Why Occupational Therapy is the Best Career For Me

If you don’t know me, you can read my About Me section of my blog. There’s little bit of information about myself and where I work in Occupational Therapy. I also mention My Enneagram Type. I think this is a very important quality I have. And This is Why Occupational Therapy Is The Best Career For Me.

I am an Enneagram Type 2 through and through. 

If you don’t know much about Enneagrams, Type 2 is considered “The Helper”. (You can take a free Enneagram quiz to find out yours here).

Enneagram 2 is caring, generous, demonstrative, people-pleasing and possessive.

And I couldn’t pick better words to describe myself.

Occupational Therapy

When it comes to my career choice, I feel as though Occupational Therapy is absolutely 100% the career for me. But I would be lying if I said that considering another profession has never happened. A few months back I found myself really questioning if Occupational Therapy was my end all career.

It was heartbreaking to ever have those thoughts because I truly love everything about my job. The responsibilities, the job duties, the people and the teamwork. But I think everyone in healthcare has questioned their career more than a handful of times since the start of Covid. 

Questioning My Career

I remember telling my therapist how heartbroken I was that I could even question myself and my current career. I remember crying and telling him that I couldn’t picture myself doing anything else, and that it made me feel sick to even think about trying another profession. 

Healthcare is such a draining job. No matter what position you are in, healthcare is all about helping people be better and get better. 

I didn’t know anything about Occupational Therapy until one day in high school when I was watching a True Life Episode on MTV about people who were rehabbing a traumatic brain injury. During that episode, I learned about Occupational Therapy, and my interest sparked immediately.

After learning about the career and shadowing various Occupational Therapists in the field, I quickly knew that this was the career for me. I wanted to help people, but I knew I wasn’t smart enough to be a nurse, or a doctor, and I didn’t find much interest in Physical Therapy.

I considered Athletic training because I felt compelled to stay in the medical field or do something along the lines of Sports Medicine. But when Occupational Therapy came along, I knew there was nothing else for me.

Schooling/Career

I went to school and passed my OT boards in 2013. My initial plan with Occupational Therapy was to work with children – specifically autistic children. I remember standing at my Soccer Senior night where my name was being announced and they spoke about my future plans. “Kelsey is planning to go to Shawnee State University to Study Occupational Therapy, and plans to work with children on the Autism Spectrum”. Little did I know that this wasn’t exactly the perfect plan for me like I had originally thought.

After going to school and completing all of my clinicals and fieldwork, I fell in love with geriatrics and working in skilled nursing. 

I never stepped foot in a pediatric OT clinic and I never treated any sort of pediatric client. After my clinicals in skilled nursing I immediately knew that geriatrics was the place for me. 

In my career, I focus on helping geriatrics improve their motor skills, strength, dexterity, range of motion, functional mobility and independence with all activities of daily living.

Occupational Therapy works on teaching people how to become as independent as possible in any and all activities that are important/necessary to their lifestyle. 

We help teach people how to reach their highest potential when it comes to taking care of themselves as they age.

My First Patient

I will never forget my first patient at my very first job. The first patient I ever had in my career. He was also the first one I ever lost.

I’ll never forget the impact it had on me the day he gave me a hug. A hug that said “thank you” for teaching him how to walk himself to the bathroom by himself. He was the first patient I ever cried over when I realized he had passed. 

Occupational therapy is the best career for me as an Enneagram 2.

I want to help people. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. From a young age my parents taught me to put others before myself. Occupational Therapy gives me the ability to help people every single day. 

Having a career that allows me to go out of my way to help people. This is the most rewarding thing I could ever do. 

I’ve met so many wonderful people throughout my career. I’ve shed many tears in this profession; both for good and bad. I’ve lost countless patients that really affected me as a therapist. But I have also changed so many lives and I am reminded of that every single day. 

I could not imagine myself as any other enneagram. Just like I could not imagine myself in any other career field other than Occupational Therapy.