It’s been a busy few months! I’m sure many of you out there have felt it too, the constant push of business with slightly improving weather and the pull of spring activities all colliding into one persons hectic schedule. I’ve been traveling quite a bit for Therapy Solutions – heading around the country to meet some of the best and brightest therapists out there.

Last month I spend several days in Philadelphia, PA. My first time in this wonderful city and I was absolutely not disappointed. I had an enormous cheesesteak, saw the historic sites, and spent a lot of time at the AOTA national conference happening at the Convention Center.

I love going to these conferences because I get to have so many conversations with therapists about what they’re excited about in their field.  What’s the latest and greatest technology, is it applicable to the field, and what people are hoping for the future were among the many topics of these conversations.

One of the main conversations I had was about the seminar on the use of iPads in Occupational Therapy. It was perfect, because our booth was raffling off an iPad2 and everybody was really excited about the chance to use it in their therapeutic site (as well as play Angry Birds and other games in their off time).

It was a whirlwind of a conference, though. Within the first 10 minutes of the conference, every scrap of giveaway/material/entry forms were gone through. Several emergency trips to Kinkos and Starbucks helped me reestablish my booth. But overall, it was one of the best conferences I’ve been to in a long time.

Here are some photos of the conference and Philly!

Were you there? If so, post your thoughts on the conference!

Of course, you all know how hard it is on little kiddos when their mom is out of town. So, I’m glad for a few months, any way, I’ll be able to stick around home and enjoy sunny afternoons chasing around the backyard.

Hot jobs this week:
Newport, Oregon (THE BEACH) 2-4 weeks for PT or PTA in an outpatient clinic. Take a break from the city and I bet you’ll even get some sunshine! 

Look forward to hearing from you!

Jen Deale
(503) 341-0477
jdeale@therapy-solutions.com

Things at Therapy Solutions are buzzing and doing well. I am constantly impressed by our team and their desire for the highest level of customer and employee care and their dedication to the hours it takes to achieve that. Way to go, team! We’ve had some impressive goals for growth and expansion, and somehow we are on track for all of that. It’s a testament to those who have laid the groundwork for that to happen.

Of course, it means that I’m busier than usual, but happy about that busy-ness because I love talking to therapists! And, I’m getting excited as we get into April because that means that I’ll be heading around the country talking to therapists from everywhere.

Coming up in April, I’ll be heading out to Philadelphia for the American Occupational Therapy Association’s annual conference. If you’re going to be there, come find my booth and say hi!

I’ve listed the conferences I’ll be attending for the rest of the year. If you are planning on being there, let me know and I’ll buy you a coffee and you can tell me all about what you’re doing out in the therapy world! I love hearing about all of that and it always helps me have a broader perspective.

In other news, the gluten-free diet is working wonderfully for little Cooper-man. Part of his Austism-spectrum diagnosis is a speech delay, but the gluten free diet has seemed to take some of the barriers out of the way for him to gain new words. It seems like every day I’m hearing more words and 3-4 word combinations.

Also, we’ve just started doing speech therapy with D’Onofrio and Associates on a weekly basis. After our first session last week, I was excited to meet a therapist that was passionate and excited about working with kids just like Cooper.

Bailey, my daughter (19 months), is learning everything Cooper is learning too and loving all the little techniques we’ve put to use for him too! Speaking of Bailey, here’s a pic of her from this week. We went on a walk and she demanded that she bring a “snack” – huge bowl of popcorn. It made it one block until it spilled everywhere!

On the docket for this week:

• Open mic tonight at Twin Paradox coffee shop in Portland, OR. It’s a great show and if you happen to be a musician or poet, you can come perform or just come and listen. Great musicians and good coffee.
• Visit to the Playground Gym in NE Portland on Friday. It’s like a kids dream-land: run around as much as you want and everything is padded and there are things to climb and throw!
• Thinking about the next Facebook contest for Therapy Solutions page. Anything you’d love a chance to win on Facebook? Send me ideas!

Here’s the hot need for this week:

COTA traveler for a SNF in Hillsboro: the best SNF in all of Oregon, great gym and OT area. A wonderful team to work with, you won’t be sorry you spent 13 weeks here. Potential assignment completion bonus available. Contact me for details ASAP!

