Ep. 50: Sustainable Practice - Purpose + Profit with Jason Stein
The BRAVE OT Podcast | Real Conversations with Occupational Therapy Trailblazers
Release Date: 10/09/2025
Ep. 55: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in OT Practice through Jen's Personal and Professional Experience
The BRAVE OT Podcast | Real Conversations with Occupational Therapy Trailblazers
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in OT Practice through Jen's Personal and Professional Experience What happens when an occupational therapist who supports others with mental health challenges experiences their own mental health crisis? In this episode, Jen Anderson-Frost shares their journey through perinatal OCD and how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy transformed both their recovery and their practice. If you're an occupational therapist curious about ACT, working with clients experiencing intrusive thoughts, or supporting parents with perinatal mental health challenges, this conversation...
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Ep. 54: ACT for Occupational Therapists - Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Any OT Setting
The BRAVE OT Podcast | Real Conversations with Occupational Therapy Trailblazers
ACT for Occupational Therapists: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Any OT Setting Have you ever worked with clients who seem stuck? The ones who don't follow through on goals they set themselves, the ones often labeled with judgy terms like "non-compliant" or "unmotivated"? As occupational therapists, we're often called in when all else has failed. But when psychosocial barriers keep people from engaging in meaningful occupations, we need tools that work with the internal experiences creating those obstacles. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers occupational therapists a...
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Ep. 53: Deinstitutionalizing OT - Field Research, Folk Wisdom & Creating Your Own Path with Dr. Josie Jarvis
The BRAVE OT Podcast | Real Conversations with Occupational Therapy Trailblazers
Deinstitutionalizing OT: Field Research, Folk Wisdom & Creating Your Own Path with Dr. Josie Jarvis What does it mean to deinstitutionalize yourself as an occupational therapist? In this wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Josie Jarvis and I explore everything from the historical roots of healthcare systems to why OTs need to reclaim field research and folk wisdom. If you've ever felt stuck in traditional practice settings or wondered how to apply occupational science to your own life, this episode offers both validation and a path forward. We discuss burnout recovery for occupational...
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Ep. 52: Using AI to Ease Documentation Burden Ethically, with Tech Leader Raj Paul
The BRAVE OT Podcast | Real Conversations with Occupational Therapy Trailblazers
Ever feel like you're drowning in documentation while the work you actually trained for gets squeezed into the margins? Or maybe you're curious about AI tools but worried about privacy, security, and whether using them is even ethical? You're not alone and this conversation might be exactly what you need to hear. In this episode, I sit down with Raj Paul, Director of Engineering at Jane, where he leads the teams building clinical features designed to reduce administrative burden. Raj brings a unique perspective he's not an OT, but his wife is, so he deeply understands our world. He's also...
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Ep. 51: Redefining Brave When Everything Changes With Trish Williams
The BRAVE OT Podcast | Real Conversations with Occupational Therapy Trailblazers
Ever wonder what happened to some of our OT entrepreneur trail blazers who went quiet? If you've been around OT social media or podcasts, you probably know Trish Williams from her brand, OTs Get Paid. In this raw, honest conversation, Trish opens up about why you haven't heard from her in more than a year and it's not the story you might expect. This episode is about what happens when your capacity fundamentally shifts. When perimenopause rewires your brain. When family crisis demands everything you have. When the version of yourself you've been living and sharing doesn't fit anymore. And when...
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Ep. 50: Sustainable Practice - Purpose + Profit with Jason Stein
The BRAVE OT Podcast | Real Conversations with Occupational Therapy Trailblazers
Ep. 50: Sustainable Practice - Purpose + Profit with Jason Stein In this milestone 50th episode of The BRAVE OT Podcast, I sit down with Jason Stein—acupuncturist, executive coach, and the cowboy-hat-wearing wellness practitioner who's mastered the art of building a sustainable occupational therapy practice that honors both purpose and profit. If you're an overwhelmed practice owner wondering how to create more vitality in your work and life, this conversation offers wisdom you can actually use. Jason shares his journey from hospital-based integrative medicine to building a wellness center...
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Ep. 49: Neurodivergent OTs Discuss Creating a Practice That Actually Works for You With Guest, Breanna James
The BRAVE OT Podcast | Real Conversations with Occupational Therapy Trailblazers
This week on The BRAVE OT Podcast: So many neurodivergent OTs like us have spent our careers trying to squeeze ourselves into systems that weren't designed for how our brains work, for our sensory needs, or for how our values need to align deeply with our work. It is a brave move to one day say "I'm going to create something that actually works for me." Join me as I talk with Breanna James, an OT from Alaska who's been part of my ACTivate Vitality program and community for almost a year. Breanna specializes in supporting neurodivergent adults, and what I love about this conversation is...
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Ep. 48: The Mindset Shifts That Move You Through Fear and Into Entrepreneurial Action With Guest, Dr. Lorne Brown
The BRAVE OT Podcast | Real Conversations with Occupational Therapy Trailblazers
Waiting until you feel ready to make your next move? Convinced you need more training before you can call yourself an expert? Think entrepreneurs are just naturally fearless? Join me as I talk with traditional Chinese medicine doctor, Dr. Lorne Brown, about the mindset shifts we need to make to move through fear and think like an entrepreneur. Lorne shares how he built a thriving practice by flipping conventional wisdom on its head, committing first to a meaningful challenge, then finding courage, building capability, and finally gaining confidence. You'll hear his adaptation of Dan Sullivan's...
