Stroke Survivor Bootcamp with Dr. Phil: "What is Occupational Therapy and How You Can Maximize it!"

In this episode of "Stroke Survivor Bootcamp", Dr. Philip Lamoreaux, OTD, OTR/L, CPT, explains what "Occupational Therapy" really means and what you can do to get the most out of it.  

NOTE: Be sure to check out some of the helpful worksheets that can be accessed by clicking here, or by going to www.StrokeSurvivorBootcamp.com.

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Hosted by Dr. Philip Lamoreaux, OTD, OTR/L, CPT, Stroke Survivor Bootcamp is a practical, hope-forward podcast for stroke survivors and caregivers, built to help you understand what’s happening, ask the right questions, and take back control one step at a time. Each episode blends real-world hospital and rehab guidance with clear, compassionate coaching so you can turn fear into a plan and progress into momentum.

For more information on signing up for a one-on-one Stroke Survivor Bootcamp session with Dr. Phil, just go to www.StrokeSurvivorBootcamp.com

Created & Produced by Christopher Ewing
Hang On to the Dream Foundation

Written by Dr. Philip Lamoreaux, OTD, OTR/L, CPT

Listen each week to the Stroke Survivor Bootcamp podcast with Dr. Phil, the OT Professor, where he will share with you practical tools, real stories, and the mindset to keep moving forward on your road to recovery! 

If you are a stroke survivor, sign up for one of Dr. Phil's Stroke Survivor Bootcamp sessions.  These sessions are proven to help stroke survivors regain more mobility following a stroke.  Just go to www.strokesurvivorbootcamp.com for more information.

If you are a stroke survivor, sign up for one of Dr. Phil's Stroke Survivor Bootcamp sessions.  These sessions are proven to help stroke survivors regain more mobility following a stroke.  Just go to www.strokesurvivorbootcamp.com for more information.