Upcoming conferences:

April 9: University of Washington job fair
April 14-17: American OT Association conference, Philadelphia, PA
April 29-May 1: Oregon PT Association, Portland, OR
June: American PT Association conference, Maryland
October: Oregon Speech and Hearing Association conference, Portland, OR
October: American PT Association Student Conclave conference, Minneapolis, MN
November: American OT Association Student Conclave

Contact me! I’d love to hear from you.

Jen Deale
(503) 341-0477
jdeale@therapy-solutions.com
www.therapy-solutions.com

On point one, I’ve been feeling great about my job lately as I’ve had a chance to talk to a lot of great therapists that love what they do! It’s so refreshing and inspiring to talk to these professionals that truly care about their patients: that care about the company they work for, that want to help their patients succeed. It gets me excited about my job to talk with therapists like that.

Point two: do any other moms feel like they clean their house till its spotless and within 5 minutes it looks exactly like the cracker crumbled/toys everywhere/dishes in the sink mess that you JUST spent hours working on? I feel like I’m endlessly cleaning an endlessly messy house. Anybody love to clean house just for fun? Because if so, I have the most fun job you’ve had in awhile…

Point three: I went to a wonderful conference on the Autism Spectrum Disorder last week through a local nonprofit called Columbia Regional. It was an introduction class and I got a lot of great information and saw some examples of things I could implement. As I was sitting there, a project started coming together in my head for Cooper’s room. Coop’s been doing so wonderfully in preschool and between preschool and his new gluten-free diet, improvement is happening every single day! It’s exciting. So, I feel like the next thing to try to tackle is structuring our home environment a bit more.  In Cooper’s preschool, they use the PECS system (Picture Exchange Communication System) to help the kids learn their schedule and to identify the key stations. I’m going to implement a general schedule and tag each activity using PECS. It’s a major project, but I’m excited about it, knowing that Coop will love the end product. As soon as it’s done, I’ll upload some pictures to share! I’m trying to keep in mind the wisdom of Confucius in this project, “It does not matter how slow you go, so long as you do not stop.” I’m trying to keep a mindset of handling things little by little in this overall attempt to restructure our lives so that  we have the absolute best set up for both Cooper and Bailey.

Point four: I’ve been spending more time in the Therapy Solutions office in Lynnwood, WA lately (just north of Seattle), which has been great. If you don’t know my coworkers, you should! I have loved getting to spend time up in that office lately. Another trip scheduled for tomorrow morning. I’ll need to stop and get the largest coffee available though, as I’m leaving at 530am. Long day, but I know it’ll still be a really great day. My coworkers keep promising me that they’re going to take me to a local Irish/Cajun pub for lunch. Sounds interesting, so hopefully we’ll make it work this time!

Finally point five: every Monday night I go and sing at a local coffee shop in Sellwood (SE Portland). 7pm, Twin Paradox Coffee house. If you’re around town, you should come. It’s a great night of local music and poetry.

Final note: If you identify with what I mentioned in point one about being a passionate therapist driven to providing the absolute best patient care, please talk to me. I can promise you that working for Therapy Solutions will be a refreshing and affirming experience. Here’s what we’re looking for:

PT, PTA, OT, COTA, and SLPs for the following:

Oregon and Washington local agency work in all settings
Travel assignments nationwide
ESY School Assignments starting in June
Home health in Oregon, Washington, Chicago, IL and Denver, CO

Here’s a pic of Bailey at a birthday party we went to this week! She had the time of her life playing in the Family Fun Center’s Kidopolis. It’s like a child’s dream playland!

Look forward to hearing from you!

Jen
(503) 341-0477
jdeale@therapy-solutions.com

Ntja-Peli translates as “two dogs”.  As I understand it, the implication is the power of two:  the ability of two dogs, standing back-to-back, to take on the world.  The hall was completed about two years ago through the joint effort of volunteers with the Lake Union Crew Outreach Foundation and students and staff of Holy Names High School – Bela-Bela Lesotho.  I guess that makes me one of the dogs.

The projects this year aren’t quite as grand as a large hall, but may end up being more appreciated, or appreciated by more people.  Holy Names High School is situated next to a ravine with a dramatic ridge behind.  This makes for beautiful sunrise photos of Ntja-Peli, and for long treks downstream to find a safe crossing when the ravine washes out.  The main project this year is construction of a bridge across the ravine.

