The Brave OT Podcast

About The Brave OT Podcast

The BRAVE OT Podcast with Carlyn Neek is all about empowering occupational therapists to step-up, level-up, blaze some trails, and maybe engage in a little conscious rebellion in service of the profession, our clients, our work, our businesses, and living our mission wholeheartedly. We are all about keeping it real, doing hard things, unhuslting, being curious, trying new things, growing through our challenges, and finding joy and fulfilment along the way. Really, we are OTing ourselves and each other. About This Podcast The BRAVE OT Podcast features authentic conversations with occupational therapists doing innovative and interesting work, from private practice owners to clinicians pioneering new approaches to OTs, creating entirely new paths for the profession. Through real conversations, we explore the challenges of trailblazing, the reality of navigating uncertainty, and how OTs support each other through it all. Whether you're an OT practice owner facing uncertainty, a clinician exploring new directions to escape environments that contribute to burnout, or an occupational therapist who's ready to do things differently, these conversations will resonate. We talk about the messy middle of building something meaningful, the isolation that can come with going your own way, and what it really takes to create sustainable work that aligns with your values. Host Carlyn Neek brings her lived experience as a multipassionate ADHDer, her decads of work with adult mental health with high achievers and her OT mentorship and business coaching to these conversations. Creating space for honest dialogue about the challenges we face as innovators in our profession is her superpower. The BRAVE OT Podcast is perfect for: Occupational therapists in private practice, OTs exploring entrepreneurship, clinicians seeking inspiration and community, and anyone interested in the evolving landscape of our profession. We aim for 2 episodes per month. 💌 An invitation from Carlyn: If you're an OT who has built a solid private practice but it's time to evolve to make your business work for you in this next phase of life, I'd love to talk to you. I provide coaching for occupational therapists and support for overwhelmed OT practice owners who want to THRIVE without the HUSTLE through my ACTivate Vitality program, an evidence-based approach to building entrepreneurial resilience with a neurodiversity-affirming community where you can find your people as well as the strategy to make intentional, values-led changes in your life and business. https://www.balanceworks.online/avprogram Let's create clarity together by figuring out what you need to make this important shift away from your business running you toward loving your life with a business to support it. 🤗 Book a Clarity Call: https://tidycal.com/carlyn/clarity-call 🔗 Connect with me: https://www.balanceworks.online/contact-links

Publisher

Carlyn Neek - OT Entrepreneur Coach, Educator, Founder of ACTivate Vitality

Category

business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 Nov 2022

Latest episode

20 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 60 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   20 Aug 2026

   Ep. 59: Beyond Values Alignment - Building a Sustainable Occupational Therapy Practice That Honours Your Needs, with Guest Rebecca Rae-Hodgson

