From Burnout to Belonging: How Pelvic Health Reignited My Love for OT

• Learn more about Level 1 Functional Pelvic Health Practitioner program
• Get certified in pelvic health from the OT lens here
• Grab your free AOTA approved Pelvic Health CEU course here.

Learn More About My Guest

My name is Joann LaGreca and I am an occupational therapist who recently graduated Lyndsay’s Level I Pelvic Practitioner Program and I learned SO much. I am so excited to be utilizing this knowledge and newly found confidence to transform people’s lives in this very needed specialty- starting a pelvic health clinic in our county hospital and seeing private clients on the side as well!

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Pelvic OTPs United - Lindsey's off-line interactive community for $39 a month!
Inside Pelvic OTPs United you'll find:​

• Weekly group mentoring calls with Lindsey. She's doing this exclusively inside this community. These aren't your boring old Zoom calls where she is a talking head. We interact, we coach, we learn from each other.
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• Highly curated forums. The worst is when you post a question on FB just to have it drowned out with 10 other questions that follow it. So, she's got dedicated forums on different populations, different diagnosis, different topics (including business). Hop it, post your specific question, and get the expert advice you need.

More info here. Lindsey would love support you in this quiet corner off social media!

Transcript

Intro: New and seasoned OTs are finding their calling in pelvic health. After all, what's more ADL than sex, peeing, and poop? But here's the question. What does it take to become a successful, fulfilled, and thriving OT in pelvic health? How do you go from beginner to seasoned and everything in between? Those are the questions, and this podcast will give you the answers. We are inspired OTs. We are out of the box OTs. We are pelvic health OTs.

I'm your host, Lindsay Vestal, and welcome to the OTs in Pelvic Health Podcast. 

Lindsey: Joann, it was such a pleasure supporting you in the Level 1 Functional Pelvic Health Practitioner Program. I couldn't wait to get you on the OTs for Pelvic Health podcast, just to talk a little bit about your journey, discovering pelvic health and all of the amazing things that you brought to our incredible cohort. Thank you so much for being a guest on the show today.

Joann: Thank you so much. I loved the functional pelvis course that I took with you. And when you asked me to do this podcast, I was so nervous, but at the same time so excited because I just felt like this has really changed the trajectory of so many different aspects of my life in so many ways.

 So thank you again for asking me.

Lindsey: Oh my goodness, that makes me so incredibly happy and is exactly the reason why I wake up in the morning. So that is absolutely music to my ears.

 I'm going to start with kind of an odd question, which is, can you take us back to the point where you were questioning whether you still wanted to be an occupational therapist? 

Joann: Yes. So at that time I had about seven years as an occupational therapist and I had worked in sub-acute rehab, acute rehab, home care, a lot of different settings. And I just found there were some issues, you know, with our profession that were not really being addressed.

 I felt a lack of respect and appreciation from other therapists and our administration. I felt that there was very little room for upward mobility and raises. And it seems like other people my age, my peers that were also master's level professionals were, you know, getting recognized more than I was, making more money than I was.

 And I felt just frustrated by, even though I loved my patients and I loved, you know, being able to, you know, touch their lives in different ways. It just was, just draining, you know, not receiving that affirmation for the work that I knew was so necessary, but at the same time wasn't being recognized. And I started to think maybe there's something else, maybe there's a different, maybe I missed the memo, maybe there's something that would be a better fit for me.

 So I kind of started to look at what else was out there at that time. 

Lindsey: Yeah. I would love to tell you, you were alone in some of those observations, but I unfortunately think that those are all too common.

And I think that is one of the reasons why finding ourselves into a specialty that really calls our name is so incredibly important. And I know for you, becoming a mother was one of those that really had a strong influence on you. And I would love if you could talk a little bit, Joann, about the way becoming a mother influenced the way you saw your career and really your professional purpose.

Joann: Yeah. So becoming a mother, as you know, changes you in so many different ways. I just have so much respect for working moms, like beyond after becoming one and seeing how we wear so many different hats.

