This week I was invited to speak to a group of students for Indian Hills Community College in Iowa. The title of the class was Emerging Practice Areas in OT. I am not 100% sure how I found the professor but I believe it was on Facebook in a group. (How to use social media will be a whole other post.) She was looking for niche practices. I had never heard the word niche until business coaching and my colleagues loved how niche I was.
One of the biggest hurdles in that I had starting out was learning how to talk about what it is that I do to attract the right customer. Although as an OT I can work with just about everyone, that is not how marketing works. Who knew? When my father set up his business, you slapped a sign up and put your number in the phone book. So to the occupational therapists reading- think of yoga as a modality. Some therapists use aquatics, others use horses in Hippo therapy, this is no different.
Part of the issue I believe is what yoga actually is. With all these drive by certification programs, I believe yoga has been westernized. So not having a solid foundation of all aspects of yoga beyond the physical postures, will have you a bit confused how to use yoga therapeutically.
So the million dollar question is always, how are you billing insurance? Here is the thing- insurance companies can not dictate how I get people to meet their goals. They have no control of occupational therapy practice act for the state or nation wide. Here is the position paper released for AOTA. Scroll to page 9. As long as your goal is functional and you are using your modality in preparation for a functional activity, you are fine. Also, make sure you are a member of your states occupational therapy association and know the guidelines. (This is not meant to be billing advice).
The presentation I gave was split into why I do what I do backed by evidence and then went into the business backend. These will be turned into a training series so don’t worry. It will be a webinar soon. Big thanks to Indian Hills for letting me try it out on your students first. Here is a link to the first part of the series taking place August 29th, 2020 from 12-2- Linking the Pieces Between Sensory and Processing. I will be taking heavily on fight/flight/freeze, evidence based practice, and what is seen in the clinical setting. If you are a Florida Resident, the CE tracking number is 20-779688. If you are not in Florida, please look up your state requirements for self submitting. If you are a yogi, please join us as well. Please check guidelines with Yoga Alliance for CE approval. Please email admin@soultosoulyogasrq.com for any questions.