As a construction novice, building a hall made sense.  Ever since this project was announced I have been curious about how a concrete bridge would be built.  I did not stay long enough to see the completed bridge, but I saw enough to understand the rest of the process.  However, I do not think I could describe it adequately to make it clear to the average reader.  Suffice it to say the forms that were constructed for pouring the bridge were substantial enough that most of the local people who walked by assumed that this was the actual bridge.  Some of them were excited by the orange and silver colored scaffolding.  They seemed to like the colors.  I hope they think the finished concrete is at least as nice.

After the previous project Lake Union Crew Outreach Foundation committed to funding an HIV/AIDS center on campus.  In her eight or nine months in Lesotho my friend, Martha, managed to test 95% of the students at the high school.   She found less than five percent of the students are infected which is astounding in a country where 25-30% of the population is infected.  The goal of the center is to provide testing, counseling, and education.  Even without having many people to assist with clinic appointments or medication management, the center is capable of creating positive change through education, empowering the students to make good choices, and setting an example within the community at large.  One of the other construction projects is the erection of a fence around campus to create a safe environment for the students, especially in light of storage of medications at the center.

The bridge may be the big project, but the fence is going to take the longest, and provide the most opportunities for providing first aid.  It is galvanized steel with square posts and spear-shaped pieces that look like extra-long pickets.  I saw this type of fencing in a few other places in Lesotho, and around many of the homes in Ficksburg, South Africa (just across the border).  It seems durable, an effective deterrent, and difficult to take apart.  So far, injuries around fence construction have occurred once due to falling on the spears (luckily, just a cut hand, and one of the volunteers that week was an emergency room doctor who travels with a suture kit), but mostly due to bashing knuckles while tightening the bolts.  This job would take forever without ratcheting wrenches, but ratcheting wrenches mean cranking away at nuts that are designed to have half break off once they are tightened.  Combine this with swinging pick axes to dig the postholes around tree roots and there are ample opportunities for bruising and bleeding.  Sometimes it feels good to have a few battle scars to wear as badges in recognition of hard work.

Some of the other, smaller, projects included doubling the size of the chicken coop, adding moveable partitions to Ntja-Peli Hall, and creating a new room in the library building for a computer lab (to be occupied by donated computers).  The woman who organizes these projects always has a few smaller tasks going on.  I’m not sure if this is her version of over-achieving, or if she intentionally creates different work areas to put people in groups that will make each person more effective and happy.  The concept behind these projects is to work in groups that combine the resources of different communities.  We bring the money we’ve fundraised and volunteers who want to work hard for a week or two or three; we are met by people who want to learn some skills and find out about us and create something for their community.  The past three years, with two trips to Bela-Bela and another to Ancon, Peru, has taught me so much.  It has been an interesting journey.  I’ve met a teenage boy who has an enchanting smile and a soul that seems to match mine.  I’ve seen the miracle that happens when a person with very little feels power in the knowledge that someone somewhere else in the world cares about him.  I’ve seen a new community formed from three very different ones (from the US, Lesotho, and Peru), and I’ve seen that new community mourn for a lost friend.

This brings me back to the things that were different about this trip.  I knew he wouldn’t be there, and I knew that I would talk to people there about him, but it was still so very sad sometimes to not have Emmanuel on campus this time.  He was the Assistant Principal at Holy Names High School, the happiest person I have ever met, and one of seven people who travelled from Lesotho to Peru to be part of last year’s project.  And he died in a traffic accident last June.  The new bridge has been named after him which is symbolic, to me, of the impact he had in bringing people together.

I felt Emmanuel’s absence in a number of ways.  The most obvious was in the lack of his utterly honest expression of joy.  I assume that all the other, smaller, reminders of the hole left by him were related to that missing joy.  In general, Basotho are much more capable of expressing joy than any American I’ve met, and we did have quite a few sessions of alternately giggling and belly-laughing.  But Emmanuel’s joy was permeating; it was expressed through all the people around him.  He was joyful in greeting people each morning.  He was joyful in the manual labor we all did together.  He was joyful in running errands, and translating, and eating sweet buns for morning snack.  He was thoughtful and took care of any number of tasks that most people would not have noticed.  One of the Basotho traditions around death is taking the body to its usual places: home, work, etc., and reassuring the deceased that all of his tasks would be managed.  It is a way of acknowledging the responsibilities of the community and allowing the spirit to leave without concern.