 And I just feel that, you know, becoming a mother really helped me see that I want to help other mothers, you know, in this sensitive and chaotic and beautiful period of time and all the struggles that we have that I don't even think are really recognized enough in today's day and age. And kind of helping me like kind of niche down, like I've always wanted to help others, but now it was like I had a newer purpose to help other moms. And that was so powerful for me.

Lindsey: That is so incredibly powerful. And then kind of bringing that all together, both your disenchantment with the OT profession and then becoming a mother, how did learning that OTs could work in pelvic health change your perception of occupational therapy profession? 

Joann: I just felt like I could use my different interests and combine them into this amazing specialty. I've always been interested in mental health, nervous system.

 I also have a yoga certification, hormone health, gut health, nutrition. And that's why I had such a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do for a living for so long is because it's like, what is the saying? Jack of all trades, master of none. And I always felt like I always wanted to do all these different things.

 And then when I found pelvic health, it was almost like a light bulb went off in my head. Like, oh my goodness, I could take all of these things that I'm passionate about and I can do it in this really impactful way. 


Lindsey: So well said. And I think so many of us listening to this episode can so thoroughly relate to that. Can you explain a little bit, Joann, how manual therapy, in your opinion, fits into being a holistic pelvic health professional? 

Joann: I think manual therapy is so multifaceted, honestly, it's like getting to build that rapport with the client through touch, nervous system and co-regulation, really getting to help other people to regulate their own nervous system through touch, and as well as using it as an aspect of therapy, along with exercise and task modification. All the things that we do as OTs, as a complimentary method, I feel like it really goes so well.

 And then lastly, of course, being able to educate the patient on how to perform some self-release work maybe, or use their own hands to heal themselves, because we really are facilitators of healing. So it really goes along those lines.

Lindsey: It's so incredibly enriching, isn't it? Just hearing the way you're talking about it, it's like as occupational therapists, because we really have this unique ability to kind of do it all, meaning we can use a biomechanical manual therapy-based approach, but even just hearing you speak about it, it's all of the other adjuncts to that type of work that I think is really why that work is helpful.

 Because standalone, if you just walk in and perform some of those incredible techniques, I'm not so sure just how much change we're going to evoke. I really think it's that occupational therapy package, which I'm hoping we'll learn a little bit more about you in that maybe using pelvic health, combining it with all the things, that fulfillment is there again for you. Because I know that even though some of us can feel disenchanted with occupational therapy, when we find a niche or a specialty that really lights us up, we start to re-remember why we fell in love with OT to begin with.

Joann: Absolutely. 

Lindsey: Yeah. I mean, it is an amazing profession, but I am a big advocate for specializing, because I think that that's kind of like where we can see the best aspects of us.

 I'm curious about how you feel about things like stress and burnout and really nervous system dysregulation. How do they show up physically in our pelvic health clients? 

Joann: Oh my goodness, Lindsay. I feel like I just have so much to say about this topic specifically, especially after becoming a mom and experiencing this firsthand myself from the moment I was pregnant, going through work, pregnant and having to get up every day, go through the whole routine and just carrying another human with me to the actual delivery experience, my C-section.

 I can go into a whole rabbit hole with that, but just not really feeling in touch with my body anymore, just feeling so disconnected from myself. And then actually being a mother and having my child earthside and then not sleeping enough, not eating the right foods, reaching for things that maybe weren't so healthy for me just for immediate gratification, not taking the time to rest and having that show up, right? Having those symptoms show up after that of weight gain, tension in my muscles and breathing, breathing is so important and we don't realize that we're in this stress that our breathing becomes more shallow and then that can contribute to more tension in our muscles. And something I learned in my yoga training was that diaphragmatic breathing really influences the vagus nerve, which helps us with that fight or flight and regulating our nervous system.

 And then if we're not eating right, our gut microbiome is off, that we're not absorbing nutrients and it's like this cascade of events that happen. And then hormone imbalances, which can affect our cycle as women, that we're not as regular or that we have painful periods. If we're in this cycle of burnout and stress, we may not feel connected to our partners and sex can become not as pleasurable or can become even painful.

