Helene Theriault

As a certified coach (PCC) and registered occupational therapist with 18-years of experience, Hélène provides coaching services to adults to empower them to reach their full potential. This service may include: a) one-on-one or group coaching session, b) workshops or courses to teach others how to apply a coach approach in their organization, c) or developing resources and tools to support incorporating a coaching culture in organizations. Hélène, the owner of Function First Coaching™, was inspired and motivated to create…

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Ageeth Hup

What were the times that you felt most happy? What were you doing? What prospect makes you get out of bed with energy and zest? What activities give you a feeling of purpose, connectedness or joy? What was your initial attraction to OT? We as OTs seem to be driven by a natural desire to help others, to maximise their participation, connectedness & purpose in life. We help people to recover, discover, develop and thrive. But what about ourselves…? Somehow,…

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Sid Hamid

Change in our VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world has never been so intense and real until now, bringing it with disruption to every single norm in our lives. Rather than being unconsciously carried down the meandering river of this change, I am learning to accompany these natural movements and participate in them more consciously by continually answering these two  fundamental questions: “Who am I truly?” “What do I really want?” Using Professor Dr Franz Ruppert’s Identity-Oriented Psychotrauma Theory and…

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Stay in, save lives, save the NHS: the impact on occupational lives

Important words with many facets to them. Many of you are essential workers still working with clients/patients or managing services, but others will be in isolation, as are millions of others over the UK and further afield. Virtually all aspects of our occupational lives are affected by having to isolate, stay at home, practice social distancing, work from home or indeed the loss of jobs. Building self-awareness about our social and occupational needs right now is crucial – we all…

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What is it about goals…..?

As a fairly driven person and having been trained to always look at SMART goals as an OT and later learning of the centrality of goals to coaching, I’ve now come to later life with an increasing realisation that this is only half of the story. This realisation has been more like a creeping awareness that however much I set myself goals and make plans, I seem to rarely achieve them, instead succeeding in other unintentional ways. (I do appreciate…

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Post Traumatic Growth

Post Traumatic Growth Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) is the positive change that can happen in the wake of a traumatic event – the positive psychological change that comes as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life circumstances.  This idea fits well with the work that many OTs are involved in – doesn’t it. We work with people who have their occupational lives challenged by many situations disability, injury, disease as well as isolation, marginalisation and displacement (and we…

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There’s more to coaching than solving, sorting and making plans

I know that many of you, if not most of you, are working as OTs in fairly understandable ways and the “barriers” to occupation you deal with maybe  1) physical or environmental, solved or improved with equipment, physical rehabilitation or care support 2) psychological/ cognitive/ sensory, which can be improved with a range of brilliant occupation focused interventions.  However, something which increasingly perplexes me on a personal and professional level are those “barriers” which seem somewhat intangible and lack a…

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Helen Barnes

Helen Barnes – Coach and Occupational Therapist

Helen is a skilled and compassionate coach, coach supervisor and occupational therapist. Her experience has been rich and varied, working with a diverse range of clients in the NHS, public, voluntary and corporate sectors.  She has a deep curiosity and intuition about people and believes that a client’s narrative is the best way of getting to know them; where they are in the context of their lives and where they might be thinking about going. For many years Helen’s professional…

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How to start a New Year

For many years I have held a reasonable level of disdain for new years resolutions and the setting of often untenable goals which involve Lycra. I prefer setting “goals” in September as this is the time of year when the family year starts, in line with the school year. However, I do see this time of year as special and worthy of reflection, celebration, and intention setting. So, give yourself the gift of a quite hour or so this January…

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