Liz Taylor

Where are you from?
I am originally from New Zealand but have spent most of my working adult life in Australia and England.

Where did you study/work previously?
I spent much of my early years indulging my love of travel and financed this by working in various roles within the customer services and hospitality industries.  Having always enjoyed working in roles that helped people, I discovered the amazing breadth of work that Occupational Therapists can be involved in and so decided to return to New Zealand to study as a mature student in order to gain my qualifications. I graduated with a Bachelor of health science (Occupational Therapy) degree from Auckland University in New Zealand in 2014. I learnt the basics of my craft from a wonderful group of talented Occupational Therapists at a small town called Gisborne in the North Island, also known as one of the first towns in the world to see the sun.  I then moved to England to work within the NHS and spent  5 years as a rotational therapist. During this time I developed a keen interest in Neurorehabilitation and developed my skills in this specialist area before joining the very talented team at Munro Therapy Services.

What is a typical day at MTS like for you?
My week is very varied, no two days are the same. I have a lot of autonomy over how my week is scheduled which helps me to respond effectively to my clients changing needs and be there to provide support when it's needed. Much of my time, when not with clients, is spent session planning and  liaising with multidisciplinary teams to ensure we are all working towards the clients goals.

What’s the best thing about your role?
Often Neurorehabilitaiton is slow stream rehabilitation, so I am very lucky to be able to spend time getting to know my clients, seeing them on a regular basis over a long period of time. I really enjoy celebrating the achievement of small goals which often provides the motivation to keep working to attain more complex, long term goals. I really appreciate the opportunity to be able to support my clients with achieving their long term goals as it is not something I was often able to experience while working in the NHS due to the acute nature of the work.

What do you consider is your biggest achievement within your role?

My biggest achievement has been adapting to a community environment that allows me the freedom to be more creative and innovative in creating individualised treatment plans for my clients. I feel my skills in being able to 'think outside the box' have really developed and combined with a flexible approach to therapy feel that this has enabled me to provide more holistic, meaningful interventions often focused on working on cognitive skills, functional tasks and vocational activities.