You've passed the NBCOT, successfully applied and interviewed for a job, and landed your first OT position! The hard work has finally paid off, and now it's time to get to work. Before you do, however, there are some things to keep in mind.

Fortune 500 executives believe they accurately know their true strengths and faults. These leaders also think they can identify areas where they need self-improvement, but two Harvard Business Review columnists learned that the administrators' insights were incorrect.

Children with special needs are an important part of our community. Often, they may require extra help for them to achieve their potential. If you are looking for ways to help, there are several things you can do.

Pittsburgh mother Katherine Hill is athletic, toned, and takes great care of her body. After giving birth, Hill noticed that she could not get her abdomen to lay flat no matter how much she dieted or exercised. She was frustrated. Her friends started asking if she was pregnant, two years after delivering her son. 

Getting ahead, making progress and becoming successful doesn't happen magically. You may look at great achievers and think they have been given everything, or their rise to the top was easy because they were talented, or good looking or that they just stumbled upon the formula for success. You might think those things, but you would be wrong.

Mental health is a rising concern, and one that is thankfully being embraced by many. However, there is still progress to be made if people are to collectively treat it with the sensitivity and compassion is deserves. So how does this start? Where do we begin? Well, here are a few ways that we can raise awareness and decrease our mental health epidemic:

Encompass Health is helping stroke patients to heal their bodies and minds with a brand new art therapy program. Every day, class participants paint bright turquoises, opulent greens, rich reds, and other colors onto blank canvases as part of their occupational therapy program.

An often repeated truth says, "it's not what you know, it's who you know". Putting a modern twist on that advice might be, "When networking, it's not how many you connect with,it's who you choose to get to know."

These days, there are dozens of apps available that target common mental health issues. Some offer access to licensed therapists or psychologists, others may remind those with severe depression to take their medication or drink enough water, and still others offer daily uplifting quotes to help ease stress and anxiety.

A new occupational therapy program is empowering dementia patients to use their creativity at a St. Louis, Missouri campus. Maryville University recently started the Opening Minds through Art (OMA) program. Organizers designed the new program to help those with Alzheimer's and dementia to connect with their inner artistic skills. The program brings joy into patients lives. It also helps them to socialize with others and become more creative.

There are many reasons to increase productivity at work. A raise, commission, promotion, or even just staying busy are all great reasons for upping your output. But raising it from an equilibrium is much more challenging than it seems.

Imagine a classroom of 25 fourth-graders. It's nearing the end of the day. Eyes are gazing out the window, minds are wandering into private daydreams, and the teacher at the whiteboard, realizing her history talk is mostly being ignored, experiences a personal meltdown. She does nothing drastic, but she does stop teaching, she assigns some quiet reading until the bell rings, and then sinks into her chair, near tears and feeling incompetent. Another failed day, she thinks.

A therapy dog is making special visits to children at a Pensacola, Fla. hospital. After doctors complete medical examinations and nurses finish routine tests at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital, Sprout walks in with her tail wagging. Sprout is Sacred Heart's latest addition as the official therapy dog for the hospital.