Occupational Therapy Services on the Gold Coast

Specialising in persistent pain, fatigue management and mental health.

Our mission is to help you find joy in life, get back into doing the things that are important to you and decrease suffering associated with disease, pain and fatigue through evidence based practices.

About Us

Hi, I'm Tara. I am an Occupational Therapist with 10 years’ experience specialising in persistent pain, fatigue management and mental health. I am passionate about helping people improve their quality of life, do the things that are important to them and decrease suffering associated with disease, pain and fatigue.You may be thinking what exactly is an Occupational Therapist and how can they help me with my pain, fatigue and/or mental health?Well let’s start with what I mean when I say ‘occupation’ (I think what we should really be saying is 'meaningful activity'). Occupation is anything that you do that occupies your time, such as showering, looking after children, cooking, seeing friends, work or sleeping (the list is endless). An OT is an allied health professional who promotes health and well-being by supporting you to continue to participate in these meaningful occupations.We know that persistent pain, fatigue and challenges with mental health can affect every aspect of a person’s life. We also know that they are often invisible diseases and not well understood. This can make finding the right care exhausting and confusing. At Finding Joy OT, we look holistically at the person we are working with, the occupations that are important to them and the environment in which they live and work to support them in achieving their life goals despite the pain and/or fatigue. Essentially, we know that if you can do the things that are important to you, you will be happier and healthier.

Services

No one person is the same, and what's important to you will most likely be different to what's important to your family, friends and even me. At Finding Joy OT, our sessions are based around your goals and what you want to be able to do.Treatment approaches include:

  1. ・Education about the nature of persistent pain and fatigue to empower you on your healthcare journey.
  1. ・Exploration of your values and where you are currently spending the majority of your time and energy.
  2. ・Goal setting to direct our therapy sessions.
  1. ・Education about commonly seen activity patterns with persistent pain and how to combat them.
  2. ・Pacing strategies to allow you to do more with your day/week without ‘booming and busting’.
  3. ・Development of a graded activity plan to gradually get you back into doing the things you want to do despite the pain (and without a flare-up).
  4. ・Education and recommendations for different assistive devices and equipment that can make life easier for you and increase your independence in daily activities.
  1. ・Energy conservation strategies to reduce fatigue and increase participation in life.
  1. ・Work together to develop skills to enhance participation in identified daily activities and community engagement.
  1. ・Sensory processing assessment and interventions.
  2. ・Emotional skills, including self-awareness and self-management
  3. ・Mindfulness strategies to improve ability to be present in the current moment.
  1. ・Education on sleep hygiene strategies to improve the quality of your sleep.
  2. ・Education to assist with increasing understanding of the link between lifestyle factors and pain/fatigue/mental health.
  1. ・Strategies to strengthen relationships with family and friends and increase intimacy with significant other.
  1. ・Development of a flare-up management plan so you know what you can do at those crisis times.

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By holistically addressing the many factors that impact pain, fatigue and mental health we are able to work towards regaining your ability to do the things that are most important to you, find joy and decrease suffering.We are primarily based in Mudgeeraba. We also offer home and community visits.

Contact Us

If you would like to know more about us or unsure if we can be of assistance;
please feel free to call, email, or fill in the contact form below.

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