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
Release Date: 01/22/2026
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_outlineACT 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 powerful, trauma-informed framework for helping clients unhook from difficult thoughts, feelings, and sensations so they can move toward the occupations that matter to them. Whether you practice in physical rehab, pediatrics, mental health, persistent pain, or community settings, ACT can integrate into your OT approach.
In This Episode, I Discuss:
- The experience of clients being "hooked" and moving away from meaningful occupations despite having goals they care about
- The ACT choice point model: toward moves versus away moves and what that means for occupational engagement
- How the six core processes of ACT break down into mindfulness-based tools and values-based action (aka meaningful occupation)
- The four ACT processes that help clients be more flexibly responsive to difficult internal experiences
- Why ACT feels aligned with trauma-informed, humanistic, collaborative approaches to occupational therapy practice
- How "open up, be present, do what matters" translates to occupational therapy
- Practical ways ACT fits into OT sessions across different practice settings
About My Practical ACT for OTs Course
The Practical ACT for OTs Course is clinical education designed specifically for occupational therapists who want to integrate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy into their practice. It is a psychosocial skill for any area of practice.
The course includes:
- Eight asynchronous video modules (approximately 4.5 hours of content with limitless access)
- Optional live group calls twice a month to discuss clinical applications and nuance
- Online community of OT peers learning and applying ACT
- Resource library with tools you can use immediately in practice
- Support for applying ACT across all OT settings
More than 150 occupational therapists have taken this course, and it's designed to help you add ACT tools to your clinical toolkit without feeling overwhelmed.
Learn more and register today for our February 1, 2026 cohort: www.balanceworks.online/act-for-ots
If you're listening at a later time, please check the website to see if we're actively accepting registrations for an upcoming cohort.
Connect With Carlyn
About The BRAVE OT Podcast
The BRAVE OT Podcast features occupational therapists doing innovative work and navigating the challenges of building meaningful careers in OT. Host Carlyn Neek is an occupational therapist, educator, and coach who works with OTs through clinical education, business coaching, and community support.