Transcript

SPEAKER_06 0:00

Whatever it is that the therapist gives you as a strategy, you have to actually practice it every single day. And as you do, it's going to suck and it's going to be hard. And it's going to feel like you're failing. And you likely are. But what will happen as you continue doing it again and again and again is that you will find success. And as you find success, guess what's gonna happen? You're going to see through a different lens. The comments expressed in this program are the personal opinions of the participants and not meant to diagnose or treat any medical condition that you may have. Please consult your doctor or healthcare professional before making any changes to your medical. I'm Dr. Philip, a licensed therapist and certified personal trainer. And I have over 10 years of experience working with stroke survivors in both the hospital setting as well as in the home. And I absolutely love working with stroke survivors. They are some of the most powerful individuals I have ever met. And every single day that I get to work with a stroke survivor, I am continually reminded about the power that the human brain and the power of the human body, what it actually has the capacity to do. And so the idea of this podcast is to help more and more stroke survivors and therapists identify the actual power that stroke survivors have and to help empower stroke survivors to take charge of their recovery and to know how to navigate this crazy world that is the medical field. Because let me tell you, it is crazy. And I just remember sitting there thinking, oh my goodness, like this is this is crazy. I mean, here we are, we have somebody who has just lost their life. Um, you know, not they're still alive, but they they've lost the life that they used to have. And now they have to go through all of these different emotions, um, you know, trying to deal with who they are and uh having to realize that they have to put in so much effort to even get back to uh a life that they are okay with and that they are proud of. And they have to do it, um, I mean, for the most part, they have to do it in about two to three weeks, and then they are sent home and tried trying to figure out how to become themselves again. Now, that is a really big task, and you know it's it's one of those things that I have continually, you know, over the years tried to figure out how I can best help and assist uh those individuals who are going through the suckiness and the crappiness of having had a stroke. And so as we dive into today, what I am so excited about is this opportunity that I am getting to advocate for a profession that I absolutely love. I want to, I'll I'll go over my my story in just a minute, but occupational therapy has a special place in the recovery journey. And what my goal is, is I want to make it so that you can understand first and foremost what the crap is occupational therapy. And number two, how can you use occupational therapy to your advantage? How can you maximize what occupational therapy is capable of? Because let me tell you, occupational therapists, they are so unique, and you you need to understand that every therapist has their own specialty, but there are some things that are are similar clear across the board, and it is a way that you know, once you understand that, then you can maximize or know how to maximize what occupational therapy can give you, and you can direct your own therapy. So the outline for today is we're going to dive deep into occupational therapy and what it actually is, and then talk about the framework that it's built around. And it's not what you you know, what you've experienced, it's most likely not what you see on social media, uh, unless you watch my my videos, then you do know that what occupational therapy is. And the uh we're going to go over the actual framework itself. Um, don't worry, I'll make it applicable. And we are going to talk about why so many people actually don't get the most out of their occupational therapy experience. I'm also going to introduce you to Chuck, who is our stroke survivor of the week. And he has an amazing story, and um, and I'm gonna share with you what he is currently doing to maximize occupational therapy, and then we are going to talk about how you can actually use OT in a way to get a life back that you can be proud of. And then we're going to talk about uh obviously a hard truth, something that is uh needs to be said that isn't actually said in most places. Um, because I believe that hard truths are the way that you can continue to improve. And then we're going to end the episode with our challenge of the week. And so, here we go. This is Stroke Survivor Bootcamp, and let's get into it. So, let me tell you a little bit about myself. My dad is a physician, he was an obstetrician and gynecologist. I grew up with a mom who was a nurse prior to choosing to be a full-time mom. And the medical field was something that uh I grew up in. Um, I grew up cleaning my dad's office and you know, really just conversations about the medical field and about, you know, our bodies and all of that stuff. I I remember that just being everyday conversation. Um and I remember from very early on thinking about going into the medical field. But how I decided I wanted to go into the medical field, or what I decided, was I wanted to be a physician like my dad, because that was going to bring me more money. And uh, and you