What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational Therapy supports individuals to engage more fully and meaningfully in everyday life and activities that are important to them. Using a holistic, evidence-based approach, We work with clients to explore the impact of their condition on daily routines, roles, and environments, and work with them to develop strategies that optimise participation, greater independence and overall wellbeing. We work with individuals to recognise the complex interplay of their holistic presentation on daily life, aspiring to provide greater capacity to engage with daily life in the presence of persistent pain, fatigue, autonomic dysfunction and other chronic hidden conditions.

There is always a focus on evidence-based care, with the incorporation of current pain neuroscience education, and a commitment to ongoing professional learning and development, allowing opportunities for curiosity and compassion into ongoing clinical care.

More specifically, Amy provides the following Occupational Therapy services at Hidden Connections:

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Therapy.

It is important to emphasise that you are the expert of your own body and we will work collaboratively together, at your pace, to help you navigate some of the challenges that you may be encountering in your own journey and work towards some of your own therapy goals.

Some of the areas that Occupational Therapy can focus on include, but are not limited to:

  • Helping you understand more about your persistent pain presentation, with the incorporation of pain neuroscience and education, to empower you with your own journey.

  • Working towards building functional capacity in the presence of pain, fatigue, autonomic dysfunction and other hidden conditions.

  • Learning strategies associated with pacing and energy conservation, in alignment with your own paradigm and life.

  • Understanding sensory processing patterns and ways in which sensory modulation can be incorporated into daily life to manage self and emotions regulation. This also include interoceptive awareness.

  • Exploring ways to enhance executive function, planning and time management.

  • Routine exploration and ways to enhance function in the presence of various strengths and challenges.

  • Utilising Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Motivational Interviewing to aspire to influence behaviour change towards more meaningful activity engagement.

  • Empowering you to build greater skills for self-advocacy and communicating your own needs in a variety of settings.

  • Considering the incorporation of certain assistive technology into daily life, to provide opportunities for enhanced functional capacity.
    Please note: Amy does not do high-cost AT assessments/recommendations

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Assessments.

NDIS Functional Capacity Assessments
These assessments are comprehensive and do take into account all facets of daily living highlighting the complex interplay between the various biopsychosocial factors impacts functional capacity in the presence of complex and persistent hidden conditions. These also utilise standardised assessments to assist with assessing and evaluating occupational performance. A detailed report with appropriate recommendations are provided upon completion of the assessment.

NDIS Functional Assessment for Access Support
These assessments allow for the completion of a report to support an application for the NDIS. Please note: This does not guarantee access to the NDIS, rather it can support the application process when applying.

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Groups.

Watch this space…

These groups will be focussed around fostering opportunities for shared experiences among clients of Hidden Connections to allow individuals to not feel so alone or isolated in their journeys. These sessions will be facilitated by Amy, but led by the group, talking to topics that are of interest to group members and offer opportunities for empowerment and autonomy in your journey.

These groups will be facilitated mostly through telehealth means, allowing greater reach to individual’s across Australia, with the potential for ad-hoc in-clinic group sessions as this grows. Group sizes are kept to a maximum of six clients and run over a number of weeks to allow for new group members to be involved at different times throughout the year.

There is hope that these groups will be running by early 2026 for two seperate cohorts:

  • Teens/Young Adults

  • Adults

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Mentoring.

Amy is passionate about not only supporting clients with hidden conditions, but also providing mentoring and support to other Occupational Therapist’s that are wanting to build their skills and knowledge in working with client’s with hidden conditions.

Whether it’s wanting to learn more about pain, fatigue, autonomic dysfunction, sensory processing, trauma-informed care, etc., or wanting to brainstorm how to approach a particular client situation, Amy is more than happy to support you with this. No matter how early on in your career you are or whether you are wanting to gain more experience working within this space, Amy’s focus is on providing a safe and collaborative space for you to grow in your own Occupational Therapy journey and feel more equipped to work with a niche clientele.

Mentoring support can be through both one-off or ongoing means, but needs to be with the right person to make sure that you are getting the most out of your mentoring experience. If you would like to see whether Amy is the right mentoring fit for you, please feel free to reach out to Amy for a complimentary 15-minute chat through the link below.