Kathy Clarkson
Director, Occupational Therapist
Kathy has 30 years of full time experience as an Occupational Therapist, having moved between non profit, public sector, educational and private organizations in Australia and the USA.
Kathy has extensive experience with medicolegal expert witness work – having completed this work for more than 20 years. She also has significant assessment and treatment experience within the areas of sensory processing, paediatrics, neurology, complex care, traumatic injury and mental health services and is passionate about the interplay between mind, brain and body – after all our ability to self regulate underpins all of our other abilities. She loves supporting individuals in a trauma informed manner to get all the building blocks in place to allow them to flourish.
Kathy is also passionate about supporting others to do this work – she mentors and consults with organizations and other allied health professionals to help them put the necessary systems, theory and practice together in a trauma informed manner to provide the most supportive environment, teaching and engagement styles to support their staff, students or participants.
She is also the proud Mum of two young adults, loves spending time walking, swimming and snorkelling at the beach and is eternally grateful to her husband for having supported her throughout her diverse and exciting career.
Courtney
Occupational Therapist
Courtney has a Bachelor of Health Sciences (LaTrobe University) and a Masters in Occupational Therapy Practice (Monash University). Courtney has 15 years of experience supporting children and families first working as an Early Childhood Early Intervention Coordinator for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and then working as a full time Occupational Therapist with Melbourne Occupational Therapy Associates since March 2021.
Throughout her career Courtney has been working closely with people of all ages and abilities. Courtney has been a registered Occupational Therapist with a special interest in paediatrics, sensory processing, regulation, mental health and supporting people to build their functional capacity.
Courtney is passionate about helping her clients to achieve personal goals relevant to their own lives, values and experiences. Courtney uses a therapeutic approach which is centred on understanding the person within their own environment whilst implementing strategies, whether through equipment, skill development or training and she is highly motivated to make her approach to therapy client centred, fun, relevant and meaningful to her clients.
Jean
Occupational Therapist
Jean graduated from her Bachelor of Occupational Therapy in 1991. She then worked with children and adults across the life span in a variety of settings including a physical rehabilitation hospital, non profit organizations, schools and private work.
Once family life became busy she took a number of years out of the paid workforce to focus her energies there and then enjoyed returning to practice in 2022. As part of her return to practice Jean has enjoyed exploring a range of professional development areas including completing the MORE and Astronaut Training programs. For more than 25 years, Jean has also been a trained volunteer Breast-feeding Counsellor which has shaped her interest in empowering parents to flourish in their journeys with their infants and children. This has also given her a strong foundation in the significance of creating a sense of safety, relationship, connection and attunement when working with children and families.
Jean and her husband Ben have four children who are now mostly adults. Their youngest son has ADHD and anxiety and this journey has given her very personal experience of parenting and educating a Neurodivergent child which has created in her a passion to create greater understanding in our community, education and health care systems about these issues. Jean loves people and working out how to help each person flourish and achieve their goals despite any challenges they may have.
She strongly believes that all people are precious and should be valued and supported to navigate their lives the best way they can. Human function is complex as are the myriad of activities that make up a person’s life. Navigating this will always keep Occupational Therapy a challenging and interesting profession to embrace.
Rachel
Occupational Therapist
Rachel joined MOTA in 2019. She has completed training in sensory processing, child development and neurobiology, and has been working with kids since she was a teenager. Rach has worked and volunteered in clinical, educational, hospital, rehabilitation, aged care settings, including New Zealand and Bangladesh. Across her years as an Occupational Therapist, Rach has honed her skills in conducting assessments and developing tailored therapy plans for children, teenagers and adults in both 1:1 and group settings.
Rach’s child-centred approach is underpinned in an understanding that each child and family are different. Her trauma-informed and strengths-based practice is complimented by her playful, warm and creative style. Rach recognises the importance of a collaborative approach; she works closely with caregivers and the professional team around the child to foster a cohesive and robust circle of support. She works hard to identify a child’s areas of strength and challenge, meet them where they are at, nurture their growth and find that ‘just right’ challenge, all with the aim of making those hard things a little less challenging.
Rach’s favourite thing about her job is getting to know each child’s strengths and interests. Every single child she has worked with has taught her something new. Rach loves the opportunity this job gives her to combine creativity with science. She finds this line of work interesting, challenging and fun – No day is the same!
Rach has completed training and professional development under Kim Barthel, Kelly Mahler, the STAR Institute of Sensory Processing and of course, Kathy Clarkson. She is certified to administer the Safe and Sound Protocol. In addition to her Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours), Rach has also completed studies in Art Therapy.
In her spare time Rach can be found feeling the burn at gym or Pilates, spending time with her loved ones, reading, going out for coffee, tending to her houseplants, watching the Essendon Bombers, enjoying some good tunes, cuddling other people’s pets or on an adventure somewhere. She is really excited about becoming an Aunty in September 2024!
Chloe
Therapy Assistant
Chloe is currently studying a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy at the Australian Catholic University. She has been working as an AHA at MOTA since 2023. Chloe is passionate about creating safe spaces where people feel comfortable to explore the connection between mental and physical health and in turn their ability to live life the way they want to. Outside of work, Chloe is interested in all things music, from listening and watching to playing and creating. Chloe enjoys keeping active, especially in a team environment where she plays soccer and futsal in her free time.
Yoanna
Practice Manager
Yoanna is our Practice Manager, helping to organize us all and ensure things run smoothly. Luckily, thanks to her wide and varied professional background and role of mum/home manager to four sport and activity obsessed kids, she has finely honed skills in project management, multi tasking, attention to detail, prioritizing and wearing many varied hats.
Before becoming a Practice Manager Yoanna’s background was in law – working at one of Australia’s largest corporate law firms and then as an in house employment lawyer for Telstra. Outside of work Yoanna is at her happiest bush camping near the beach with her family (preferably with a camp fire sing along).
Joanne Mainsbridge
Occupational Therapist, Medicolegal
Joanne trained as an Occupational Therapist in New Zealand and then also completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and a Master of Science in Workplace Health in the UK. Joanne is a part of our medicolegal team and has a particular interest in psychosocial conditions, workplace health and injury prevention.