The OT Who Showed Up at TED: Bill Wong on Visibility, Neurodivergence & Making Bold Career Moves

What does it look like when an occupational therapist refuses to stay inside the OT bubble? In this episode of The BRAVE OT Podcast, I sit down with Bill Wong, the first OT student or practitioner to deliver multiple TEDx talks, publish those talks on TED's platform, and attend many TED conferenendces. Bill is a home health OT, a neurodivergent individual, a TEDx event organizer, and one of the most intentional networkers in our profession. Our conversation weaves through career resilience, neurodivergent-affirming mentorship, and a provocative challenge to the OT community: instead of waiting to be given a fish, why don't we learn to fish for ourselves? If you've ever felt like OT is healthcare's best-kept secret, or wondered what it would look like if we stopped waiting for an invitation and started creating our own opportunities, this conversation is for you.

• The "teach OT to fish" principle: why Bill believes our profession needs to stop waiting to be invited and start creating our own stages

• Resilience, risk-taking, and the "Hall of Fame vs. Hall of Very Good" framework Bill has used to drive his career forward

• Neurodivergent-affirming mentorship: what it means to meet mentees where they are while still holding them to their own stated goals

• How Bill became the first OT to deliver multiple TEDx talks and what he learned from his early "failed" attempts at organizing TEDx events

• What it's actually like inside a TED conference as a paying attendee and why Bill thinks more OTs should be in those rooms

• The barriers that keep OTs from showing up in non-OT spaces and how to start breaking them down one brave move at a time

• Bill's OT lens on autism, advocacy, and building connections with people completely outside the healthcare world

Bill Wong is an occupational therapist based in the United States, currently practicing in home health. He is the first OT student or practitioner to deliver multiple TEDx talks, the first to have his TEDx talks published on TED's platform, and the first to pay his own way to attend TED conferences as a full attendee. Bill is a TEDx event organizer (TEDxAlmansorPark), one of two co-facilitators for AOTA's Autism Community of Practice, and a member of Occupational Therapists for Environmental Action. He is also an autistic individual who brings a neurodivergent perspective to everything from clinical practice to professional advocacy.

Connect with Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-wong-24492a18/

Read Bill Wong's LinkedIn article, What Is It Like Inside a TED Conference? Why Should More OT Students and Practitioners Attending In Spite of the Cost & Seemingly Exclusivity?

If today's conversation sparked something in you, that pull toward building a bolder, more sustainable OT practice and career, the ACTivate Vitality Program might be exactly what you're looking for. It's a community of occupational therapy practice owners who support each other through group coaching, an online community, and an ACT-based framework for building real entrepreneurial and psychological flexibility.

It's not about hustling harder. It's about getting clear on what matters to you and building something that serves your life.

• ACTivate Vitality Program: balanceworks.online/avprogram

• Book a Clarity Call: https://tidycal.com/carlyn/clarity-call

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in OT Practice through Jen's Personal and Professional Experience

What happens when an occupational therapist who supports others with mental health challenges experiences their own mental health crisis? In this episode, Jen Anderson-Frost shares their journey through perinatal OCD and how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy transformed both their recovery and their practice.

If you're an occupational therapist curious about ACT, working with clients experiencing intrusive thoughts, or supporting parents with perinatal mental health challenges, this conversation offers practical insights alongside vulnerable, lived experience. Jen talks openly about the difference between traditional CBT approaches and ACT, why understanding that ego-dystonic thoughts are part of OCD mattered, and how creating space for difficult experiences, rather than fighting them, opens up new possibilities for recovery.

This episode is particularly valuable for OTs interested in trauma-informed, neurodivergent-affirming approaches to mental health support.

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IN THIS EPISODE, WE DISCUSS:

- What perinatal OCD looks like and why it's often misunderstood
- The concept of ego-dystonic thoughts and why this reframe matters
- How traditional CBT exposure therapy can be traumatizing without nervous system consideration
- The difference between CBT thought-challenging and ACT's approach to difficult thoughts
- Why Acceptance and Commitment Therapy was more effective in Jen's recovery
- How ACT fits naturally into occupational therapy practice across all settings
- Using ACT with clients who appear "stuck" or "non-compliant"
- Inference-based CBT (ICBT) as a neurodivergent-affirming approach to OCD treatment
- Why professionals often hold themselves to impossible standards during their own struggles

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ABOUT JEN ANDERSON-FROST

Jen Anderson-Frost (she/they) is an occupational therapist and intuitive living coach based in the UK. Drawing on both professional training and lived experience as a queer, neurodivergent parent and perinatal OCD survivor, Jen supports queer and neurodivergent parents with perinatal mental health challenges and burnout. Jen also works as a pediatric OT supporting neurodivergent children and families, and hosts the Intuitive Living with OT Intuition Podcast focused on perinatal mental health.

