clarify for us exactly what it entails?

Lisa Bowker: Occupational therapy is all about helping people engage in the "occupations" that fill their daily lives, which is not just about their job or work life. It can cover everything from basic self-care tasks to pursuing hobbies to housework to paid work to travel. It's about supporting people in all the meaningful things they need or want to do.

Andy: What are some of the common reasons people seek out OT services?

Lisa: The scope is incredibly broad. Early in my career, I worked extensively with clients who had sustained spinal cord injuries, addressing everything from physical rehabilitation to community reintegration. Nowadays, I often see people who have returned home from a hospital, who face new challenges as they seek to re-establish their independence and routines.

Andy: Your approach to OT really centres around your clients’ and their individual specific goals and priorities. Can you share an example of how that works in practice?

Lisa: I had a teenage client in a spinal unit who was initially disengaged with therapy. But I realised that I was focusing on daily living skills that weren't her top priority. It wasn't until we uncovered what most mattered to her – being able to apply her own makeup independently – that she really started to thrive in therapy. By aligning our work with her personal goals, she became much more motivated and invested in the process.

Andy: What part did standardised assessments play in your early career as an OT?

Lisa: Standardised assessments were invaluable. They provided an evidence-based foundation to support my observations and recommendations, which gave me confidence in my abilities to accurately report on each client's needs and plan effective interventions.

Andy: And fast-forward to today, how do standardised assessments assist you in tailoring your interventions to each client's unique needs?

Lisa: Assessments give us that crucial insight into the specific areas of difficulty a client is facing. Rather than making assumptions, we can use the assessment data to pinpoint the exact elements of a task or occupation that are problematic, and then build our therapy plan to address those specific needs.

Andy: You must have witnessed some truly remarkable breakthroughs and successes in your work. Can you share a memorable story that stands out?

Lisa: One that comes to mind is a client with motor neurone disease who had lost the ability to speak. After a lot of work with a speech therapist, we eventually enabled him to communicate through an eye-gaze voice control device. The first time he used it, his message read “143”. We were confused at first and suspected there was an error with the machine. But then we turned to his wife and she was in floods of tears. She explained that “143” was his way to say "I love you" to her (“I” being a one-letter word, “love” a four-letter word, and “you” a three-letter word). It was an incredibly emotional and powerful moment for everyone in the room.

Andy: You’ve been with people when they are at their lowest ebb, and with people during moments of personal triumph. What have you learned along the way?

Lisa: Every single day, I see evidence of how humans are wired to survive and strive – even in the most extreme circumstances. I'm in awe of my clients’ strength, determination and resilience. It’s a privilege to witness breakthrough moments with them and to be part of their journeys.

Running order:

• 0:03 - Explaining what occupational therapy (OT) is
• 0:04 - What led Lisa to choose OT as her career
• 0:05:45 - Lisa’s early career and how mentors and standardised assessments helped her
• 0:06:40 - Lisa’s approach to OT and tailoring therapy to each client’s aspirations 
• 0:07:45 - Working with a young person who had a spinal cord injury
• 0:09:30 - The circumstances that lead people to seek Lisa’s help
• 0:11:45 - How Lisa uses standardised assessments to personalise and target her therapy
• 0:12:40 - Using a sensory profile tool to help a little boy with a spinal cord injury
• 0:15:00 - Supporting a young man after an acquired brain injury to travel on the train to work
• 0:17:00 - A breakthrough moment for a man with motor neurone disease
• 0:18:45 - A breakthrough moment for a young boy after a spinal-cord injury
• 0:20:00 - Memorable career moments that Lisa will always remember

To find out more about the resources that Lisa and her colleagues at The Holistic Network use – covering everything from adaptive behaviour assessments to sensory profiles, and from goal-oriented assessments of life skills to independent living scales, and more.