   Doing values-aligned work is supposed to protect you from burnout. But what happens when it doesn't? In this episode of The BRAVE OT Podcast, returning guest Rebecca Rae-Hodgson and I dig into what it actually takes to build a sustainable occupational therapy practice, especially when you're neurodivergent or managing a chronic illness. Rebecca was last on the show for episodes 22 and 23, and since then she's gone through the ACTivate Vitality program herself. She's back to talk about the pivot she's made away from 1:1 client work, and why she's learned that values alignment on its own wasn't enough to keep her from burning out. If you're an OT practice owner who's been feeling stretched too thin despite loving the work you do, this conversation names something you may not have had language for yet. In This Episode, We Discuss: Why Rebecca found herself burning out even though her work was fully values-aligned The difference between values alignment and sustainability, and why you need both What it means to bring "needs" into the conversation alongside values How Rebecca is restructuring her practice around supervision, mentorship, and organizational training Disability accommodations as an act of values-aligned self-support, not an exception to it The "90% good enough" mindset and letting go of trying to please everyone What it looked like for Rebecca to tell her clients she was ending 1:1 work, and why that felt so hard Redefining bravery as recognizing your limits and honoring them About Rebecca Rae-Hodgson In Rebecca's own words: "Kia ora, ko Rebecca taku ingoa. I'm an Occupational Therapist/Kaiwhakaora Ngangahau with lived experience of chronic and mental illnesses. I have also more recently discovered that I am Autistic and ADHD. I live in Golden Bay, in a tiny house with my dog (Octavia) and husband. While managing my own mental health and chronic illnesses over the years I have learned many things about myself, what works for me, what doesn't, and the kinds of supports I need to engage in the activities I want to do. I firmly believe in the power of meaningful occupations to improve people's lives. Using my lived experience and occupational therapy skills, I want to support other neurodivergent people with chronic illnesses and mental health challenges to engage in the things they want and need to do." Update Since Recording This conversation was recorded in late 2025. Since then, Rebecca has kept building. She's currently at capacity in her mentorship practice and won't be taking on any new clients until mid-2027. Her focus has shifted toward supervision, mentorship, and organizational training. Resources & Links Chronic Resilience OT resources and worksheets: chronicresilienceot.com/resources-shop Blog: chronicresilienceot.com/blog Lived Experience Feedback on Neurodiversity Affirming Practice in Mental Health https://www.chronicresilienceot.com/resources-shop/p/free-neurodiversity-affirming-practice-in-mental-health-lived-experience-feedback On-demand trainings: chronicresilienceot.com/on-demand-trainings Values Exploration for Us and Our Work Understanding and Supporting Sensory Processing for Mental Health Facebook: The Chronically Resilient OT Book mentioned: Who Deserves Your Love The Empower Model (Bryden Carlson-Giving) Solo School Connect With Rebecca For training inquiries, email is the best way to reach Rebecca. Full details on her current offerings are available at chronicresilienceot.com (https://www.chronicresilienceot.com/). Learn More About ACTivate Vitality If today's conversation resonated with you, if you're feeling stuck, burnt out, or isolated even though you're technically doing the work you value, I want you to know you're not alone. ACTivate Vitality is open to new clients right now. We're a community of international occupational therapy practice owners who support each other in building sustainable, values-aligned businesses. We've got coaching calls, an online community, an ACT-based framework to build entrepreneurial flexibility, and 1:1 support. It's not about hustling harder. It's about getting clear on what matters to you and what you actually need, and building a practice that serves your life instead of taking it over. ACTivate Vitality Program: balanceworks.online/avprogram Book a Clarity Call: tidycal.com/carlyn/clarity-call

2. 

   7 May 2026

   Ep. 58: One OT's Lived Experience Journey with Perinatal OCD with Guest Jen Anderson-Frost in support of Maternal Mental Health Week

   One OT's Lived Experience Journey with Perinatal OCD with Guest Jen Anderson-Frost in support of Maternal Mental Health Week PART 2 ⚠️ CONTENT NOTE This episode includes open discussion of perinatal OCD, intrusive thoughts about harm to self and children. Everyone in Jen's story remained safe. If this content isn't right for you today, Episode 55, a more ACT-focused conversation with Jen, may be a better fit: Listen Here What happens when an occupational therapist, someone who has worked in mental health, supported others through crisis, and carries all the professional knowledge of how care is supposed to work, becomes the one who needs that care? In this episode of The BRAVE OT Podcast, Jen Anderson-Frost and I join you for Part 2 of our conversation to share the deeply personal story behind their work and lived experience perinatal mental health. This is a rare, honest, and at times difficult account of navigating perinatal OCD as an OT and a new parent, through a high-risk pregnancy, profound grief, intrusive thoughts, and a long road to recovery. Jen also shares what they're building now: the Intuitive Perinatal Collective, a membership offering neurodivergent and queer-affirming perinatal mental health support, with a Crowdfunder currently live to support low-income families. --- In This Episode, We Discuss: - What Jen's perinatal OCD actually looked and felt like, including the shame, the hiding, and the compulsions that happened entirely internally - How a traumatic pregnancy, a terminal diagnosis in the family, a trauma history, and a newborn's medical needs converged into a perfect storm - Why being an OT and mental health professional made it harder, not easier, to accept help - The moment the word "ego-dystonic" changed everything and why it was also a double-edged sword - How ACT concepts like defusion, experiential avoidance, and values-based living showed up in Jen's recovery (even before they named them as ACT) - The role of medication, mental health nursing, trauma timelines, and ERP in a complex, layered recovery - Why nervous system considerations matter deeply in exposure therapy and what Jen wishes had been different - Inference-based CBT (ICBT) as a neurodivergent-affirming approach to OCD they're currently exploring - How the Intuitive Perinatal Collective was born from lived experience, passion, and the gaps Jen witnessed firsthand - A call to action for Maternal Mental Health Week in the UK and the Crowdfunder supporting low-income families --- About Jen Anderson-Frost (she/they) is an occupational therapist and intuitive living coach based in the UK. Drawing on both professional training and lived experience as a queer, neurodivergent parent and perinatal OCD survivor, Jen supports queer and neurodivergent parents with perinatal mental health challenges and burnout. Jen also works as a pediatric OT supporting neurodivergent children and families, and hosts the Intuitive Living with OT Intuition Podcast. --- Support Jen's Crowdfunder 🌱 Jen has launched a Crowdfunder for the Intuitive Perinatal Collective, a membership offering preventative and in-the-moment perinatal mental health support for neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ parents, carers, and surrogates. This crowdfunder specifically aims to support low-income families in accessing the membership and optional one-to-one support. If you can pledge, wonderful. If you can share, that matters just as much. 👉 Support the Intuitive Perinatal Collective: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/the-intuitive-perinatal-collective Connect With Jen Anderson-Frost 🔗 Linktree (https://linktr.ee/ot_intuition) (all links) 🎙️ Intuitive Living with OT Intuition Podcast --- Follow & Rate The BRAVE OT Podcast If this episode resonated with you, the best thing you can do is follow the podcast and leave a rating or review. It helps other OTs find these conversations — and that ripple matters. 🎙️ Find us wherever you listen to podcasts. About The BRAVE OT Podcast: The BRAVE OT Podcast features occupational therapists doing innovative, courageous, and meaningful work — and navigating the very real challenges of trailblazing along the way. Hosted by Carlyn Neek, OT, coach, and educator, from Calgary, Alberta. 🌐 balanceworks.online

