“An OT Practitioner’s Journey: The Unexpected Life Lessons My Clients Have Taught Me”

This year marks my 35th Occupational Therapy Month, and I am beyond grateful to be an OT practitioner, to still love occupational therapy, and even more appreciative for opportunities to give back to the profession.

I am frequently asked why I use words like grateful or privileged to be an OT practitioner. After thoughtful reflection, I think I can explain it best when I say that my clients have taught me more than I have ever taught them. I could spend days telling you all the things that I have learned from clients, but I will keep it to my top five most valuable life lessons I never expected to learn from my OT clients.

Lesson #5: There is more than one way to achieve a goal.

In OTA school, I learned the correct and safe way to complete things like transfers, to complete dressing with one hand, and how to bathe while maintaining back and hip precautions. I was well prepared to train my clients to use these correct and safe techniques. I remember frequent instances in my early practice where I tried to convince my clients to use these strategies because that was the “right” way to do it. I am so glad that I had clients who questioned me and even insisted that I let them show me how they would prefer to do it. I’ll admit, at first I agreed to observe, but with the mindset that I would tell them why their strategy wasn’t as correct or safe as the strategy I was recommending. It took a little bit of humility and reminding myself that “it wasn’t about me” to keep an open mind. Once I was willing to consider a different approach, I was able to learn so many different ways to address the same problem. Ultimately, I realized that each individual will require a unique solution, as no two people or situations are exactly the same.

This lesson has impacted my life outside of my clinical practice. I try to approach situations and others in my life with curiosity rather than dismissing something or someone because they do things differently. I have also come to realize that as I learn and experience new things, my thoughts and feelings change as a result of new knowledge. I have come to accept the fact that change is inevitable, myself included.

Lesson #4: It’s about perspective, not circumstance.
In over 30 years of practice, I have worked with clients with excessive resources and those with limited to substandard resources. I have worked with clients who had robust support systems, as well as those who were isolated without any family or friends to assist them. My services have been needed in the midst of tragedy, loss, and life-changing physical and emotional injuries.

What I have found is that how well someone is able to cope with their situation and how they perceive their quality of life is not based on the situation alone, but often by their values, beliefs, and spirituality. I have been changed by those who had very few resources and possessions but were filled with joy and gratitude. They cared more about sharing what they had than obtaining more, and I am treasure the times that those clients took the time to share with me what they were grateful for and why. I can also recount situations in which I worked with individuals whose resources afforded them any luxury they desired, yet they were bitter and generally dissatisfied.

My takeaway from these experiences is that we can choose to see the beauty of life even in the most devastating moments. It does not mean it is not painful, hard, or scary. It does not mean that we deny the situation, but rather endure it with the attitude of acceptance and a determination to make the best of the situation. We can choose to acknowledge and treasure what we do have, or we can choose to focus on what we don’t. There’s always a choice.

Lesson #3: Bodies may change, your value doesn’t

As a new practitioner, I feel that I was trained to address “deficits” and “impairments” to “fix” people, as well as how to interact and communicate with individuals with various cognitive and physical disabilities. There seemed to be an implication that the goal was to help individuals achieve “normal” abilities. This belief could imply that if someone does not have normal abilities, they are “less able” or even “less.” I want to say thank you to every spouse, parent, child, friend, and caregiver who insisted that the value of those they cared for was recognized and celebrated.

My mission is to not see people as having more or less value, but instead to celebrate each life while recognizing differing abilities. I have to say, for me, this is harder than it seems because ultimately it starts with reflecting on my own value and working to not compare myself to others. I feel that it requires me to accept that I am just as valuable as those around me—not more or less, but just as. I am not sure that I will ever fully overcome the struggle, but at least I am trying.

One of the blessings and challenges of working in healthcare settings is that we often work with clients whose health has changed or worsened due to injury, disease, or the normal aging process. No matter the cause, we frequently work with clients who are navigating the loss of a loved one, their own abilities and roles, or the anticipated end of life. This is never easy but has led to some of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. I have had the privilege to work with clients who celebrated every day as a gift.

Being exposed to the realities of life and death day after day has caused me to try to focus on being present every day that I am alive, but also to accept that death is part of life and the human experience. I am not sure how well I am succeeding, but I appreciate what I have learned and experienced.

.

To continue on my previous point, over my career I have met many people at the end of their life on earth, and they have taught me the power of love. I have never met anyone reflecting on their life who wished they had more money, traveled more, read more books, ate more food, or earned more titles or degrees. The only regrets I have ever heard expressed revolved around loving more, forgiving more, or things they did that hurt others.

I hope that I have let these experiences put love as my top priority. I am human, and I often fail. I can say that I feel absolutely blessed to have the abundance of love that I do from my family, friends, community, clients, families, and my former students. Love is not perfect—it is often messy and hard—but it is the most meaningful and precious thing I have ever experienced.