know, I I mean, genuinely, I I wanted to be able to impact people's lives. And as a physician, you have that capability. And as I started to go through college and you know, the first prerequisites, and um, I was a certified uh nursing assistant in a hospital, I started to watch what physicians actually did. And as a physician, you go in and you spend a small amount of time with somebody. You do get to ask them questions, but they're usually about what's going on in their life and what they're experiencing, and then you leave and you write orders, and then somebody else gets to spend the time actually with the individuals. They get to be the ones that get to know each person, and they get to be the ones that get to help guide them through things. And, you know, then it becomes a you know, the interaction is usually the nurse contacts the doctor, the doctor talks to the nurse, and then the nurse goes in and relays what the doctor said to the client. And you know, if you guys think about your experiences in the hospital, that was very much the process. You know, you likely didn't see much of your physician. And so as I started to watch that, I realized I did not want to, I didn't want to have that be my life. I wanted to actually impact people through being able to uh connect with them and spend the amount of time that was necessary in order to actually make change. And so at that point, I made a pivot. I decided, you know what? I am physical. I mean, I played high school soccer, was a state soccer, uh state champion for high school soccer. I ran collegiate track, and I uh had a short stint as a professional pickleball player, um, but I was a sponsored pickleball athlete for a long time. And I was like, you know what? Uh this this makes sense for me to actually be a um, this makes sense for me to be a physical therapist. And so I started to go down that road. And at that same time that I decided I was gonna be an OT or a PT, excuse me, I had I was uh an assistant, a teacher's assistant for a college anatomy class, uh, the lab portion. And I had a teacher that I was the the aide for, and that teacher was an OT. And I started to ask the teacher, okay, what's the difference between OT and PT? You know, the the constant question that people ask. And the the part of the description that I remember, you know, I don't remember every little detail of what he said, but the part of the description that I remember was that he talked about how occupational therapists focus on helping somebody regain their identity. And that hit so home, so true to me. And and I I don't know if that's because at that time I was just trying to figure out what my identity was and who I was. And so I don't know if that made, you know, if that's why that connected with me. But I said, huh, okay. So I started to research about what occupational therapy was. And the more that I researched, the more I fell in love with the theory and the philosophy of what occupational therapy is. And I immediately made the pivot from physical therapy to occupational therapy. I I applied to uh one program, which was the University of Utah. Shout out to University of Utah Occupational Therapy Program, uh, which I actually believe is one of the best um programs in the country. I felt so much fire when it came to what I was becoming and going through all of the grad school, going through uh anatomy, going through neuroscience, going through so many classes that were very difficult and um pushing my my limits and my boundaries. And I continued to feel the passion and the love of what occupational therapy actually is. And so my hope is that through today you will find a passion and a love for occupational therapy because you will see the power that we actually have. And not just that you'll see the power, but you guys who are my stroke survivors that are listening, you guys will be able to actually ask the right questions and be able to maximize what you are asking for and get the most out of your occupational therapy. So the other piece that I wanted to talk about is that, you know, throughout the years, um, you know, occupational therapy has actually been around longer than physical therapy as a profession. And yet there seems to be this thing where people do not understand what occupational therapy actually is. And this is a constant conversation on social media and within programs. And as occupational therapy struggles to define what it is, physical therapy didn't. And physical therapy took the simplistic route of becoming specialists in increasing your capacity or your capability to move. And so they spent a lot of their time, and in fact, a majority of their schooling figuring out how to increase your capabilities in movement. So that could be something that is like increasing your um your ability to bend your knee or to bend your ankle, to reach up with your arm, to sit to stand, you know, the the movements that are required for all activity, uh, physical therapists, they started to focus on that. And because they started to focus on that and its simplistic um nature and description, physical therapy is the one that everybody knows. And uh occupational therapy continues to struggle. So let's simplify what occupational therapy is. And so I am going to be using um what's called the occupational therapy practice framework. This is the evidence of the week. Um, I'm going to be using the occupational therapy practice framework fourth