 And then of course that disconnection with our bodies so that we're not listening to those signals. So even if we have to urinate and then we're not listening, we can start to become incontinent or experience some leakage just because we're not in tune with our bodies. And you can see all these different aspects by becoming stressed, really just throwing us into this imbalance.

 And yeah, just like I said, I can say so much about it, but it's really so important to practice self-care, especially when you become a mom. 

Lindsey: I think that was so beautifully articulated. I mean, you just hit the nail on the head and really demonstrated how it's like dominoes.

 One impacts the next, impacts the next. And before we know it, we're down this road where, as we know, as OTs, habits are very sneaky and all of a sudden become our new norm. And we even forget, when did this even start? And it's just this perfect storm of cascading events.

And I think just that sense alone really illustrates incredibly well just why OTs are so meant to work with this population. You know, Joann, you're an incredibly brave person. You recently asked your boss about starting an outpatient pelvic health clinic.

 Tell us a little bit more about what gave you the courage to do that. 

Joann: Well, it really was so out of the box for my job. You know, I just feel like I couldn't continue doing the same job day in and day out.

 Like, I just felt like in my bones, I just needed a change. And I just felt like, you know what, the worst thing that they can do is they can say no. It's, you know, it's not going to really impact the trajectory of my career that much, you know, one way or the other.

 So what's the worst that can happen? So I decided to ask. And I knew also that our population, I work in a non-for-profit hospital. So, you know, we have a population that doesn't have a lot of access to resources, that's financially disadvantaged and that has very low health literacy.

 And I just felt like this is just something that's so important for so many of these people and teaching them about their bodies and how I can impact them. And so I just felt like driven by the strong purpose, you know, to help. So I just put it out there and I'm just so blessed and fortunate that, you know, I was greeted with acceptance, you know.

Lindsey: That's amazing. I just love so much of what you said. You're like, what if they say no? So what? Like, that's such an empowering, I guess what you're saying is what do I have to lose? And I really want to encourage anyone listening to our chat today to ask themselves where in their lives can they ask that same question? It could be starting a public health program.

 It could be something else completely. But I feel like that attitude is one that is really growth minded and really is kind of like, well, there's only upside to this. And I think that if we ask ourselves that question more and more, we'll realize just how many more opportunities there are for us in leadership roles and just even seeking fulfillment in our own professional and personal development.

 So what has it been like to create this program as the only OT? 

Joann: You know, it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows, which I didn't expect. It's definitely been a bit of a challenge in so many different ways, you know, even just ordering supplies, finding out what they would pay for, what they won't pay for, you know, some things that I'm like, OK, I may have to get this out of my own pocket because I feel like it's important and it's going to touch other people and I can use it in the future if I decide to start my own practice, even just setting aside a space because we have a space that used to be for a lymphedema therapist who just retired and now is like kind of the perfect space for me, but I have to kind of make it my own. So, you know, there's those aspects of it.

 And then also just getting people to return my emails, getting on the lecture schedule, you know, creating resources. I actually created a brochure about what it is I do, how to make referrals, you know, the ICD codes and things like that. And I sent it to the chairperson of the obstetric and gynecology here.

 So I'm waiting to hear back from him. But our chairperson did speak to him and he thought that it was a great idea. And so, you know, it's really just putting myself out there and just doing the work.

 And even though it's not going as on the timeline that I had wanted it to go, it's I just keep reminding myself like it's new. And if I keep putting in the work, it's going to happen, you know, so I'm just continuing to take the steps toward it. 

Lindsey: And that's exactly what we can do and should do in these situations.

 I'm so curious about what would you tell someone listening to this episode that if they were having trouble feeling a balance between, let's say, being a new public health practitioner and stepping into a leadership role, if they were having a conflict with that, what would you tell them? 

Joann: I think the most important thing is just to remind yourself that everyone's new and that we all start off somewhere and that this is still a new field in OT and I feel privileged to be a part of the movement and to make it more accessible and to make it more mainstream. And, you know, there is a saying, fake it till you make it. There's so much that we know, even as newer practitioners in OTs in this field, that we don't even realize, like I keep telling myself, like I have this mantra that I have everything I need, you know, and I keep telling myself I have everything I need.