This trip I learned something different.  Last time, thanks to Emmanuel, I learned what happiness look like.  This time I learned my own responsibility to express and share happiness.  Emmanuel, I promise to be joyful; I promise to always let my friends see my joy at knowing them; I promise to help others in finding their joy.

Pronunciation guide:
Ntja-Peli = uhnt-ja pay-dee
Lesotho = le-soo-too
Bela-Bela = bee-lah bee-lah
Basotho = bah-soo-too (the people or customs of Lesotho)

For more information: http://lucoutreachfoundation.org/

I work from my home office-which means I work for the best company in the world who genuinely show concern and care for me as an individual. Every day I’m so thankful for this opportunity. But it’s not without its challenges, of course! This morning, Bailey (all perky from her 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep) and Cooper (all perky… always perky) are dancing around the living room and singing the theme song to The Cat in the Hat and I’ve moved working locations at least 3 times since 745am. Grandma Shari (my mom) helps with the kiddos while I’m working, but as the mom, I get followed around the house. Now, I’ve secluded myself into the bedroom, put a dresser in front of the door, and am sitting here typing furiously before they figure out a way to break down the door barrier!

This situation is reminding me how awesome parents are, what multi-taskers we are: how every task in life has become exponentially more difficult with children. Simple things like taking the garbage out to the curb get more difficult. Last year I was taking the garbage out and in the 2 minutes I was outside, I came back in to find Cooper had scaled the counter over into the kitchen, was sitting on the counter with both hands dug into a freshly made pan of brownies, chocolate everywhere. For weeks after that I’d find brownie crumbles in every little nook and cranny in my house.

So, for you multi-tasking therapists out there, have you ever thought about picking up some extra work when your schedule allows? Let me just say that Therapy Solutions does  fabulous job working with people’s schedules and creating flexible opportunities for our employees. It’s definitely worth checking out at least and seeing if it could be a good fit for you.

Here’s Therapy Solutions’ hot job of the week:

Occupational Therapist or
Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant
Denver metro

Do you know anyone?  We have a referral bonus (up to $2500)) so let your friends know.

Contact me anytime, especially if you’re writing to tell me funny parenting multi-tasking stories! We can commiserate together through laughter!

Jen Deale
jdeale@therapy-solutions.com
503 341 0477

Two weeks have passed since my last entry. I’m still getting accustomed to the new year and the many changes January always seems to bring. I had mentioned my new years resolutions and thank you to the many folks who sent me gluten free recipe websites or resources! So helpful, thank you!

I was reading that 30% of resolutions made by Americans are given up on after week 2. So, I thought it was only far, as I enter into week 2 to update you on how my resolutions that I shared with you are going.

I, Jen Deale, resolute to drink just as much water as I do coffee every day.
To be honest, right now I’m drinking a bowl of latte. It’s not a cup,. It’s not a mug. It’s a bowl. I feel strange drinking straight from it rather than using a spoon. Obviously as my bowl of latte progressively gets emptier and emptier, my equalizing coffee and water consumption is not going well.

I, Jen Deale, resolute to use less exclamation-points in my text messages so as not to seem like I’m yelling at every person I text with.

So far in this entry, I’ve only used 2 exclamation points so far! Ok, three now. But, overall, I think I’m doing better on this goal. It’s an easy one to do, but now I think people, when reading my texts, emails and the like think I’m bored instead of yelling at them. No easy middle ground. But, a goal is a goal and hey, a resolution kept is a resolution kept (even if it’s a silly one!).

Cooper and family have been doing ok, not perfectly, on our gluten free diet. We’re getting in the swing of things. The first several days it seemed like my children at almost nothing. I would make dinner, some kind of rice casserole or potatoes and roast, etc. Full plates and empty stomachs. My kids are pasta eaters. Thank the heavens, Trader Joes makes a great rice pasta for both penne and rotini. I made an emergency run to the store and did a rice penne with peas and pepperoni and topped with cheese. Both Bailey and Cooper just ate and ate! I was so relieved and the whole family was quite a bit happier at that point.

