OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational Therapy is about supporting people to participate in everyday life in a way that feels more manageable and sustainable.
This includes play, learning, working, relationships, and daily routines. When these feel harder than they should, it is often not about ability, but about the fit between the person, their nervous system, the demands being placed on them, and the environment around them.
Occupational Therapy looks at that whole picture. It considers how someone processes, responds to, and manages everyday demands, and focuses on what needs to shift to reduce strain and support participation in a way that works for the individual.
At a Glance
Who is this for
- Children experiencing difficulty with play, learning, daily routines or sensory regulation
- Adolescents and young adults navigating increasing demands at school or university
- Adults experiencing burnout, executive functioning difficulties or chronic overwhelm
- Neurodivergent individuals seeking more sustainable ways of managing everyday life
Common areas we support
- Executive functioning — initiation, organisation and follow-through
- Sensory processing and managing overwhelming environments
- Emotional regulation, shutdown and burnout
- Transitions, flexibility and coping with change
- School, academic and workplace demands
- Nervous system regulation and sustainable pacing
How we work
- Online (Zoom/Teams) or in-person sessions at selected branches
- Neurodiversity-affirming, strengths-based approach
- Child-led and relational methods for paediatric work
- Collaboration with families, schools and workplaces where relevant
- Multidisciplinary team input drawn on as needed
OT across the lifespan
Because these challenges look different at different stages of life, the way Occupational Therapy is provided also shifts across the lifespan. Select a stage below to learn more.
Children
We take a child-led, relational approach — following the child’s interests and natural ways of engaging, recognising that play is how children explore, connect, and learn. Many children we see become easily overwhelmed, struggle with transitions, or find it difficult to engage consistently in play or classroom tasks. We understand this as communication that may reflect sensory overload, emotional strain, or a mismatch between the child and their environment.
Sensory Processing & Regulation
Focus area: Nervous System & Sensory Needs
Many children experience the world as more intense, unpredictable, or overwhelming. Our OTs support children to better understand and manage their sensory experiences, reducing distress and building a greater sense of safety in their bodies and environments. We work closely with caregivers, schools and other key adults to ensure strategies are consistent across settings.
Emotional Regulation & Behaviour as Communication
Focus area: Regulation & Wellbeing
Frustration, meltdowns, shutdown and avoidance are often signs that a child’s nervous system is overwhelmed — not that they are being difficult. We support children to develop greater regulation capacity and help the adults around them to respond in ways that build safety and connection, rather than increasing demand.
Attention, Executive Functioning & Transitions
Focus area: Learning & Daily Functioning
We support children who have difficulty getting started, staying on task, or shifting flexibly between activities. This includes developing practical routines, environmental supports, and strategies that reduce the cognitive load of everyday demands — making it easier for children to participate in school, home life, and activities they care about.
Motor Skills & Physical Participation
Focus area: Motor Development
We support gross and fine motor development, including coordination, balance, postural control and bilateral integration. This may include developing skills such as writing, cutting, dressing and participation in play and physical activity — building confidence and independence in the occupations of childhood.
Independence in Daily Routines & Self-Care
Focus area: Daily Living Skills
We support children to build greater independence and interdependence in everyday routines such as dressing, mealtimes and personal care. We take a collaborative approach, working with families and caregivers to ensure that goals are realistic, meaningful and embedded into daily life in a sustainable way.
Adolescents & Young Adults
As demands increase, many young people begin to feel the gap between what is expected of them and what they can manage consistently. They may be capable and motivated, but struggle with initiation, organisation and keeping up with workload. Our work focuses on helping adolescents make sense of their own experiences while putting practical systems in place for the demands they navigate day to day.
Executive Functioning & Workload Management
Focus area: Academic & Daily Demands
We support young people who struggle with initiation, time management, organisation and sustaining effort across increasing responsibilities. This includes developing practical tools and systems that fit how their brain works — rather than asking them to fit into systems that weren’t designed with neurodivergent thinkers in mind.
Emotional Regulation & Burnout Prevention
Focus area: Wellbeing & Sustainability
Emotional overwhelm and shutdown are common when expectations increase without adequate support. We help young people understand their own regulation patterns, identify early signs of overwhelm, and develop strategies to pace themselves and recover — reducing the risk of burnout before it takes hold.
Self-Understanding & Self-Advocacy
Focus area: Identity & Communication
We support young people to develop a clearer understanding of their own profile — their strengths, their challenges, and what works for them — so that they can communicate their needs effectively in school, university, and other environments. Building this self-knowledge is a foundation for greater autonomy and sustainable success.
Adults
For many adults, Occupational Therapy becomes a space to make sense of long-standing patterns and reduce the strain of everyday life. Adults often present with burnout, chronic overwhelm, or difficulty maintaining consistency at work and in daily routines. Our role is to help individuals understand these patterns and support changes that reduce unnecessary strain — building more sustainable ways of engaging in everyday life.
Executive Functioning & Daily Consistency
Focus area: Practical Functioning
We support adults who struggle with getting started, staying on track, managing time and keeping up with multiple demands. This includes building systems, adjusting routines, and developing strategies that reduce cognitive load — so that daily life requires less effort and feels more manageable and sustainable.
Burnout Recovery & Nervous System Regulation
Focus area: Wellbeing & Capacity
Nervous system regulation is central to our work with adults, particularly where there has been prolonged overexertion or masking. We support individuals to stabilise, pace, and gradually rebuild capacity in a way that is sustainable — helping the body and mind move out of chronic stress and into a more regulated baseline from which daily life becomes possible again.
Sensory Demands & Environmental Adjustments
Focus area: Sensory & Environment
Many adults find that sensory demands at work or home compound their difficulties significantly. We help individuals identify their sensory triggers, understand their own tolerance thresholds, and make practical adjustments to their environments or routines that reduce unnecessary load and support better regulation throughout the day.
Functional Capacity Evaluations and Workplace Support
In addition to therapy, we offer structured assessment and workplace-based services.
We provide Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCEs), which assess how an individual manages the cognitive, emotional, and practical demands of their role. These are often used in return-to-work planning, “disability” and insurance processes, and to guide workplace accommodations.
We also conduct workplace assessments, looking at the interaction between the individual and their role including workload, structure, sensory demands, and expectations and provide clear, practical recommendations that support more sustainable participation at work.
Our Approach
Our work is grounded in respect, collaboration, and practicality.
We begin by presuming competence and prioritising autonomy and consent. We recognise all forms of communication as valid, and we focus on understanding the individual rather than trying to change them.
We also recognise that many difficulties arise from a mismatch between the person and their environment. For this reason, our work often extends beyond individual sessions to include families, schools, workplaces, and broader systems.
Online & In-Person Services
We offer Occupational Therapy both online and in person. Online sessions are available for children, adolescents, adults, caregiver support, workplace support and consultation. In-person sessions are available at selected branches.
If you are unsure whether Occupational Therapy is the right fit, you are welcome to reach out or book an initial consultation. We can guide you on the most appropriate next step.
