Aspire OT Founding Partner and occupational therapy assistant, Niccole Rowe. Have you ever ended a workday wondering:
"Maybe I'm just not doing enough."
"Maybe I'm not explaining OT well enough."
"Maybe I'm not cut out for this setting."
If you're an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant, you're not alone. These are thoughts I have had myself as an OTA but also have heard so many times from other OT professionals while at conference, in a course, or even at the lunch table.
We go into OT because we care. We want to support and help people. As we go through school, we learn to listen, think about different perspectives, spot the needs of others, and then help folks do what matters most to them. We gain those skills that are the greatest strengths of our profession.
Isn’t it funny though that sometimes those amazing characteristics can lead us to one of the biggest challenges in our profession: we feel like it is our fault when things are not going well.
When collaboration feels hard, when productivity gets in the way of being client-centered, when no one understands what we do, or sometimes don’t you just feel alone in your OT practice? It is so easy to turn our thoughts inward and assume that it must be us.
The realities of it all though are more complicated.
Research suggests that we work often in systems that have a biomedical focus, prioritize productivity, and include assertive perspectives from other healthcare professionals (Gallagher & Bagatell, 2025; Wilding, 2011). Though I know that if you are an OT or OTA, you probably don’t need research to tell you that! You live it in your practice on a daily basis.
These influences can make it difficult to practice in ways that feel true or right to us. Ways that are based on our own values and the values of our profession. At the end of the day, we can feel frustrated, isolated, and really disconnected from our own professional identity. I mean, how many times have you heard someone say, this is just not how I thought practicing OT would be?? That is the frustration, isolation and that disconnected feeling coming out.
The good news?
It’s time to reconnect. Remember the purpose that brought you to OT; Revive and connect with your professional identity (the OT or OTA you imagined you would be). Recognize the impact you are already making, but your brain may instead be focusing on the negative.
In this article, you'll learn:
Here are 3 key things we'll cover:
• Why OTs and OTAs often blame themselves when practice feels difficult
• How professional isolation can disconnect us from our values
• How identifying daily wins strengthens professional identity and advocacy
Let's start by looking at why so many OTs and OTAs carry this burden.
Occupational therapy is unlike any other healthcare profession.
Those around us focus on body structures, symptoms, or diagnoses; occupational therapy brings in the holistic perspective that pulls from so many areas such as participation, meaning, context, routines, roles, environments, and quality of life.
Have you ever tried to talk about meaning, roles, and context in a quick conversation or to a manager focused on productivity? Oh wait… you HAVE if you are an OT or OTA. You know exactly what I am talking about; it’s so hard! Let alone trying to measure those things.
Research has shown that we often feel pressure to conform to dominant healthcare cultures and expectations. In one study, occupational therapists described engaging in "self-limiting and overly conforming behavior," focusing on medical diagnoses and productivity rather than the occupational concerns they valued most (Wilding, 2011, p. 295).
Sound familiar?
When our work is misunderstood, we often respond by trying harder:
• Explaining OT one more time
• Working longer hours
• Taking responsibility for team dynamics
• Questioning our own competence
• Wondering whether we're making enough of a difference
Because we are trained to be reflective practitioners, we naturally examine our own role first.
Reflection is valuable.
Self-blame hurts us as individuals.
Sometimes the challenge isn't a lack of skill or commitment. Sometimes the challenge is practicing within systems that don't fully share or understand occupational therapy's perspective.
Recognizing that difference can be incredibly helpful.
Another challenge many OTAs and OTAs face is isolation. You may not practice around other occupational therapy practitioners.
In some settings, you may be the only OT or as an OTA you may have limited access to the OT that you work with. The day is busy so there is not much time to talk or connect.
You spend most of your day surrounded by other healthcare folks who may use different language, different frameworks, and different definitions of success than you do.
The OTs in the Gallagher & Bagatell, 2025 study frequently described feeling isolated, undervalued, and disconnected from occupational therapy. Some reported struggling to find others who shared their values and vision for care.
When this happens, it's easy to slowly lose touch with your own professional identity (basically your professional identity is who you feel you are as an OT or OTA).
