OT's Thriving Beyond a Broken System

UNCAGED CLINICIAN
Blog

May 25, 2025

Reclaim Autonomy!

If you ask most occupational therapists why they chose this profession, their answers are filled with hope:

• "I wanted to help people live meaningful lives."

• "I believed in holistic care, not just treating symptoms."

• "I wanted to empower independence, not manage disease."

Yet somewhere along the way, many OTs find themselves trapped in a system that feels nothing like the healthcare they imagined.
Productivity demands. Shortened sessions. Insurance-driven care plans.
An endless cycle of chronic disease management instead of true healing.

It’s no wonder so many OTs feel dissatisfied, discouraged, and disconnected.

But here’s the truth: we have more power than we think.
And we don't have to settle for a broken system.

Why We Feel Stuck

• We forget we have autonomy.
  Over time, the system trains therapists to believe that our value is tied to CPT codes, RVUs, and payer policies — instead of to the life-changing impact we create.
  

• We’re told "this is just how it is."
  We're taught to accept declining pay, shrinking time, and growing restrictions because "that's just healthcare now."
  

• We lose sight of the bigger mission.
  In the daily grind, it's easy to forget: We didn’t sign up to be productivity machines. We signed up to be healers, innovators, and advocates for human dignity.

How We Can Push Back and Reclaim Our Purpose

1. Own Our Autonomy Again
OTs are autonomous healthcare providers.
We have independent clinical reasoning, a distinct scope of practice, and the right to design services that reflect our values — not just the demands of insurance companies.

2. Redefine What "Success" Looks Like
Success isn’t meeting arbitrary productivity numbers.
Success is helping a client regain independence, restore dignity, or return to a meaningful role — whether that's caring for their children, working a job, or gardening in their backyard.

3. Create New Models of Care
Private pay models, concierge rehab, wellness services, consulting, community programming — these aren't just trends. They are acts of rebellion against a system that undervalues true healthcare.

4. Choose to Be the Change
Every OT who steps into entrepreneurship, every therapist who designs a practice based on actual patient needs, is reshaping what healthcare can be.
The system won't change from the inside alone — it changes when we build new systems.

The Bottom Line

We don’t have to accept that "this is as good as it gets."

We don’t have to stay trapped in a model that crushes autonomy and drains meaning from our work.

The vision that pulled us into OT — helping people live full, meaningful, independent lives — still exists today.

It lives inside us.

We just have to step out, reclaim our autonomy, and build the profession we always dreamed of practicing.

The system may be broken.
We are not.

It’s time to remember who we are — and create the future our patients, our communities, and our profession deserve.

UNCAGED CLINICIAN is here for you. 

We get it that many think UNCAGED CLINICIAN is just for PTs. Not true!

With the assistance of our OT specialist on board, we can help your occupational therapy practice get up and running also!

For more insights and personalized guidance for becoming the entrepreneur you dream to me, visit uncagedclinician.com and schedule a free Growth Strategy Call with us.

Let's work together to break through the ceiling and unlock the full potential of your practice.

Also, be sure to check out our website for other resources!

Your Success is our success!

The UNCAGED team