• Is arts-based OT actually OT? Yes. Creative activity is an occupation in its own right, and making things can also open other ways into regulation, self-understanding and participation. What makes it OT is the reasoning: why you're choosing a creative approach, what it's doing occupationally and how it links to the person's everyday life and goals. The activity on its own isn't the point. The reasoning is.

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• How is this different from art therapy? Art therapy and art psychotherapy are a separate profession with their own training pathway and professional body. Arts-based OT uses creative approaches within an OT scope, with a focus on occupation, participation and function. I have postgraduate training in Art Psychotherapy, and I'm really clear in my teaching about where that line sits. These trainings don't qualify you as an art therapist, and they're not designed to.

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• Am I allowed to use art with my clients as an OT? Yes, as long as it's grounded in OT reasoning and you're working within your own competence. A big part of what I teach is how to stay clearly within scope, what that looks like in a session and when it's time to refer on.

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• Do I need to be artistic? Not at all. Arts-based OT is about process, not product, so your own artistic skill isn't what matters. Plenty of OTs who don't think of themselves as creative use these approaches really well. If anything, being comfortable with "not good at art" can help clients feel the same.

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• Who are these trainings for? OTs who work with clients who could benefit from creative approaches. That's often people in mental health, paediatrics, youth or NDIS settings, including neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+ and trauma-affected clients who find talk-based or highly structured approaches hard to access. They suit new grads and experienced clinicians looking for a different way in with clients.