The Barefoot OT Journey

The Background

 

My journey into mental health has felt like destiny, rooted in a desire to help others, influenced by witnessing childhood friends struggle and facing my own challenges with dyslexia in the eighties and nineties, before it was officially recognised in English schools.

 

Recognising my empathetic and calm nature, I ventured to Uganda as a teenager, where I taught and built, transforming my perspective on the world. There are countless approaches to mental health, each effective in different ways and suited to various individuals. I was introduced to the additional healing element of Reiki after earning my first degree. In India, I met my spiritual teacher, Baba Jay, whose guidance continues to illuminate my spiritual path and my connection to Shiva Shakti. Over the years, I have embraced the healing power available to me and now offer energy alignments at festivals, private events, and day events.

 

I provide corporate nature engagement days and collaborate with charities, CICs, and other healers to support those facing barriers to essential services. My one on one nature engagement sessions allow for personalised and meaningful work. Nature has always held deep significance for me; it brings joy and calm. I learned that neglecting my time in nature adversely affected my mental health. When I sought help from traditional services, I often felt like an outsider, facing long waiting lists and rigid categorisation. This realisation sparked the creation of my own healing system, giving rise to "The Barefoot OT."

 

Today, alongside my extensive experience in mental health and my deep connection to energy work, I am studying Druidry to explore further the benefits of nature and its connection to the spiritual realm. 

How I Work

 

My approach is rooted in the Person Environment Occupation Performance (PEOP) model — occupational therapy's evidence-based way of looking at the whole of you, rather than a diagnosis in a folder. It has four threads, all woven together:

 

Person is everything you bring — your strengths, your struggles, your history, your values, the way your mind works. We don't start with what's "wrong" with you; we start with who you are, because real change grows from there.

 

Environment is the world around you — your home, your work, your relationships, your community, and yes, the natural spaces you move through (or have stopped moving through). Sometimes the environment is quietly holding you back; sometimes it's the richest resource you have. Often, it's both.

 

Occupation is occupational therapy's word for the activities that fill your days — the ones you have to do, the ones you want to do, and the ones that give your life meaning. When these feel blocked or out of reach, life shrinks. Our work together gently reopens them.

 

Performance is how all of the above comes together in daily life — how you're actually living, functioning, and feeling in the world. This is what we measure progress by, and importantly, you define what progress looks like. No rigid programmes, no tick-box goals — just a toolbox that's genuinely yours.

 

Alongside this, I draw on the Kawa Model, an occupational therapy framework that pictures life as a river.

 

Rocks (life's challenges)

Driftwood (your strengths and resources) affects how your water flows.

 

Rather than trying to remove every rock, we work together to widen the channels and let your flow return. It's a metaphor my clients tend to feel rather than have to learn .

 

As someone with inattentive ADHD, I also know firsthand that nature offers the kind of restorative attention no clinic room can. My dissertation explored countries like Japan, Korea and Scandinavia that have long known that time in green spaces settles the nervous system, restores attention, and gently rebuilds wellbeing. It's not a backdrop to the work; it's a partner. Nature runs through each thread of the model: it's an environment that heals, an occupation that restores, and a place where many people finally meet themselves again.