Mark Koch, OTD, OTR/L: OT in VIctim & Survivor Advocacy
In this post, we will learn about Mark Koch, OTD, OTR/L an occupational therapist and educator whose areas of interest include community-based practice, trauma-informed care, occupational in/justice, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. He received his Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Missouri and his post-professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate from Saint Louis University. Prior to his appointment at Cedar Crest College, Dr. Koch was a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas/University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. As an OT educator and scholar, Mark is interested in understanding how relational approaches to teaching and learning can optimize learner inclusion, participation, and socialization in the profession.
Q & A with Mark:
Please tell us a little about yourself and share some of your favorite occupations.
Some of my favorite occupations include painting, roaming the Pennsylvania countryside hunting for early American antiques and folk art, and reading about teaching and learning.
What motivated you to contribute to this podcast series?
I want anyone who has or who is getting an education in occupational therapy to know they can use their unique perspective and skillset to find meaningful, sustainable, and personally satisfying paid employment outside traditional practice settings.
Please describe the UncommonOT work that you do and the setting in which you work, the population you serve, and the needs that you address.
For over two decades, I worked in community- and justice practice settings with survivors of violent and non-violent crimes. I co-founded and directed a community-based non-profit organization serving domestic and sexual violence survivors and also worked as an advocate for crime survivors in a prosecuting attorney's office. I was a key player on several community and statewide multi-disciplinary teams addressing violence against women and crime victims’ rights and co/wrote state and federal grants that sustained these initiatives and programs. I helped survivors navigate the occupational disruptions and injustices they experienced (at the hands of their offenders and of the systems and structures they encountered in their pursuits of safety and justice). I also helped survivors engage in resource-seeking other occupations aimed at restoring and renegotiating meaning, safety, health, and occupational well-being in the aftermath of crime.
What inspired you or drew you to this type of OT work?
Dissatisfaction with what I witnessed and experienced as a new graduate in traditional practice settings -- that is, seeing occupational therapists not being used or not using their unique perspective/skillsets to their full potential . . . an inability to say "No" . . . and the opportunity to use my (developing) professional lens and skills in new and novel ways. To have the opportunity to create my own, meaningful, sustainable career path -- to be untethered from practice settings that were personally and professionally unsatisfying . . .to force me out of my comfort zone.
How did you get there? Can you describe your path?
I got there will a lot of support from important people in my life -- I had a partner whose family supported me --and a growing web of relationships with colleagues in my community that inspired and sustained my work.
Please describe a typical day or OT session in your uncommon setting. What OT skills do you utilize?
On Tuesdays, I would go to court (adult abuse docket) and provide court advocacy. On other days, I read police reports, met with walk-in clients, attended team meetings, consulted with community agencies, or developed programs, or looked for ways to improve our response to survivors in order to facilitate their healing, advocate for their rights, or enable their capability to navigate the justice system without being harmed in the process. I used my professional reasoning (scientific, narrative, procedural, pragmatic, etc.), therapeutic use of self, occupational and activity analysis, occupational justice perspective of health and well-being, relationship-centered care, and occupational profile making-related skills.
Can you talk about some recent highs (successes) and lows (challenges) of your current role?
One of the biggest challenges in my work was, no surprise, being intentional when it came to balancing my occupations and tending to my own well-being. Looking back, I now realize I left too much up to chance.
How do you continue to learn in order to stay on top of things within your role?
I sought out leadership positions and interdisciplinary collaborations whenever I could. Now that I have taken on a new professional role and identity, I am acutely aware of what I don't know (which is a lot) -- so, I read about teaching all the time. Luckily, it doesn't feel like work.
Can you share a little bit about salary and compensation in this setting? How do OT or the services you provide get funded?
I was funded through federal grants that I either authored or co-authored. The grants paid for my salary and benefits so that I could provide direct advocacy services to crime survivors. My job titles were Program Director and Crisis Intervention Specialist/Victim Advocate.
Any career advice for our followers and listeners on how to get started on this path?
See things fluidly. Be intentional. We become what we practice, so view everything you do as an opportunity to practice your future practice. Find mentors. Be curious. Figure out where the money is coming from. Whenever you have a meeting with colleagues/co-workers, bring the best snacks.
What’s a common myth or misconception about your job/role you’d like to call out or demystify?
That it’s not "real" occupational therapy. True, it's not traditional clinical practice -- given the settings, it shouldn't look like clinical practice.
How do we find you, follow you, be in touch with you, and promote your unique work?
I recently transitioned to academia. I live in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and teach in the newly established Occupational Therapy Doctorate Program at Cedar Crest College. My email address is mark.koch@cedarcrest.edu
Resources:
Wood, W. (2011). Navigating the shifting sands of occupational therapy: Lessons from wise wayfinders. New Zealand Journal of Occupational Therapy, 58 (1), 14-20.
https://www.cedarcrest.edu/sage/otd/index.shtm
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