You have acquired a job and you have left all your friends to make it in the big world as a new graduate occupational therapist. Your supervisor is great and you have a very dynamic professional relationship, she/he understands your learning needs and has a foundation of knowledge to supervise your ongoing professional development. What next?
There are many different ways to start your own peer support group. Facebook is a great way to link up with people from all over New Zealand and the rest of the world who are practicing in the same profession as you.
For example:
or: https://www.facebook.com/occupationaltherapycom?fref=ts
or: https://www.facebook.com/OccupationalTherapyAssociation?fref=ts
Twitter is useful for finding people who have similar interests to you. If you use hashtags then it is likely other therapists will find your twitter account or even just a blog like this.
Here’s one: https://twitter.com/todayinot
and another: http://otpotential.com
Joining the occupational therapy board of New Zealand provides you with points of contact whereby you can have access to article journals and information within special interest groups at otnz.co.nz
If anyone else has any websites, blogs, forums or specific social media platforms where they receive great peer support let me know and I will add it to my list.
REMEMBER: it is all very well receiving support informally but remember the ethical requirements of your setting, CONFIDENTIALITY IS KEY. Stick to discussions that don’t involve actual names or scenarios!
Love this post, so often we’re told of the negative aspects of social networking and what we should be weary of when utilising it in a professional capacity, great to see a positive and practical spin on it.