Preserving Our Past, Informing Our Future

In the final episode of Preserving Our Past, Informing Our Future, the host, Sydney Stevenson, sits down with Dr. Reed to reflect on legacy, scholarship, and the future of occupational therapy. Drawing on more than five decades of teaching, researching, and writing, Dr. Reed shares what continues to inspire her and how she hopes her work will shape the next generation. This closing conversation in...

In episode 7 of Preserving Our Past, Informing Our Future, the host and Dr. Reed reflect on what is lost when practitioners become disconnected from their roots, and why engaging with occupational therapy’s past is essential to shaping its future. This episode invites listeners, especially students and emerging practitioners, to see history not as static knowledge, but as a living foundation that...

In episode 6 of Preserving Our Past, Informing Our Future, the host invites Dr. Reed to reflect on the present and future of occupational therapy. Drawing on decades of experience, Dr. Reed shares her perspectives on today's practice, research, and education, highlighting what gives her hope, what concerns her, and what elements of the profession’s past may be worth reclaiming. This episode explor...

In episode 5 of Preserving Our Past, Informing Our Future, the host and Dr. Reed turn their focus to Texas Woman’s University and its lasting impact on occupational therapy education. Reflecting on TWU’s 125-year legacy, Dr. Reed shares her experiences as a faculty member and the values that define the program. The conversation also highlights the critical role of scholarship and libraries in pres...

In episode 4 of Preserving Our Past, Informing Our Future, the host and Dr. Reed explore the evolution of occupational therapy education. From the War Emergency Courses to today’s complex systems of accreditation and credentialing, Dr. Reed reflects on what it means to build and sustain educational programs, including her experience founding the OT program at the University of Oklahoma. This episo...

In episode 3 of Preserving Our Past, Informing Our Future, Dr. Reed and the host explore how early influences like moral treatment, humanism, and the Arts and Crafts movement shaped the profession's values, while external pressures pushed it towards the medical model. Together, they unpack the enduring tension between these perspectives and consider how that dynamic continues to shape the way occu...

In episode 2 of Preserving Our Past, Informing Our Future, host Sydney Stevenson continues the conversation with Dr. Reed, turning to the origins of occupational therapy and the vision of its founders. Together, they explore the founding of the profession in 1917, the community-based perspectives that shaped early practice, and the deeper beliefs about occupation that guided its earliest leaders....

In this opening episode of Preserving Our Past, Informing Our Future, we are introduced to Dr. Kathlyn Reed, a renowned occupational therapy scholar, educator, and historian. From a chance moment in her childhood that sparked her curiosity to a lifetime of research and scholarship, Dr. Reed reflects on the education, experiences, and mentorship that shaped her path. Listeners will hear how her pas...