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Ep 47: The Messy Middle of Multiple Income Streams - My Behind-the-Scenes Business Reality
The BRAVE OT Podcast | Real Conversations with Occupational Therapy Trailblazers
How do you define success in your business? Is offering a variety of services scattered and unfocused or a wise path to multiple income streams? Or maybe success isn't about money at all for you? I'm pulling back the curtain on my own current business reality, sharing the revenue proportions, time commitments, what energizes me versus what drains me, and the messy truth about having a podcast, online courses, a planner, private practice, and teaching gigs all under one roof. You'll hear about my ACTivate Vitality program that represents a third of my income but takes twice the marketing effort...
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Ep. 46: Multi-Passionate OTs Creating Work They Love, One Layer at a Time with Guests, Áine O'Dea & Jen Trzeciak
The BRAVE OT Podcast | Real Conversations with Occupational Therapy Trailblazers
Ever feel like you're the only OT who doesn't have their career path mapped out? Like you should have it more figured out by now or you thought you were on the right path and something's not right? Meet Áine and Jen, two multi-passionate OTs who've built thriving practices by embracing the messy, non-linear path of figuring it out as they go. From car crashes that changed everything to setting up businesses because "I don't really know what else to do," these two prove that sustainable, fulfilling OT careers don't require having it all planned out. What You'll Learn We explore how...
info_outlineEp. 50: Sustainable Practice - Purpose + Profit with Jason Stein
In this milestone 50th episode of The BRAVE OT Podcast, I sit down with Jason Stein—acupuncturist, executive coach, and the cowboy-hat-wearing wellness practitioner who's mastered the art of building a sustainable occupational therapy practice that honors both purpose and profit. If you're an overwhelmed practice owner wondering how to create more vitality in your work and life, this conversation offers wisdom you can actually use.
Jason shares his journey from hospital-based integrative medicine to building a wellness center in rural Oregon (population: one person per two square miles), and how he helps founders and leaders find balance between making money and staying human. We explore Key Vitality Indicators (KVIs) instead of KPIs, why befriending money doesn't make you less spiritual, and the simple practices that are often the hardest to maintain—but create the most transformation.
In This Episode, We Discuss:
- Why so many therapy practice owners experience burnout and what Key Vitality Indicators can tell you about your business health
- How Jason shifted from perseverating about outcomes to surrendering control—and why ketamine therapy opened a door to deeper presence
- The practical magic of closing your eyes for half a breath during heated conversations
- Why making money and being a heart-centered healer aren't mutually exclusive (and how to befriend money like a best friend)
- Natural rhythms, seasonal cycles, and why we've disrupted our connection to rest through electricity and hustle culture
- The Kawa Model (Japanese river model) for understanding life flow, obstacles, and opportunities in your practice (See Ep. 31 for the Find Your Flow Kawa Workshop)
- How to build a values-based business that doesn't require you to abandon your love of nature, family dinners, or making really good ice cream
- The truth about AI tools: when they help with self-reflection and when you need actual human connection
- Some good health advice, "You can pay now or you can pay later, but you're gonna pay"
- Jane's LIFE CHANGING AI Scribe feature.
- Check out my article on how I used ChatGPT to customize my AI Scribe template
- Be sure to use the code VITALITY on your new Jane account for a one month grace period.
About Jason Stein
Jason Stein is an acupuncturist, executive coach, and storyteller who blends ancient wisdom with modern leadership. With more than 25 years of experience helping hundreds of people heal and thrive, he supports leaders, founders, and communities in finding the balance between purpose and profit. Jason co-owns Wallowa Avenue Wellness in Joseph, Oregon, and hosts the Wellness Renegades Podcast. When not working, he's outdoors with his wife and kids exploring the wilderness and living close to nature.
Connect with Jason on LinkedIn
Resources Mentioned:
- Insight Timer app (meditation timer)
- Jon Kabat-Zinn - "Full Catastrophe Living"
- Kawa Model (Japanese river model for occupational therapy)
- Alan Weiss - "Value-Based Consulting"
- Marshall Rosenberg - Nonviolent Communication
- Maisie Hill - "Period: The Real Talk You Need About Periods"
- Claude AI (for business reflection and planning)
Keep the conversation going over in The BRAVE OT Podcast Facebook Group.
Work With Carlyn - Time-Sensitive Opportunity:
As we enter October, I'll be focusing my time less on marketing and more on deepening the work with practitioners in my community. If you've been waiting for the deadline to explore ACTivate Vitality with me, reach out this week while I'm still actively booking new conversations. Book a Clarity Call
The ACTivate Vitality Program is a community of occupational therapy and wellness practitioners who support each other in building sustainable, values-aligned businesses. We have group coaching calls, an online community, an ACT-based framework to build entrepreneurial and psychological flexibility, and 1:1 support.
About The BRAVE OT Podcast:
The BRAVE OT Podcast features occupational therapists and wellness practitioners doing innovative work and navigating the challenges of building sustainable therapy practices. Host Carlyn Neek provides coaching, mentorship, and community support for practice owners who want to thrive without the hustle.