Connect with Jen: LINK TO LINKTREE

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RESOURCES MENTIONED

Books:
- Overcoming Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts by Sally Winston and Martin Seif
- Break Free From OCD by Dr. Fiona Challacombe

Podcasts:
- Your Anxiety Toolkit with Kimberly Quinlan
- OCD Stories podcast

Additional Resources:
- Inference-based CBT (ICBT) for OCD treatment
- Research on intrusive thoughts in university students
- OCD Action (UK support organization)

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LEARN MORE ABOUT PRACTICAL ACT FOR OTS COURSE

Registration is open NOW for the February 2026 cohort!

The Practical ACT for OTs course gives occupational therapists practical tools and confidence to integrate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy into practice, regardless of your setting or specialty.

What you get:
- 4.5 hours of recorded learning modules (lifetime access)
- Comprehensive resource library with handouts, worksheets, and references
- 4 months of support including live Q&A calls
- Online community forum for ongoing discussion
- No certification required—ACT is designed to be accessible

Enroll now: https://www.balanceworks.online/act-for-ots
Registration closes soon for the February 1, 2026 start date.

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ABOUT THE BRAVE OT PODCAST

The BRAVE OT Podcast features occupational therapists doing innovative work and navigating the challenges of building sustainable, meaningful practices. Host Carlyn Neek, BA, BScOT, provides coaching, mentorship, and community support for OT practice owners and clinicians who want to thrive without the hustle.

Connect with Carlyn:
- Website: https://www.balanceworks.online/contact-links
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ACT for Occupational Therapists: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Any OT Setting

Have you ever worked with clients who seem stuck? The ones who don't follow through on goals they set themselves, the ones often labeled with judgy terms like "non-compliant" or "unmotivated"? As occupational therapists, we're often called in when all else has failed. But when psychosocial barriers keep people from engaging in meaningful occupations, we need tools that work with the internal experiences creating those obstacles.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers occupational therapists a powerful, trauma-informed framework for helping clients unhook from difficult thoughts, feelings, and sensations so they can move toward the occupations that matter to them. Whether you practice in physical rehab, pediatrics, mental health, persistent pain, or community settings, ACT can integrate into your OT approach.

In This Episode, I Discuss:

- The experience of clients being "hooked" and moving away from meaningful occupations despite having goals they care about
- The ACT choice point model: toward moves versus away moves and what that means for occupational engagement
- How the six core processes of ACT break down into mindfulness-based tools and values-based action (aka meaningful occupation)
- The four ACT processes that help clients be more flexibly responsive to difficult internal experiences
- Why ACT feels aligned with trauma-informed, humanistic, collaborative approaches to occupational therapy practice
- How "open up, be present, do what matters" translates to occupational therapy
- Practical ways ACT fits into OT sessions across different practice settings

About My Practical ACT for OTs Course

The Practical ACT for OTs Course is clinical education designed specifically for occupational therapists who want to integrate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy into their practice. It is a psychosocial skill for any area of practice.

The course includes:

• Eight asynchronous video modules (approximately 4.5 hours of content with limitless access)
• Optional live group calls twice a month to discuss clinical applications and nuance
• Online community of OT peers learning and applying ACT
• Resource library with tools you can use immediately in practice
• Support for applying ACT across all OT settings

More than 150 occupational therapists have taken this course, and it's designed to help you add ACT tools to your clinical toolkit without feeling overwhelmed.

Learn more and register today for our February 1, 2026 cohort: www.balanceworks.online/act-for-ots
If you're listening at a later time, please check the website to see if we're actively accepting registrations for an upcoming cohort.

Connect With Carlyn

All my links

About The BRAVE OT Podcast

The BRAVE OT Podcast features occupational therapists doing innovative work and navigating the challenges of building meaningful careers in OT. Host Carlyn Neek is an occupational therapist, educator, and coach who works with OTs through clinical education, business coaching, and community support.