edition. Um, we actually refer to it as the OTPF. So if you ever want to bring up uh, you know, talking with your occupational therapist about what OT is, you can use the OTPF or the practice framework as part of your discussion. Um and so I I'm going to kind of go a little bit back and forth between what the practice framework says, but then I want to describe it to you in a way that uh that I think is is easier to understand when it comes to what occupational therapy actually is. So, you know, word-for-word description of what OT is in the OTPF is that it says that occupational therapy is the therapeutic use of everyday life occupations with persons, groups, or populations for the purpose of enhancing or enabling participation. So let's read that again. The therapeutic use of everyday life occupations for the purpose of enabling participation. Okay. So first and foremost, I'm sure many of you go, well, okay, so what are occupations? And then the other part is okay, so the goal is that we use these whatever the heck occupations are as a way to help somebody participate. And participate in what is where my next question would be. And so let's kind of break this down a little bit more. So what we do as therapists is that we recognize that the things that we do throughout our day, things that have meaning in our lives, things like brushing teeth, taking a shower, going to the bathroom, making breakfast, getting dressed, going to work, driving the car, cleaning the garage, vacuuming the floor, sweeping the floor, weeding the garden, uh going on a walk, going to the gym, um for me playing pickleball, um, you name it, we do things throughout our day and our week and our month and the year that bring value to our lives. And even more so, not only do they bring value, they are part of our identity. So when you think about who you are and what makes up you, the the uh things that you do tend to be how you describe yourself. So, for example, if I were to describe who is Dr. Phil. Well, Dr. Phil is an occupational therapist, I am a father, I am a husband, and I am an avid runner, I love to run, and I love playing pickleball. Those are kind of the things that take up a majority of my time. And every single one of those things has a set of requirements and skills that make it so that I can I can do those. And as occupational therapists, we see that every single person has all these activities that make up who they are, that that make up what they do throughout their day. And because we see that, we actually asked ourselves early on, well, if those are the things that bring meaning and and push us to actually um actually evaluate and be willing to do movement in our environment, well then why aren't we using that as the actual part of therapy? Why are we not using that as the driving force behind getting essentially getting your life back? And so what I'm talking about, those activities, those things that you do, that you have spent years and years and years figuring out how to actually do these things and to do them well, and to do them in your context, in your home, in your environment, with your body, with your mind, with your actual history, as you've done those, they have taken on part of your identity and they have meaning. As you have developed and practiced and done those things, and they have meaning to you, they cross over this threshold in definition of what we as OTs call occupation. So as something continues to become more and more meaningful to you, that you are doing in your life, and that if you think about it and you go, Man, if I got rid of that thing in my life, I would really struggle. And that is what makes something occupation. And so when we think about this, the definition, the therapeutic use, so meaning we use something as a way to do therapy, the therapeutic use of everyday life occupations, so everyday things that matter the most to you, we use those for the purpose or the point of making it so that you actually are able to participate in your life. We understand as we look at you that you are made up of so many experiences, so many emotions, and that the things that you do are unique to you. And we understand that you being able to do those things. Brings meaning into your life. So the question then is how do you actually define occupational therapy? Well, there's a more complicated way of doing it, and diving deep into that would take, I mean, we go to school for three years, and we, you know, we still, I mean, there's still so much depth that goes into describing what OT is. But I'm going to scale it back and help you understand exactly what occupational therapy is in a way so that you can explain it to your neighbor, to your loved ones, and to make it so that you can understand exactly what it is that we do. So here it is. As an individual, every day you wake up and you see the world through a particular lens. The way think of it as like the way you see your life is like you, as soon as you open your eyes, you reach over to the bedside table and you grab a pair of glasses and you put them on, and then you see the world through that lens. Now, every single day, because of what happened the day before, that lens, the prescription of the lens, actually changes. It's not the same as the day before because you had multiple experiences. Now, when you actually have something that happens in your life, it impacts how you show up the next day, the next minute, the next