Ep. 26: Burning Out in a High-Pressure World with Guest, Mel Homan

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

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 (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 fe

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

The OT Who Showed Up at TED: Bill Wong on Visibility, Neurodivergence & Making Bold Career Moves What does it look like when an occupational therapist refuses to stay inside the OT bubble? In this episode of The BRAVE OT Podcast, I sit down with Bill Wong, the first OT student or practitioner to deliver multiple TEDx talks, publish those talks on TED's platform, and attend many TED conferenendces. Bill is a home health OT, a neurodivergent individual, a TEDx event organizer, and one of the most intentional networkers in our profession. Our conversation weaves through career resilience, neurodivergent-affirming mentorship, and a provocative challenge to the OT community: instead of waiting to be given a fish, why don't we learn to fish for ourselves? If you've ever felt like OT is healthcare's best-kept secret, or wondered what it would look like if we stopped waiting for an invitation and started creating our own opportunities, this conversation is for you. IN THIS EPISODE, WE DISCUSS: • The "teach OT to fish" principle: why Bill believes our profession needs to stop waiting to be invited and start creating our own stages • Resilience, risk-taking, and the "Hall of Fame vs. Hall of Very Good" framework Bill has used to drive his career forward • Neurodivergent-affirming mentorship: what it means to meet mentees where they are while still holding them to their own stated goals • How Bill became the first OT to deliver multiple TEDx talks and what he learned from his early "failed" attempts at organizing TEDx events • What it's actually like inside a TED conference as a paying attendee and why Bill thinks more OTs should be in those rooms • The barriers that keep OTs from showing up in non-OT spaces and how to start breaking them down one brave move at a time • Bill's OT lens on autism, advocacy, and building connections with people completely outside the healthcare world ABOUT BILL WONG, OTD, OTR/L Bill Wong is an occupational therapist based in the United States, currently practicing in home health. He is the first OT student or practitioner to deliver multiple TEDx talks, the first to have his TEDx talks published on TED's platform, and the first to pay his own way to attend TED conferences as a full attendee. Bill is a TEDx event organizer (TEDxAlmansorPark), one of two co-facilitators for AOTA's Autism Community of Practice, and a member of Occupational Therapists for Environmental Action. He is also an autistic individual who brings a neurodivergent perspective to everything from clinical practice to professional advocacy.

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 offers practical insights alongside vulnerable, lived experience. Jen talks openly about the difference between traditional CBT approaches and ACT, why understanding that ego-dystonic thoughts are part of OCD mattered, and how creating space for difficult experiences, rather than fighting them, opens up new possibilities for recovery. This episode is particularly valuable for OTs interested in trauma-informed, neurodivergent-affirming approaches to mental health support. --- IN THIS EPISODE, WE DISCUSS: - What perinatal OCD looks like and why it's often misunderstood - The concept of ego-dystonic thoughts and why this reframe matters - How traditional CBT exposure therapy can be traumatizing without nervous system consideration - The difference between CBT thought-challenging and ACT's approach to difficult thoughts - Why Acceptance and Commitment Therapy was more effective in Jen's recovery - How ACT fits naturally into occupational therapy practice across all settings - Using ACT with clients who appear "stuck" or "non-compliant" - Inference-based CBT (ICBT) as a neurodivergent-affirming approach to OCD treatment - Why professionals often hold themselves to impossible standards during their own struggles --- ABOUT JEN ANDERSON-FROST 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 focused on perinatal mental health. Connect with Jen: LINK TO LINKTREE --- RESOURCES MENTIONED Books: - Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts by Sally Winston and Martin Seif - Break Free From OCD by Dr. Fiona Challacombe Podcasts: - Your Anxiety Toolkit with Kimberly Quinlan - OCD Stories podcast Additional Resources: - Inference-based CBT (ICBT) for OCD treatment - Research on intrusive thoughts in university students - OCD Action (UK support organization) --- LEARN MORE ABOUT PRACTICAL ACT FOR OTS COURSE Registration is open NOW for the February 2026 cohort! The Practical ACT for OTs course gives occupational therapists practical tools and confidence to integrate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy into practice, regardless of your setting or specialty. What you get: - 4.5 hours of recorded learning modules (lifetime access) - Comprehensive resource library with handouts, worksheets, and references - 4 months of support including live Q&A calls - Online community forum for ongoing discussion - No certification required—ACT is designed to be accessible Enroll now: https://www.balanceworks.online/act-for-ots Registration closes soon for the February 1, 2026 start date. --- ABOUT THE BRAVE OT PODCAST The BRAVE OT Podcast features occupational therapists doing innovative work and navigating the challenges of building sustainable, meaningful practices. Host Carlyn Neek, BA, BScOT, provides coaching, mentorship, and community support for OT practice owners and clinicians who want to thrive without the hustle. Connect with Carlyn: - Website: https://www.balanceworks.online/contact-links ---