not have worried though , as everyone at Iconic Steps went out of their way to make me feel welcome .
From day one , my practice educator reminded me that this type of placement is about developing my skills – such as building a therapeutic relationship with service-users , working on my communication skills , reflecting on my practice , and in this case , specifically applying holistic assessment and intervention strategies to help service-users back into employment , education or training .
I knew that to achieve this , I would need to throw myself into the experience and have a ‘ give-it-a-go ’ attitude . So , I volunteered for everything I could .
My experience
During my third week , I was lucky enough to work in partnership with the King ’ s Trust ( formerly the Prince ’ s Trust ) and help a group of young NEET service-users to complete a music video production course . This allowed me to build my confidence and experience the evaluation , intervention and outcome steps of the occupational therapy process .
The interactions between myself and the service-users gave me the opportunity to help them engage with the week-long course , while I completed a series of one-to-one interviews and worked with them to create a series of specific , measurable , achievable , relevant and timed ( SMART ) goals .
The focus of these sessions allowed me to understand their wants . Through something simple as listening to their needs , I was able to better guide them towards areas of interest by encouraging self-expression and help them to achieve a positive outcome while taking the first steps in reclaiming their occupational identity .
Watching their joy as they presented their finished music videos , watching their confidence grow a little bit more every day , watching as they ticked off their SMART goals and knocked down every barrier in their way , and knowing that I had played a small part in helping them to achieve something meaningful , reinforced the notion that I have made the right decision in re-training to become an occupational therapist .
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January 2025 OTnews 49