second. So, for example, if you and your loved one, if let's say your loved one becomes pregnant, and you guys are expecting a child, that is one of the most beautiful things in the world. I love my four kids. They have changed my life and they have made me a better man. I also remember child number one. When my wife became pregnant with child number one, we were so excited. But you know what? I was an avid soccer coach at this time. I was helping develop a soccer club. I also loved that my wife and I could just choose to go out at any time, not having to worry about anybody else but ourselves. And as soon as my my daughter came into my life, what happened was my life was changed. And now, because my life was changed, the things that mattered to me, I had to figure out a whole new way of looking at them. I had to figure out a whole new way to make it so that my life was meaningful again. Because now my daughter, you know, not by not by any means other than it's just she she as an infant demanded more of our time. She made it so that we couldn't just go out when we wanted. We also had a harder time going to specific places that we loved to go to that were a part of my wife's and my identity. And she changed our life forever. And there c there's there was a certain point where I didn't quite feel like myself. I didn't quite feel like I was my identity. It's the development of the things that we do that bring meaning into our life. As soon as something happens in our life, whether it's good or if it's bad, we no longer have occupation. We have certain things that we do, we have activities, but they now need to adapt and change, and we need to see them in a different way. Because we no longer can see them the same way we did before. Essentially, soon as my daughter was born, and I rolled over to my bedside table, grab my glasses, put them on, now I'm seeing the world through a different way. It is the exact same thing when you have something negative happen to you, like a stroke. As you have a stroke, it's just like you rolled over, grabbed the pair of glasses that were next to you, put them on, and your life, the way you see your life, is now changed forever. The things you used to do. How you know you used to, maybe you used to be an avid runner, maybe you used to go to the gym every day, maybe you used to you used to uh go out to the music scene. Maybe you and your loved one went on a date every week. You were, you know, you had a particular job, you you worked on a, let's say you worked on a construction site. Let's say you were a big top executive. The way that you know that they were all part of your identity and who you were, and they brought meaning to your life, those things are now changed. And so at this moment in time, you are no longer the same person. It again, it's the same thing that happens when something good happens in your life. This is just now it's a something negative, and usually it impacts it in a large way. And so at this point in your life, you are no longer the same. And that can get really depressing. As occupational therapists, part of our philosophy and what we do that is unique is that we recognize that loss, we see it, and we also recognize that it's possible to get it back, at least a version of it through a different lens. And the only way that that is possible is by you experiencing doing things with the new lens, with the new pair of glasses on. And so as you keep developing, as you keep pushing, as you keep doing again and again and again, and rolling over and putting on a pair of glasses, and then going out and doing it again, you now see the world in a different way. And over time, you start to gain your identity again. But this isn't what always happens. In fact, what usually happens is you don't roll over and put on a pair of glasses. Or if you put on a pair of glasses, what you do is you then don't get out of bed. And you don't actually participate, and you don't actually try, whether that's because of you've been told not to, whether that's because you're you have physical limitations, whether that's because you have fear. But you don't actually participate, and you don't participate very much if you do participate. And so then what happens is the lens doesn't actually change very much from day to day. And pretty soon, the lens doesn't change, except for on occasion. And all you can see is the world through a lens where you aren't doing the things that you hope to be doing, and your identity essentially becomes somebody who is sitting in bed and waiting around. And because of that, depression can set in, loss of hope, loss of who you are can set in. That is what OTs see. When we walk in, that is the lens that we are looking through the world at. And so we see you, we see that you are struggling, we see that you're doing this, and then our philosophy and what we do is that we essentially want to get you practicing and doing things again and again and again and again, because the more that you do it, the more that lens, that prescription changes from day to day. And you start to actually gain your identity again. And you start to gain what we call occupations, the things that bring meaning and value into your life that you do voluntarily because you love it, because you want it, because it's you. For more information or to sign up for a boot camp, just go to stroke survivorbootcamp.com. I'm Dr. Phil, and I'll have more right after that.

