What is Occupational Therapy (OT)?

Occupational Therapy (OT) is a registered allied health profession grounded in the belief that what we do each day shapes who we are.

OTs work across diverse areas of health and wellbeing, but always with the same aim: to support people to engage in everyday life in ways that feel safe, meaningful, and possible, especially after disruption.

In my work, OT is about walking alongside you as a practical, compassionate guide. Together we look at how trauma has impacted your body, mind, rhythms, roles, and sense of self and gently begin to rebuild from there.

If You’re Navigating Betrayal Trauma

If you’re here, you might be holding a lot… shock, confusion, loneliness, or a sense that life no longer feels like your own. You might still be in the relationship. You might not know what healing could even looks like.

On the outside, you may be “functioning” - going to work, parenting, holding it all together. On the inside, it may feel as though everything has been turned upside down. You might feel foggy, on edge, tired but wired, unclear what you need, or like you’ve lost touch with who you are. You might find yourself overthinking everything, doubting your instincts, or feeling disconnected from the people and things that usually matter most. These may be signs that your body and mind are doing their best to protect you, a system working hard to survive what has felt deeply unsafe and overwhelming.


OT can support you to gently reconnect with your body, your choices, and the life you want to live, even if you’re still figuring out what that looks like.

How OT might support what you are living through…

You don’t need to know exactly what you need.
Many women I work with start by simply naming how hard it feels to cope.

Below are a few ways OT can meet you where you are - supporting your regulation, roles, and recovery with practical, body-based tools:

  • When your nervous system is stuck in survival mode, everyday life can feel chaotic, exhausting, or numb. OT can help you understand your Window of Tolerance - the zone where you feel calm, capable, and connected.

    Through sensory and body-based strategies, we work together to gently support your nervous system to return to this space more often, building more safety, stability, and ease into your daily life.

  • Betrayal can leave you second-guessing your own instincts. What once felt clear might now feel blurry or too much to ask for.

    Together, we take the time to notice what you need, what matters to you, and where your boundaries begin.
    With reflection, gentle scripting, and small real-life steps, OT can help you rebuild the threads of self-trust, so you can feel more steady speaking up and more grounded in who you are.

  • When betrayal turns life upside down, the roles you once held, as a parent, partner, worker, or caregiver - can start to feel far away, too much, or just not like they used to.

    Through OT, we gently rebuild rhythms that fit where you are now, not where you’re expected to be.

    We explore how to care for others without losing yourself in the process, and how to tend to your own needs with the same steadiness you offer those around you. Sometimes that looks like mapping out your roles, unpacking the mental load, or simply finding one small anchor that helps you come back to yourself.

  • When your mind feels foggy or everything starts to pile up, even simple tasks can feel out of reach. This is often your nervous system working hard behind the scenes to manage stress and keep you safe.

    Through OT, we look at ways to gently pace your day, create external supports, and reduce the mental load. Together, we use practical tools and values-based reflection to help decisions feel a little clearer and more manageable, sometimes one step at a time.

  • After betrayal, rest can feel unreachable, like your body is wired but tired, always on alert. Together, we tune into what your nervous system actually needs, so rest doesn’t feel like another thing you can’t quite get to, but something your body can begin to soften into.

    OT helps us find ways to rebuild gentle rhythms of care. Ones that feel grounding and manageable, not heavy or forced.

  • When you’re carrying so much - the exhaustion, the triggers, the emotional weight, healing can start to feel like one more thing you’re supposed to be doing, but just can’t find the space for.

    Occupational therapy supports you to slow things down, reconnect with what matters, and gently weave healing into the everyday; in realistic in ways that feel manageable, supportive, and connected to what helps you feel more like yourself again.

  • Betrayal can leave you questioning everything… your worth, your choices, even your sense of who you are. It’s not just painful, it’s disorienting.

    OT helps us bring the focus back to what’s still steady beneath it all. So your strengths, your values, and the parts of life that help you feel more like you.

    Together, we explore simple ways to reconnect with these through everyday choices, reflections, and grounding moments that restore a sense of self.

  • When your body and emotions feel hijacked by something you didn’t see coming, it can leave you feeling worn down or on edge.

    Through OT approaches we gently map the patterns: emotional, relational, environmental or sensory and create supportive tools and anchors to help you feel more steady, prepared, and able to respond in ways that feel safer for you.

  • After betrayal, it’s common to feel numb, shut down, or like the things that used to matter no longer land. Fun and joy might feel unreachable - or even unsafe.

    But joy isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s one of the ways we reconnect with life, with our bodies, and with who we are beyond the pain. Using OT we can start to notice and invite tiny moments of joy, flow, or quiet pleasure, not for performance but for presence.

    These aren’t distractions or just niceties . They’re part of how your nervous system heals, how your identity rebuilds, and how meaning begins to return.

Guiding ideas we may also draw upon…

While OT has its own strong foundation, our work together may also draw from approaches like narrative therapy, polyvagal theory, CBT and ACT - always through a lens of emotional safety, body awareness, and meaning-making. These aren’t delivered as standalone therapies, but gently woven into our focus on daily life, regulation, and identity.

A peak into how OT might look

Occupational therapy isn’t one-size-fits-all. We work together to find approaches that feel right for you. Here are some of the ways we might begin:

Making sense of what is happening

Understanding trauma, betrayal, nervous system responses, and how they show up in your body, emotions, and daily life.

Grounding and mindfulness

Simple, practical ways to come back to the present when emotions or thoughts feel overwhelming.

Working with your nervous system

Using sensory tools, breathwork, movement, or
stillness to help shift emotional states and safely reconnect back into the body.

Clarifying what matters

Exploring your values and using them to guide decisions, routines, and boundaries in everyday life.

Navigating relationships with safety

Exploring ways to engage with others while staying connected to your needs, limits, and sense of self.

Exploring your story

Gently making space for the parts of your story that impact your identity, needs, and healing.

Looking at the load

Reflecting on your roles, responsibilities, and mental/emotional load to reduce pressure and find room to breathe.

Creating anchors for the hard moments

Developing safety supports, wellness plans, tools or places to turn to when things might start to feel shaky or too much.

Reconnecting through expression

Reintroducing creative, expressive, or meaningful activities that support healing.

Easing cognitive load

Using practical tools like checklists, routines, time-blocks, or environment tweaks to help daily tasks feel more doable and less overwhelming.