15/06/2026
What happens when 25+ years of pain care experience meets a passionate group of OTs? 🧠✨
Last week, we launched our first Pain Care OT Small Group Supervision Program! Moving from a mental health OT mindset to delivering confident, long-term interventions in complex pain is a major milestone for any clinician.
After just our first 90-minute session, here is a window into the transformative "lightbulb moments" our participants walked away with:
💡 Function Over Eradication: A huge shift for the group was re-anchoring in our core OT roots. The goal of pain care OT isn't to wave a magic wand and eliminate pain; it’s about establishing realistic, values-based functional goals so clients can reclaim the activities they love (like returning to their gardens or market stalls), even while managing symptoms.
💡 You Don't Need to Be a Neuroscientist: Many clinicians experience imposter syndrome around heavy neuroanatomy. The group realised that while pain science literacy is important, clients come to us because we are experts in occupation—and that is exactly where the therapeutic magic happens.
💡 The Power of the "Third Space": We explored how the client is the ultimate expert in their lived experience of pain, while the OT is the expert in functional adaptation. Together, we build a collaborative "third space" built on deep validation and neurological safety.
As an OTA-endorsed Mental Health OT, Director of Lifeworks OT, and an officer of The Australian Pain Society, nothing fills my cup more than watching clinicians lean into self-compassion, develop clinical excellence, and upgrade their reflective capacity.
We are only one session into this 24-week journey, and the clinical co-reflection is already next-level! 🎒💼
Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