SPEAKER_01 32:18

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SPEAKER_06 33:37

Now, that is the simple version of OT. At least our theory and what we see. So now that we understand that, I'm going to give you the simplistic version of what we do. So because we are now trying to get you to act and to participate in everyday life, what we do is we recognize that every single person is made up of so many different systems. Every person is made up of physical systems, things like your muscles, your skin, your your uh you know, your intestinal tract, your brain, your your um your emotions. We understand that you have these this physical response and physical system that you're dealing with. We also recognize that you have what we call cognition, which is your thoughts and how you think and how you see the world. We also recognize that there's spirituality. We also recognize that there's mental health. There's the way that you the way that you mentally are approaching things. We also understand that your environment plays a role. We see the complexity of what actually goes into how you show up and try to act, try to do. And ultimately, what we are looking at is we want to see how you perform in your daily life. So we will oftentimes categorize what it is that you are doing into specific actions or specific activities. So an example would be I want to see how you get dressed. So you've had a stroke, and now I'm gonna ask you to put a shirt on. What I'm looking for as an OT is I'm looking to see how you are actually performing. Now remember, I listed all of those different things, like your physical, your cognition, your emotional, spiritual, the environment, and there's many more. All of those pieces work together every day to help it help you be able to perform putting your shirt on. Some days your mental stability isn't where it needs to be in order to gain, in order to actually remember the steps that you had. But some days you you're you're maybe you're you're more confident. Your mental health is where it needs to be. Even if you don't have the physical skills, you start to figure it out because you're hopeful. All of those pieces come together to make it so that you are successful in an activity in whatever it is that you're doing. And so we evaluate how you are performing. Then after you're done, we have figured out while we are watching the areas that are impacting your ability to do this activity. What we do is we use a strategy or a process that's called occupational analysis. But basically, we are analyzing how you are doing things and all the different pieces that are going into the process of getting dressed. And then we are identifying and figuring out which ones are impacting the way you're getting dressed the most. As we identify those, we then have a choice as OTs. And this is where you can start to own what happens during occupational therapy. We sit there and we go, okay, am I going to modify, or am I going to adapt, or am I going to fix? So let me let me help you see what those are. First, modification. Modification is a strategy that an occupational therapist will use to help increase your performance by adding something to your environment or to you. A perfect example of modification that many of you have likely seen or experienced is when you're trying to get pants on, especially at the very beginning, or socks on. Have you noticed that an OT will come in and give you tools? Sometimes it's a reacher, sometimes it's a dressing stick, sometimes it's a sockade. And they'll give you those things. The reason they're giving you those things is to help increase your actual performance of getting dressed. They are using a strategy called modification. It's a good strategy when all the only thing we're evaluating is performance. Are you going to be able to perform the act of getting dressed? And so as OTs, we choose maybe modification. And so then we teach you by using tools as a way to help us so that you can perform. And if that's enough for you, then fantastic. You can increase your performance. The performance, and the more that you use the tool will turn how you do something into an occupation for you. And it will require you to use the tool. And that then becomes a part of your identity. It becomes a part of who you are the more you practice it. Do you see that? Now the second strategy that an OT can use is called adaptation. We can choose to change the way that you do something. So we change the actual steps, we change the way that you do it. So we'll keep with the dressing example. So as an OT, I will teach you how to use a bed or a couch as a way to make it so that your hemiparetic leg, your affected leg, can get into a position that I call the figure four. And getting into that position makes it so that the leg that has no activation or no movement will stay in a place so that you can actually reach your foot. Now it requires physical mobility and it requires effort to get into this position. But as you get into that position, you can then get yourself dressed. Many of you likely got dressed standing up prior to your stroke. And using the figure four position is a different strategy on how you can actually get up or get dressed. And so, as a therapist, I then may teach you this adapted way of getting dressed. Then as you practice it over and over and over, this new way of getting dressed becomes a part of your identity, becomes a part of who you are, and it becomes part of the occupation of you taking ownership of your ability to move and get dressed. So if that's the case, and I as an OT choose adaptation, I teach you a different strategy. It does not, it does not, uh, it cannot be adding something to your environment like a reacher. That is not adaptation. Adaptation is that I don't add anything to you or your environment, I just teach you a different way to do it, which increases your performance. It