Not because you've forgotten it. Because you're constantly focused on everyone else's needs.
As occupational therapy practitioners, we are taught to:
• Listen deeply
• Consider multiple perspectives
• Focus on client priorities
• Collaborate with teams
• Adapt to context
These skills are essential.
But it can be easy to focus on understanding everyone else's priorities so much that we eventually stop checking in on our own priorities.
As time passes, we may start measuring our success through someone else's lens instead of our occupational therapy values.
That can leave us feeling disconnected from the very reasons we entered this profession.
One of the most powerful ways to reconnect with your professional identity is to start noticing your wins. We use a strengths-based approach with our clients. We need to remember to celebrate ourselves too!
Notice not the dramatic wins, but the everyday wins.
The client who participated in a meaningful activity for the first time in weeks.
The student who found a strategy that helped them succeed in class.
The caregiver who finally felt understood.
The interdisciplinary teammate who began to see OT differently after a conversation with you.
The client who regained confidence.
The person who found hope.
These moments matter.
In the Gallagher & Bagatell, 2025 study I’ve been mentioning, the OTs who felt most connected to their practice were often those who actively recognized and advocated for the value occupational therapy brought to clients and teams. They described feeling empowered when they spoke up about their contributions and demonstrated the impact of focusing on occupation during working with the client.
When we identify our wins, several things happen:
We reconnect with our values
Wins remind us what matters.
Wins help us see our work through an occupational lens instead of only through productivity metrics or external expectations.
We build language around our impact
We know that our interventions are meaningful; Though we can struggle to explain why. Tracking wins helps us develop stories and examples that communicate the value of occupational therapy.
We strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration
When we can clearly articulate our impact, other team members better understand what occupational therapy contributes.
We reconnect with the OT community
Sharing wins doesn't just benefit us. It benefits the profession.
Every time we share a meaningful client story, a creative intervention, a breakthrough moment, or a lesson learned, we help another OT or OTA remember they aren't alone.
We strengthen our collective professional identity.
And perhaps most importantly, we remind each other why occupational therapy and what we do truly matters.
If you've been feeling discouraged, disconnected, or questioning yourself lately, consider these simple questions:
• What is one meaningful impact I had today?
• Which occupational therapy value showed up in my work today?
• What would I want another OT or OTA to recognize as a win in this situation?
• Who could I share this win with?
You don't need to ignore the real challenges of practice.
You don't need toxic positivity.
You don't need to pretend systems aren't difficult.
But please don’t carry all the responsibility for those challenges on your shoulders.
Sometimes the most important thing we can do is remember who we are.
Finding Your Occupational Therapy Identity Through Daily
Wins
When occupational therapy feels difficult, OTs and OTAs may assume they need to work harder, explain better, or somehow become more.
But often the first step is not doing more. Because you don’t need MORE on your plate.
It's reconnecting:
Reconnect with your values.
Reconnect with your purpose.
Reconnect with the impact you already make every day.
I’ve highlighted today some research that says many occupational therapists experience pressure to conform to dominant healthcare expectations and can feel isolated or disconnected as a result.
Yet the same research also highlights the power of awareness, advocacy, and connection. Those who recognized their value and intentionally demonstrated the impact of occupational therapy felt more empowered and engaged in practice.
Your wins matter.
Your perspective matters.
Your occupational therapy lens matters.
And when you share those wins, you don't just strengthen your own professional identity; you help strengthen our profession as a whole.
What was one win you experienced this week?
Share it with a colleague, your team, or the larger OT community. Someone else may need that reminder today. If you happen to catch our Practice Wins feature on social media, we would love to have you share it there too.
Gallagher, M., & Bagatell, N. (2025). Occupational therapists’ experiences of hegemony in a mental health setting: A practice-based enquiry. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 32(1), 2456462. https://doi.org/10.1080/11038128.2025.2456462
Wilding C. (2011) Raising awareness of hegemony in occupational therapy: the value of action research for improving practice. Aust Occup Ther J. ;58(4):293–299. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1630.2010.00910.x.
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