After a hiatus of just over a decade , Helen Davis recently returned to professional practice . Here she documents her journey and the help and support available .
Our profession needs more occupational therapists to meet the occupational needs of patients and service users . Some of us trained and either did not work as occupational therapists , or did for a short while and then stepped away from the profession . Many of us have thought about the idea of returning , but perhaps haven ’ t actioned anything yet .
What follows is my journey and I hope it will encourage others to take that step .
Between 2004 and 2009 , I worked as an occupational therapist in a large district general hospital and progressed to a
Senior 2 level . I then stepped away from the occupational therapy profession for about 11 years , until 2020 .
Over that time , I had considered returning to occupational therapy , but with young children and reduced confidence in my own abilities , I put it off . Instead , I used my occupational therapy skills in various volunteer roles and work as a teaching assistant and I developed more skills in parenting and general life experience – you can take the occupational therapist out of the profession , but you can never take the occupational therapy skills out of the occupational therapist !
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