Optimize and Thrive: Holistic Wellness for OT/OTA Students
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2026
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Course Description
This course integrates ACOTE Standards B.2.9, A.3.4, and A.3.5 through a comprehensive wellness-centered approach that supports occupational therapy students’ personal well-being, professional development, and academic success. Using Swarbrick’s Eight Dimensions of Wellness framework—physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, environmental, financial, and occupational wellness—students engage in structured self-assessment, reflective learning, faculty advisement, and experiential group-based activities designed to promote holistic professional formation.
The course emphasizes the development of individualized wellness and professional growth plans aligned with long-term career objectives, ethical occupational therapy practice, advocacy, and self-reflection. Students complete wellness self-assessments and individualized self-care planning activities that encourage goal development, resilience, stress management, work-life balance, and professional identity formation. Faculty-guided advising sessions utilize structured wellness and advisement tools to monitor student progress, fieldwork readiness, academic standing, and professional responsibilities while facilitating timely referrals to university support services and accommodations.
Experiential learning activities incorporate Cole’s Seven-Step Group Leadership Model to guide students in designing and implementing therapeutic wellness groups focused on the Eight Dimensions of Wellness. Students develop occupation-based interventions, facilitate peer engagement, apply clinical reasoning, and reflect on leadership and communication skills through structured group process experiences. Course content is further supported through institutional wellness resources, counseling services, academic support systems, and the Optimize and Thrive Manual, which provides evidence-based strategies related to self-care, stress management, study skills, and student success. Collectively, the course promotes student well-being, professional socialization, self-awareness, and lifelong wellness practices while ensuring compliance with ACOTE standards related to student support, advisement, and professional development.
Speakers
Karla Reese DHSc, OTR/L is a clinical assistant professor and the doctoral capstone coordinator for the Occupational Therapy Doctorate Program at Cleveland State University. A practicing occupational therapist since 2003, she has extensive experience in skilled nursing, pediatric outpatient, and school-based settings. She holds a post-baccalaureate certificate in occupational therapy and a Master of Science in Health Sciences from Cleveland State University, and earned her Doctor of Health Sciences from Radford University in 2020, specializing in higher education and academia.
Dr. Reese serves as the Director of DEIJAB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Belonging) Initiatives for the Ohio Occupational Therapy Association. She is the co-host and co-producer of OT After Dark, an internationally recognized podcast focused on sexuality and intimacy for individuals with disabilities. Her scholarly work includes published book chapters and trade articles on sexuality and disability. She is also a CSU Equity Champion.
Dr. Liz Kocher is an accomplished occupational therapist with over 14 years of clinical and academic experience. She holds a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from The Ohio State University (2011) and a post-professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate from Boston University (2022). She currently serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor and Academic Fieldwork Coordinator in the Occupational Therapy Department at Cleveland State University, bringing extensive expertise across a range of practice settings.
Grounded in pediatric care, Dr. Kocher has specialized in both outpatient and school-based occupational therapy, working with students from preschool through secondary education. Her clinical background also spans skilled nursing facilities, acute care, and neurorehabilitation.
She maintains active leadership roles within the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), having served for three years as Research Coordinator for the Sensory Integration and Processing Special Interest Section. She currently serves as a committee member of the AOTA Developmental Disabilities Special Interest Section. Her professional engagement further includes membership in the AOTA Transitions Community of Practice, service as an AOTPAC Ambassador, and involvement with the Ohio Occupational Therapy Association.
Dr. Kocher is a founding member of the Ohio Social Prescribing Collaborative, and the Academic Partnership Lead and a member of the Social Prescribing USA Health Champions group. She mentors OTD capstone students in exploring nature-based social prescribing for older adults, green space referral pathways, and the development of local social prescribing networks.
Her research and clinical interests include: social prescribing for health and wellness, nature accessibility for individuals with disabilities, the role of service learning in OT education, sustainable community-based interventions for marginalized populations, employment transition programs for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and adaptive sports and physical activity engagement.
Content Level
Introductory: This level assumes the audience has little or no information regarding the content area.
Practice Areas
Fieldwork and Academics/Education; Health and Wellness; Mental Health