LoveYourBrain is now recognized as an American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Approved Provider of professional development! What does this mean for LoveYourBrain and our community? We asked Jackie Farrell, MS, OTR/L, CBIS, RYT-200, who is the Manager of our Clinical Affiliate Program and an occupational therapist, to share more!

Jackie, what does it mean for LoveYourBrain to be an AOTA Approved Provider of professional development?

As an occupational therapist (OT), it is important to me that the courses I participate in for professional development have been reviewed for the strength of their evidence, outcomes and will directly apply to my clinical practice.

AOTA is nation-wide and is involved in improving the quality of OT services by ensuring professional development activities meet specific standards related to OT service delivery. By being approved to be an AOTA Approved Provider, it validates the time spent developing and researching the LYB Yoga program, our Teacher Training and the ongoing heartfelt commitment of the LYB team to offer a program that both improves the quality of life for the TBI community and improves clinical practices for clinicians.

It sounds like occupational therapists (OTS) are a big part of the LoveYourBrain community! What ways do OTs get involved with LoveYourBrain?

Occupational therapists are trained to see each person we work with as holistic, complex, and unique, and we are skilled in our ability to adapt activities and the environment to maximize someone’s independence and ability to participate in daily activities. So, it is not surprising that OTs find themself at home within the LoveYourBrain community, which also focuses on helping individuals in the TBI community reach their full potential.

LYB offers a 20-hour teacher training several times per year, which is a comprehensive training designed to equip yoga teachers, clinicians and those in the TBI community with tools to make the yoga practice accessible for those with TBI. I love to see fellow OTs participate in this training, and continue to hear feedback about how the tools they learn have been immediately integrated into their clinical practice.

We have several OTs who have participated in our training and then become involved in our Clinical Affiliate program, where LYB partners with rehabilitation facilities to offer the LYB Yoga program within the clinical setting.

We also have a large network of OTs and other clinicians who are integral to creating referral pathways from the clinical space to our community-based yoga programs in local yoga studios, and now, online through out LYB Mindset program.

As the Clinical Affiliate Program Manager, you work with our current Clinical partners, and onboard new partners to the LoveYourBrain community. What inspires you to grow LoveYourBrain’s programs to health professionals and clinical providers?

Even before taking on this position, I have always been passionate about complementary and alternative medicine and have seen the benefits of including a holistic health program such as yoga and meditation into my clinical practice. In healthcare today, there is a push for high levels of productivity for clinicians, shorter length of stay for patients, and significant levels of stress and burnout on caregivers and clinicians themselves.

By integrating a mind-body practice such as the LYB Yoga program within a clinical setting, we are able to introduce long-term healing techniques to the person who experienced a TBI, as well as their caregivers. And the clinicians leading the program are able to absorb the benefits of these practices and integrate them into their own lives as well. From the lens of the Manager of our Clinical Affiliate Program, it is so inspiring to watch clinicians transform both their clinical practice and personal relationship to yoga through offering our program in a clinical setting.

I truly believe that anyone can do yoga, and I also see a trend towards integrating more alternative health practices within the clinical setting, and I am so proud to work with LYB on a mission that deeply aligns with my personal and professional goals.

Your impressive clinical background brings so much to our organization - what do you enjoy most about applying your skills through your work at LoveYourBrain?

Thank you for saying that! I have been so impressed with LYB since the initial development of the LYB Yoga program and their first teacher training in 2015. Since that time, I have been offering the LYB Yoga Program at a local studio in Boston, MA and have been so grateful for the ongoing support, trust and willingness to listen and learn from the LYB team.

When I began my involvement with our teacher training in 2017, I was so excited to help further integrate LYB into clinical settings in a way that made sense to clinicians. There are so many unique variables that come with different clinical settings - from billing to cleanliness to adapting for different mobility levels - that it was a natural progression to use my clinical experience to help guide clinicians to find the best way to integrate our program into their setting.

As we have grown our Clinical Affiliate program to include clinical facilities throughout the continuum of care across the U.S. and Canada, I have been so proud to offer my expertise to help customize and adapt the program in each new setting, including our most recent adaptation to offer virtual programming in light of Covid-19. I am continuously humbled by the expertise, motivation and compassion of the clinicians who are a part of our Clinical Affiliate program, and I look forward to seeing this program continue to expand!

Learn more about Jackie and the LoveYourBrain team here!