increases the way that you can actually do the activity. So it increases the way that you can get dressed. So that's adaptation. So that's the second strategy that occupational therapists can use as a way to help increase your performance. Because remember, what we are looking for is how we are going to help you increase your performance so that then we can help you practice doing it again and again and again until it becomes part of who you are. It becomes your strategy, your way of doing something. The third way is where we fix the actual issue. So we don't change anything about it. So let's take, let's keep with the same example of getting dressed. So if I'm using a it's called remediative or remediation approach, or I'm planning on fixing it, I am going to have you practice every single day, multiple times, getting dressed and standing. Even if you don't have activation in that leg, what we're going to do is we're going to figure out a way to make it so that you can practice getting your pants on or socks on in standing. And then the goal. is to have you practice doing it in standing every single day until you actually regain the skill and the movement. We fix the actual issue and you learn how to do it in that way. And then the more that you practice, the more that you do it again and again and again, the more it becomes part of who you are. And it becomes more automatic. It becomes a part of the process that you call yourself, you know, you and so each one of these strategies has strengths. Each one has weaknesses. Each one requires a different level of skill by your therapist. So I'm going to, you know, so now that you understand that an OT is coming in and recognizes that you need to practice again and again and again in order to regain what you call your identity and who you are. And as the therapist introduces activity to you, figures out how you're performing, goes through the process of occupational analysis and figures out what area is preventing you from actually performing and then decides and figures out with you whether it's going to be modification, adaptation, or fixing the issue, then the therapist has you do it again and again and again. And by doing that, you improve in your ability. But if you don't get up and you don't show up and you don't step up and do the actual activity, you don't do the movement, guess what will never happen? You will never regain the identity in a way that makes it so that you own where you are going. And that makes it so that occupation or what m is meaningful to you becomes even more limited and even less a part of your life. Which leads to more feelings of depression and leads to more feelings of I am not who I am and partially you're not who you are. Because the lens that you're looking through got changed. And you're not practicing enough to make it so that the lens continues to change in a way so that you can actually see life through the lens of occupation or through the lens of meaning that you have meaning. So that is OT OT is gonna look at everything that you are doing. Now I just gave you one example of getting dressed but that process that same process an OT can use in anything you want to get better at. So it doesn't really matter what it is whether it's walking whether it's driving whether it's getting dressed whether it's doing the dishes whether it's it's going to the going to the store shopping cooking you name it weeding going back to work any one of those you get an OT involved and an OT is going to again with the the foundational understanding that it requires doing things again and again and again with this new lens in order for you to start to feel like it's your identity again the therapist is going to ask you to do the activity they're going to find out where you are not successful and what parts of you are impacting how you are being successful in the activity and then they are going to choose one of the three strategies modification adaptation or fix the issue and so as a stroke survivor when you get an occupational therapist first and foremost you can say this is something I want to do think of an activity that you would love to get back to and then ask the therapist to evaluate and tell you where you are where where you're breaking down as you try it. But you have to actually try it like try the actual activity because guess what you may find out that you actually have more than you thought you did. That's usually what happens and then trust the therapist to be able to evaluate and say hey these are the areas that I am seeing you break down in and then ask the therapist to help improve your performance and your performance needs to be improved through one of three strategies. You can either say hey is there something that you can give me some tool some something change in my environment that can make it so that I can be successful or is there another way that I can do it because this way I'm doing it, it's not working. Is there another strategy? Or you can say okay well if you're saying that it's my left foot that needs to go up you know uh dorsiflex when I'm stepping you know to do the laundry so that I don't trip then how do I fix that? And then the therapist will provide a strategy for you. And then it is up to you to practice again and again and again and again I'm talking thousands of repetitions and make it a part of your daily routine you have to make it a part of your daily routine. Whatever it is that the therapist gives you as a strategy you have to actually practice it every single day. And as you do it's going to suck and it's going to be hard and it's going to feel like you're failing and you likely are but what will happen as you continue doing it again and again and again is that you will find success. And as you find success guess what's gonna happen you are going to see through a different lens. That is occupational therapy.