At this point, we’re watching closely to see how things are going for Cooper. It’s a 3-month trial, so I am trying to be patient (which is my absolute weakest point, right up there with coffee consumption) and see how things are affected. Overall, Cooper has had a great 2 weeks, great behavior and his teacher gave him the praise, “He is such a JOY to have in class!”

We have had a few slips, including a trip to Subway and a pizza place. But we kept the gluten consumption to a minimum and everybody was a little happier.

I’m curious how you all are doing on your resolutions. Are therapists finding themselves in the 70% of resolution-keepers after 2 weeks or slacking into the 30% of fallen resolutions with the rest of America?

Was one of your resolutions to find a  new job? Don’t forget Therapy Solutions is expanding quickly and creating new opportunities every day. The big need this week: PT and PTA in the Denver metro for one of home health clients. Do you know of anyone? We’re offering up at $2000 in a referral bonus for this position if you have some you can recommend that hires on.

Hope to hear from you soon! Please keep those gluten free resources rolling in. They are helping immensely!

Happy week 3 of 2011!
-Jen
jdeale@therapy-solutions.com

But as 2011 approaches, I do have a couple of simple things in mind. The first one is symptomatic of living in Portland, Oregon and being surrounded by good coffee and an ambient coffee shop on every corner with free high-speed wi-fi. But as I reflect on 2010, I realize that this resolution is absolutely necessary for my health and balance.

 I, Jen, resolute to drink just as much water as I do coffee every day!

 The other resolution that I’ve been thinking about is maybe a little sillier and a little less practical, but still necessary. I’m in constant communication with my family, friends, and other people who are crucial to my life. I’m also a multi-tasker, so the best way to maintain this constant communication is through text messaging. One day, late in December, I was reading through my old text messages and saw an alarming pattern: one that, as a self-proclaimed Grammar-Queen, I was horrified to realize that I was making this mistake.

 I, Jen, resolute to use less exclamation-points in my text messages so as not to seem like I’m yelling at every person I text with!

Now that my resolutions are in order for the New Year, I am going to be making some big changes as a mom for 2011.  Cooper, my 3 year-old boy, is dealing with a speech delay and some other issues that his Naturopath Doctor (ND) suggested a Gluten-free diet experiment.

Can I be honest? I do NOT want to do this experiment. Not only does Cooper love bread, but I do too! Cooper and I have a little routine of waking up at 7am every morning and watching “Word World” on PBS Kids and sharing a peanut-butter bagel. I cherish this tradition. However his ND said that 50% of the families she works with that have similar issues benefit from this diet. So, I said I’d give it a shot.

Oh boy… I am nervous! It’s a 3-month trial and we’re starting today. I’ll keep you updated on how it’s going and if we’re surviving. Does anybody out there have any great gluten-free recipes? Email me at jdeale@therapy-solutions.com as I can use all the ideas I can get.

 I’m curious, what resolutions do therapists have? Every day I have the opportunity to talk with different therapists about what they’re hoping for in their career, what their ideal working life would look like. It seems like therapists would have an interesting take on resolutions.

 Maybe your resolution is to make some career changes. It seems that the beginning of a New Year is a good time to step back and take inventory of your career and decide if you’re satisfied with the direction it’s headed. If you’re ready for some change to happen in this area, here are a few of the hundreds of opportunities that Therapy Solutions has available:

 Seattle and Portland Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, and Speech Language Pathologists needed for Full Time, Part Time, and On Call positions.  (Skilled Nursing, Schools, Inpatient, Outpatient, and Home Health)

 Travel positions for PTs, PTAs, OTs, COTAs, and SLPs throughout the United States in all settings.

Permanent Placement opportunities nationwide in all settings – allowing Therapy Solutions to place a therapist direct into their preferred new job, taking the pressure and workload off their shoulders from sourcing the right job and negotiating the best terms; all at no cost to the therapist!  This is an ideal route for a therapist to take who may not want to work for a staffing company, but who wants to utilize their expertise in today’s job market.

As always, all are welcome to contact me direct at jdeale@therapy-solutions.com

Happy New Year!

