Jess is a phenomenal OT and a great friend of mine. She has often explored the road less travelled in this profession and has developed into a clinician with a unique perspective on life, health, wellbeing and OT. In this episode we delve into Jess’s story, her burnout and how she rebuilt herself to be a better, stronger OT. She talks about her use of mindfulness, self-awareness, rest, and yoga among many other things. 

I’ve been trying to get Jess on the show for quite some time so I’m super stoked i finally wore her down and helped with her shyness as her story holds within it, so many learning points. 

Keep Occupied

Brock 
@brockcookOT
brock.cook@me.com

Episode Transcript

089 Leading a Mindful Life with Jess Leggatt

00:00:01 – 00:05:20

Hi, welcome to episode number 89 just a quick thing before we get stuck into this episode is if you roll on over to the occupied podcast Instagram page or our Facebook page, you’ll find a little video explaining that we are currently doing a giveaway. We are giving away a copy of Assessments in occupational therapy mental health version three the textbook for nothing. Well not necessarily for nothing. There is a change something that you have to do for it, but jump along their check out that and enter that if that’s something that you think might be of interest to you this episode not a long-term friend an amazing amazing occupational therapist. Just like it. Let’s kick out the jams off.

Yeah very much. So I I’m kind of of the same Theory OT definitely found me when I was in my younger teenage years. I always wanted to get into like a helping profession of some sort. I went through a phase of wanting to be a nurse at some stage and then I really got Keen that I wanted a doctor and then I found out how long it would take to become a doctor and the study that was involved in that so I decided no that wasn’t for me. But yeah, there’s definitely a period of time for a good probably one or two years when I was serious about becoming a doctor and then I got to my later teenage years and my senior high school study that thought I was talking to my sisters friend who was studying occupational therapy at the time and she was telling me about this wonderful profession and what it included. And I was very holistic and it was very based on, you know, the person and very client-oriented. It was all about helping people get back to what they loved, you know doing things that were meaningful and when she started telling me about this profession and at the time she was interested in Pediatrics OT so she was studying a lot of subjects based on that fact, I was very much interested in working with kids as well. So I thought perfect this is a beautiful match up. I’ll be able to help people but it will also be very holistic and I will be able to work with kids need someone to so from there. I basically thought yep, that’s the profession for me and it wasn’t I think I was in like you’re twelve at the time so luckily I’d taken the rat subjects more science-based kind of subjects and yeah knowing that I wanted to get into sort of some sort of tertiary sciency helping profession and then yet when I found out about that when you’re twelve was like God That sounds like the perfect perfect profession for me. So I went in to actually didn’t get straight into OT. I didn’t get a high enough o p but I ended up going into human movement studies and I did a year in human movements and then I was able to go from Human movement studies into occupational therapy from there. And I was very focused on becoming a pediatric OT. I was just going to like there was just no doubt in my mind. That was it. I was going to be pediatric OT there was just no question marks around that Mom took all my subjects in Peds. I I did my practice at the The Children’s Clinic at ukyou. I did a wonderful job at the Royal children’s Children’s Hospital here in Boise and absolutely fell in love with the profession even more and also it’s like yeah kids kids kids all the way home. And when I graduated I also did my honors project with grade grade one kids at the Morris School here in Brisbane working with young indigenous and irrational Torres Strait Islanders at the most school. And basically after I graduated the first job that I went for was a new grad position at the Children’s Hospital. Okay didn’t get it was absolutely devastated like it was like heartbreaking. I think I was bawling my eyes out after I didn’t get job and I just thought oh my God Almighty felt like all my dreams were like ripped away from me in that one instance, but they explained to me at the other place that they had other new grads applying for it and they had the the OT that got it had been out for a year.

00:05:20 – 00:10:18

So she’d been practicing for 12 months in Pediatrics. So that kind of made me feel a little bit better off. I was still absolutely heartbroken and devastated and I thought gosh, what am I going to do? Like real children’s hospital that was kind of like this dream dream aspiration of mine off. So the very next job I went for was in a cute adult working at a hospital. And this was at gravesites Private Hospital here in Boise, and I went for that job and I got the job. So it would and I got the job based on some of my clinical subjects that I’ve done it uni. I’ve done some study in chronic pain management. So that was something that they looked at as you know favorable favorable and I’d also done some splinting so some Hand Therapy work at the Royal here in Brisbane as well. So they looked at and I said, right you’ll fit this accutrol that we have available and I got thrown into that and I became the Dead. Yes, flinching o t and therapy o t at the hospital and I also worked in the the area of chronic pain. So and I never got to work with kids, you know, God well more recently. I mean, I will probably talk about more more about this as we go along. But yeah, I mean, I’ve had a very eclectic occupational therapy career choice pain. I have dabbled in every single little area that you could probably think of an occupational therapy and have sort of jumped around in the hospital system off in different Wards different departments different areas, but more recently funnily Enough full circle. I’m working with young people. So not with Kitty finally finally finally watching twenty years and it’s within youth mental health. So an absolutely adoring it loving it and have certainly found my Niche that I can bring. Everything together including that that passion of working with young people. So that’s awesome. Because I know when we met your working at Green slopes, do you remember do you remember the story of how we met how you connect with me gosh was that we’ve first days was that we I think it was after it was after I remember when I came across to you passed across many years ago back in kind of Rufus days, which is occupational opportunities for refugees asylum-seekers, which is a volunteer-based group of OTAs that did some wonderful things back in the day but Clarissa, I remember that you had either interviewed her or you had she had a choice you you about something and I saw a little article and I saw your name at the bottom of the article and I really liked what you’d have to say about occupation and using occupation as you know, God As the mains to your therapy basically and I remember ready to add a class in your name and I think somehow I jumped on and we connected in that way but that was way back in the day long. Do you remember you have a telling more about the cuz I remember this clearly cuz it still cracks me up cuz I’ve never heard anyone do it since okay. I got this random email from you. Yes never met we never spoke and we’d never anything and I think the opening line was we need to connect or something to that effect. And the story you told me and you written this off a massive email and it was like the very end of it doesn’t sound like me and I hope that doesn’t scare you off kind of thing. But the basic premise was that I’d popped up three times. Yes, apparently had this rule. Like if something happens three times, then you have to like lean into it. So I got this email saying from this completely random lady, I’d never wage Before sending that I popped into a life three times recently and I’m like, okay. Alrighty, this is shrewd that is totally my go-to in life. If something pops up for me like it might be like a random something on social media. It might be a book. It might be someone kind of mentioning it offhandedly, whatever it might be home. Exactly. Yeah. So I think maybe that first time was that little Crossing and part of me reading that article with your name at the bottom and going off like what this guy’s got to say about occupational therapy and I love his passion and enthusiasm and that you know, there’s this real basis of using occupational therapy and then there must have been two jobs and stuff says I don’t remember what those two other instances Were Somehow you cross.

00:10:18 – 00:15:01

My problem, Probably still got the email. I’m pretty probably find it somewhere in The Volt. From we call that would have been might years ago. That was a long time. Yes. Yes. I think I just moved back here to town. I love that you remember that because it dulls me back into the country as well. It’s three times and you’ve got a lean into it. You’ve got to jump on it and go what’s what’s coming up for me that needs to be kind of explored or that I need to connect all and weirdly. I think it was only a few weeks. After that. I was going down to Brisbane for something was in a conference. You’re going t