u/Responsible-Gift3392

Hi everyone! I’m a new graduate Occupational Therapist currently working in mental health, and I’m finding it really difficult to retain all the information I’m learning.

During consumer discussions, I sometimes feel like I’m taking in so much information that I struggle to remember what was important afterwards. I also find that when my supervisor asks me questions about a consumer or asks me to explain my clinical reasoning, my mind can sometimes go blank even though I feel like I understood it during the session.

I’m trying to get better at taking notes, but I don’t want to write down absolutely everything. I’m wondering:
What information do you consider most important to write down after seeing a consumer?
Do you have a particular note-taking structure or template that you use?
How do you remember important clinical information from previous sessions?
Did anyone else experience poor information retention as a new graduate?
What helped you become more confident with clinical reasoning and recalling information?

I’d really appreciate hearing from other new grads or experienced OTs about what worked for you. 😭

Hi everyone,
I’m a new graduate Occupational Therapist currently working in mental health, and I’ve been feeling really down about my clinical skills lately.
I’m about 4 months in, and I had a realisation today that made me feel quite upset. I feel like I’ve been focusing more on being a “mental health clinician” rather than thinking like an OT.
For example, I’ve been focusing a lot on things like risk formulation, rapport building, emotional support, and understanding mental health presentations. But I realised I haven’t been consistently bringing in the OT lens — looking at occupations, roles, routines, identity, participation, and how someone’s mental health impacts their everyday functioning.
I started thinking about models like MOHO and PEOP and wondered why I didn’t naturally apply them more. It made me feel like I didn’t retain anything from my 4 years of study, or that maybe I’m just lacking common sense.
I think what makes it harder is seeing other new grads who seem more confident or are being given opportunities that I haven’t had. It makes me question whether I’m actually competent or whether I’m falling behind.
At the same time, I know I care about my consumers and I genuinely want to become a good OT. I reflect a lot and I want to improve, but I’m scared that I should have figured this out by now.
For experienced OTs or other new grads — did you also have a point where you realised you weren’t really applying the OT framework yet? How long did it take for you to feel like you developed your OT identity, especially in mental health?
Would appreciate any advice or reassurance.

I am an Occupational Therapist based in Australia, having graduated in 2025, and I am exploring opportunities to gain clinical experience in the Philippines in the near future.

I would love to enquire about any available positions or pathways for overseas-trained OTs in the Philippines. I am also hoping to understand what the registration or licensure requirements would be for an Australian-trained OT wishing to practise in the Philippines.

So I recently interviewed for a position at a hospital I’ve really wanted to work at for a long time. The interview went well and they moved me to reference checks, which was exciting.

The catch was they wanted a supervisor from my current workplace, but I’m only early into a graduate program and the relationship with my supervisor hasn’t had much time to develop. I also hold an ongoing casual position at another hospital where I’ve been working for nearly three years and have really strong relationships with supervisors there.

I negotiated with HR to provide one reference from my casual workplace and one colleague from my current workplace instead. They agreed and said they were happy with the proposal.

It’s now been nearly two weeks since I sent the referee contacts and my referees haven’t been contacted yet. I followed up via email and they confirmed references were received but still nothing.

Did I handle the reference negotiation okay? And is two weeks normal for reference checks? I really want this job and the waiting is killing me 😅

Hi everyone, I’m a new graduate OT currently in a rotational grad program in a mental health setting. Before this I worked as an AHA in acute and GEM settings, so I have some clinical exposure, but mental health OT is a whole different world and I’m really struggling to find my footing.
The main things I’m finding hard:
• Feeling unsure of my OT identity in a mental health MDT — like, what is my unique role here and how do I articulate it?
• Supervision has been tough. I sometimes feel self-conscious and overwhelmed, and I worry about how I come across.
• The clinical reasoning required (safety planning, initial assessments, sensory processing frameworks) feels really different to what I expected from OT.

I genuinely enjoy working with clients — it’s more the internal stuff (confidence, belonging, professional identity) that I’m battling.

Has anyone else gone through this as a new grad MH OT? How did you find your footing? Any advice on how to feel more like an OT and less like an imposter?