 I have everything I need because it really is within me. And if I forget, I have this amazing public health community behind me who's there to support me, who's there to answer my questions. And honestly, just remembering the fact that I'm not alone, even though I feel alone here in this building, I'm really not alone in the larger span of things.

And that brings me a lot of comfort. 

Lindsey: Oh, that's amazing. That answered my next question, which was like, do you think community and mentorship are important in the public health practice? And I think you answered that beautifully.

Joann: Yeah, just like reminding yourself that like we have this purpose and we have to stay strong and there's so much like, you know, sometimes there's like even uncertainty within ourselves. There can be uncertainty that's like mirrored back from our community because people don't know what we do or what we have to offer in this space. And then that can show up within us as, you know, discomfort and lack of confidence.

 And so I just think especially for pelvic health OTs, like having this community is such an important reminder of like that we're here to do this work and that we belong here and that we have so much to offer. 

Lindsey: Thousand percent, thousand percent, Joanne, for clinicians who feel called to pelvic health, but maybe are a little bit apprehensive to start, what would you say to them? 

Joann: Well, I was very apprehensive when I first started because I was so worried about other people judging me about what I'm doing, because this is such a sensitive topic and things like that. So for me, I was like, well, I'm just going to take a class.

 I'm going to take a course and I'm going to see if it's for me. I'm going to absorb the material. I'm going to just kind of be a fly on the wall.

 I'm not declaring anything. I'm just going to take a course. And so, you know, taking your before the functional pelvis, the course that I took was 

Lindsey: OT Pioneers.

Joann: Yes, thank you. I was like, I hope it comes to me before I get to the end of OT Pioneers. I had taken OT Pioneers.

 And then I also decided to take another course, PR Mat, which was a manual course. And I said, if by the end of this, I'm really it's not for me that it's not for me. And I ended up loving it.

 I ended up falling in love with it. I ended up learning so much about myself. And what I have to say is that this is such an amazing field and it can definitely be for so many of us.

 But if it's not for you, that's also OK, because there's a million other amazing OT specialties out there. So definitely just take a course and just see. 

Lindsey: Yeah, that's beautiful. And my last question for you, Joanne, is what excites you most about the future of pelvic health occupational therapy? 

Joann: Wow, you know, I think what's so exciting is that it's so new and there's just still so much left to learn, there's so much left to uncover. And I think like just being curious and being curious and, you know, continuing to learn and be inspired by others, seeing what other people are doing. You know, one of my goals is to get to a conference next year, the pelvic health conference.

 I think it's in Arizona. I didn't get to go this year, but I'm like, I'm excited to get to it. I'm excited to get to a conference and connect with other like-minded individuals.

 So that really excites me. And let me see what else excites me. I feel like there's just so many things.

 Oh, also just like learning about myself, because I feel like through this work of helping others, and I don't know if any of you out there feel the same way, but I feel like I'm just I'm healing so many aspects of myself and I'm learning so much more about myself. And I feel like as I continue to develop professionally in this field and just in general, I also heal within. And so this work is so dear to me.

And I'm just so excited to continue to see what I learn and empower and inspire others along the way. 

Lindsey: I love that. Well, I'm excited to see this November at the OTs and Public Health Summit is it is in Phoenix, Arizona.

 It'll be a beautiful time of the year. I'm excited to meet you in person, Joanne. Thank you so much for not only the privilege of being able to support you, but also for showing up today and sharing your incredible wisdom, wisdom and enthusiasm for our profession. You're amazing. 

Joann: Thank you. Thank you so much, Lindsey. This was so much fun.

Outro:

Thanks for listening to another episode of OTs and Pelvic Health. If you haven't already, hop onto Facebook and join my group, OTs for Pelvic Health, where we have thousands of OTs at all stages of their pelvic health career journey.

This is such an incredibly supportive community where I go live each and every week. If you love this episode, please take a screenshot of this episode on your phone and post it to IG, Facebook, wherever you post your stuff and be sure to tag me and let me know why you like this episode. This will help me to create in the future what you want to hear more of.

Thanks again for listening to the OTs and Pelvic Health podcast.