SPEAKER_00 51:23

Hey it's Christopher Ewing join me in other Stroke Survivors from across the country and around the world during the life after stroke Stroke Survivors cruise May 11th to the 15th 2026 for World Caribbean's beautiful Quantum of the Seas cruise ship the ship leaves round trip from Los Angeles California making port stops to Catalina Island and Ensenado Mexico Stroke Survivors as well as their caregivers, family and friends are invited to join us as we just take some time to put the thoughts of stroke aside and just enjoy living life. So join us May 11th to the 15th for World Caribbean Quantum of the Sea leaving round trip from Los Angeles and making port stops in Catalina and Ensonada Mexico for more information just go to www.throkechannel.tv that's thestroekchannel tv and remember there's still a beautiful life after stroke so I want to introduce you to Chuck.

SPEAKER_06 52:21

Now Chuck is a stroke survivor and he had his stroke a few years ago and I started working with him a little over a month ago where I went to his house and I did exactly what I've just been sharing with you. And specifically the biggest factor in him being able to live his life was his confidence in his mobility and his his uh ability to actually move and so I took into account a bunch of different things um you know it I I I started to evaluate his personality and you know how he was approaching or viewing life at that at that moment. And you know I I get all of this and ask specific questions about him and learn about their family and what he used to be and what he used to do, how he used to deal with things and I find all that information out over the course of uh a you know the first 10-15 minutes of working with him and also through talking you know with family members I I was able to get to know Chuck in a uh specific way and then what I did was I identified a few different pieces that needed to happen and part of it was his mental health his his uh his confidence and his ability to believe that he could actually get where he wanted to go and then it was also he needed to see proof he needed to see that he could actually control his outcome because for him that was massive and so that's exactly what I did I worked with him and showed him what he was actually capable of and showed him quick change in the first 10-15 minutes of working with him and the more I did that the more a fire started to light inside of him and he started to push and he kept going more and more and more and by the end of working with him for a few days uh about a total of six to eight hours Chuck was able to get himself in and out of the tub and he was able to take good amounts of steps forward and backwards in his environment without his cane if needed and then I left him with a plan and the plan was not exercise the plan was essentially how can you increase living and first and foremost that required doing that required him taking steps and so that is what we did we put a um we put a a plan together where he would practice stepping for an hour every day and it's not that he was exercising even though yes that was aerobic exercise that was not the focus because guess what exercise was not his thing but living and getting back to living was and because I had helped him see and I had you know I used I used um adaptation and I used uh the fixing because I used those two strategies he was able to gain confidence to do it without me and then Chuck proceeded to walk an hour every day give or take a a you know a day on the weekend or something like that for a month. And then I went back and I worked with Chuck. And as I worked with him I it was very very clear that he had been living more and so I was able to push him even more and to show him what he was capable of. And so then I was able to add another aspect of living with him which was vacuuming. Now that was not something he did before his stroke however it was something that at this point in his recovery helped him see that he could actually contribute because that mattered to him contributing to his his spouse and to the home and to essentially feel like he was more of a man because that's what that's what mattered. And as he has been doing this now for a week it's been really cool to see the change that's in him. Because the more that you allow yourself to practice living and not just practice but but try living when it doesn't look pretty when it's hard when it you it takes effort the more that you do that the more you end up gaining an identity and becoming and belonging which is really the thing that all of us are looking for and as an OT that is what makes me different is I can sit there and look at somebody, get to know them, find out which specific pieces need to be impacted, choose a strategy of modification, adaptation or fixing the issue and then get the person to be able to practice performance to actually perform even though it gets hard, it doesn't look good until it starts to to get easier and until it starts to look better as the person is practicing and doing. OT is specially designed to do just that to get you to perform better so that you can continue performing and become a version of you that looks through the world with a new lens every day and through a lens that you can have confidence in even though your previous lens doesn't exist anymore. Thank you Chuck for being such a good example of this and and um somebody that I just want to give a shout out to because you are such a stud and I love what you are doing and where you are going and how you're willing to stay and you know as we talk about embrace the suck get used to it learn to love the struggle of change. And as you do that you'll continue to have confidence and get back to where you want to go just like Chuck is at this moment. Now let's go into the secret of the week. Now the secret of the week is you know we're gonna keep it on theme with occupational therapy and if you haven't been able to tell occupational therapy is not just about improvement it's not about those things it's about the actual translation of what you are capable of into everyday living. So the secret is that OT is actually the best at making that transition happen. Making it so that you actually do something in your everyday instead of sitting and waiting for you to get better. So if we go back to you know some of these different questions, you know people come to me and they ask me what can I do? What can I do to get back? What can I do to get my arm back? What I can what can I do to get my my um you know my walking back and a huge huge piece of it is we need to figure out what is it that's holding you back from living and how can we get you to be okay with living in the uncomfortable and the suckiness that is required to actually change. Because that leads me into the tough truth of the week and that is change is never going to be easy change will always suck and it will always require a reason for you to continue moving forward. So if you think change is just going to be something that comes easy that's not true. That is that is false but what can happen is that change will happen because the brain can change but it will require you to be okay with staying in the suckiness of doing and so oftentimes the biggest barrier actually is mental and there's fear or doubt that makes it so you don't show up every day. What pieces am I struggling with number one and what strategy are you teaching me so that I can actually practice doing this again and again and again so that it can become a part of who I am as you do that you'll see your OT change and you will change. And the lens that you roll over every day and the glasses that you pick up and put over your eyes that will continue to progress and change as well guys that's it for this episode of Stroke Survivor Bootcamp with Dr. Phil I loved talking about occupational therapy today and what it is that we do because I believe that we are the key in so many ways to get to where you want to go and to be able to access the life that you have been dreaming about since you had your stroke guys it's possible keep following along make sure that you you uh go to TikTok and Instagram to uh to follow me at the OT Professor and even more so if you are interested in a boot camp go to www dot stroke survivorbootcamp dot com and sign up for a bootcamp yourself and be on the lookout for some great things that are still coming overall is that you just take one step at a time I'm Dr. Phil and this is Stroke Survivor Bootcamp breathing every

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