3. 

   21 Apr 2026

   Ep. 57: Unbecoming - What Turning 50 Is Teaching Me About Authentic OT Practice and Letting Go

   In this solo episode, I'm getting deeply personal about turning 50 and everything that milestone is teaching me about values-based occupational therapy practice, sustainable work, and letting go of the structures we've inherited without examining them. If you're an OT who's ever felt like the practice you built for a previous version of yourself is now running you, or if you're navigating your own season of role transition, professional identity, and the ache to do things differently, this episode was made for you. I share the concept of the crone archetype, my experience teaching entrepreneurial thinking at the University of Alberta, and how ACTivate Vitality is helping OTs deinstitutionalize their thinking and build practices that actually fit their lives. In This Episode, I Talk About: What it means to embrace the "crone era" and why our culture gets it so wrong The crone as threshold, not ending: moving from people-pleasing into authentic purpose Why so many OTs become victims of their own success and how to build a practice that serves you again Deinstitutionalizing OT thinking: the beginner's mindset as an entrepreneurial superpower What I've been teaching in my entrepreneurship module at the University of Alberta and how it applies to your OT practice How I use ACT in ACTivate Vitality to help OTs sort through what's next How ACT helps us discern: am I saying yes from values alignment, or from fear? Navigating ADHD, perimenopause, and role transitions all at once My upcoming Entrepreneurial Thinking Workshop and how you can join Resources & Links 🌀 Gillian White - the local facilitator whose crone-themed words are shared in this episode 📋 My Workshop - sign up here: Ingniting OT Innovation Through Entrepreneurial Thinking 💬 Book a Clarity Call for ACTivate Vitality 🎙️ The BRAVE OT Podcast on YouTube Learn More About ACTivate Vitality ACTivate Vitality is my coaching community for occupational therapy practice owners who are ready to build sustainable, values-aligned businesses without the hustle. If you've built something successful and now it's running you instead of serving you, this is the space to sort through what needs to change. We have group coaching calls, an online community, an ACT-based framework to build entrepreneurial and psychological flexibility, and 1:1 support. It's not about hustling harder, it's about getting clear on what matters and building a practice that fits your actual life. 👉 Book a Clarity Call: https://tidycal.com/carlyn/clarity-call

Inside a recent episode

Ep. 28: The Role of Occupational Therapists in the AI Revolution With Alyson Stover and Karen Jacobs

Published 3 Jun 2024 · Transcript excerpt

[…] So that's not really Alice and that was so so eloquent. I think if we're looking at how we can impart occupational therapy practitioners and students being brave right now, it's to open themselves up to all the possibilities and artificial intelligence. And I think if you step back, we're not talking about being looking at gen GPT or a Gemini or Copilot. We're really looking at artificial intelligence again that can be brought into our interventions that we can help design like Alison said and to work collaboratively. So I want to challenge your listeners and all occupational therapy practitioners and students around the globe to embrace how they can see and be brave with embracing artificial intelligence so that we can have a revolution in occupational therapy where we're the leaders in the use of artificial intelligence to really make a difference in health care, which will have a positive impact on all the people we serve. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

12 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 61 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

88

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

85

Contact The Brave OT Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about The Brave OT Podcast