Waking up Christmas morning and watching Cooper (3yrs) and Bailey (1yr) rip into presents filled with Thomas the Train and Dora the Explorer goodies is another wonderful mommy memory tucked away in my brain, along with the thousand other new things we’ve experienced in 2010. Now, my living room is cluttered with new toys and bits of wrapping paper that, as hard as I try, I can’t seem to pick up everything and finally have a clean house! Endless homemade cookies and candies are scattered on my counter and I didn’t realize the dent I make in my goodies stash until the next day when I see another 6 cookies missing!

The highlight of my Christmas season this year, hands down, was spending Christmas Eve down at Portland Rescue Mission. In my spare minutes, which really are spare after juggling family and work and the rare things like showering and sleeping, I love to make music and volunteer where I can. At the Mission, along with 30 of my closest family and friends, we put on a concert and Prime Rib dinner for almost 500 people. Such a wonderful night shared with people in need. I loved looking out into the crowd and seeing people sing along with me to “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” or “Feliz Navidad.” The whole room hushed to an eerily silence as we sang “O Come Emmanuel.” What a wonderful memory. I can’t wait till my kids are older for them to be able to come and share nights like that with me!

So, in the afterglow of all that holiday goodness, I’m sitting back down in a coffee shop here in Sellwood, my little neighborhood in Portland downing more caffeine than humanly possibly and am excited, as I see all the things Therapy Solutions is working towards for 2011. We have a small but committed and talented team that does such a good job of working with our therapists and doing our best to create a great working experience for them.

Upcoming assignments for Busy Mom, Busy Recruiter; find passionate therapists that want to work with our clients and have a company give them a lot of support, who also helps them find assignments that let them be the best therapists they can be.

 A few upcoming assignments:

Grants Pass , OR– SNF – 13 week assignment – OT/COTA

Chelan, WA – SNF – 13 week assignment – OT/COTA

Chicago, IL – all settings – FT/PT/PRN – PT/PTA and OT/COTA

Seattle, WA – SNF – FT/PT/PRN – PT/OT

 Also, I would love to hear any stories of busy therapists/busy mommies out there who want to share their funny or heartwarming stories! Meanwhile, if you are interested in picking up some work or know of someone you can refer, you can trust Therapy Solutions to take care of your working needs! Drop me a line at jdeale@therapy-solutions.com - I would love to hear from you!

Jen

Event: AOTA National Student Conclave
Location: Louisville, KY
Place: Galt House Hotel & Conference Center
Date: November 6-8th, 2010

Every year, the therapy world holds national conferences for each discipline and the APTA (American Physical Therapy Association) and the AOTA (American Occupational Therapy Association) both hold associations meant solely for students of each discipline.

This year, the AOTA Student Conclave was held in Louisville, KY during the Breeders Cup, part of the Triple Crown Horse Derby competition, in Louisville. The city was alive with many different new comers and tourists to the city enjoying all that Louisville had to offer. I didn’t partake in any of the Breeders Cup festivities, but enjoyed feeling a part of a tradition that has been happening for the last 100 years.

As the shuttle bus approached the Galt House on the Louisville waterfront, a huge smile crossed my face. The hotel was gorgeous! And the hotel was bustling with people, students coming from all different states  in groups of 5-10 students, all packing into single hotel rooms ready to experience the conference for everything it had to offer. Across the board, students raved about the classes, saying that they were inspirational, educational, and preparatory.

I planted myself down in the exhibitor hall, setting up our table (see our picture!!). It was exciting to be there, to experience this with other companies and other service providers. There’s always such great rapport and relationships that are built not only with students but a collaborative spirit is built with other companies as well.

As the students began to file in the first morning at 730am (Eastern time, hello jet lag!) I knew it was going to be a great weekend. The students had so much enthusiasm for their education and for their future. As a company there representing travel opportunities, I was encouraged to hear the passion for patient care partnered with an adventurous spirit looking to experience much of what the field has to offer. We had around 500 attendees this year at the student conclave and almost 300 people stopped by the Therapy Solutions booth to say hello and enter our drawing!

I look forward to partnering in career opportunities for many of the students I met with. It seems like every year, the students are ready to impress with their excitement and desire to impact their field.