Courney Sasse, PhD, MA EDL, MS, OTR/L, MA DPS, CDWF, is an occupational therapist specializing in mental health and geriatrics, with specific expertise in hospice and palliative care. A faculty member in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN, Courtney earned a PhD in Depth Psychology with a Specialization in Somatic Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California in 2018. She earned a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Troy University in 2003 and a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of South Alabama in 2011. In 2014, she graduated with a Master of Arts in Somatic Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California. Courtney’s area of expertise is mental health and geriatric practice. She holds certification as a Death Vigil Doula through the International End of Life Doula Association, and she is also a certified Daring Way ™ Facilitator. She has written, received, and facilitated grants through the Florida Department of Corrections, the Department of Education, and a variety of public and private foundations, including The Florida Governor’s Family Literacy Initiative and The Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation. Her other publications include multiple chapters related to her areas of interest in Occupational Therapy in Community-Based Practice Settings, 2nd Edition. Additionally, she is the author of the Supplementary Instructor’s Guides for Kids Can Be Kids: A Childhood Occupations Approach and for Occupational Therapy in Community-Based Practice Settings, 2nd Edition.

On this episode of On The air, Courtney shares about her path into OT and into her specialty areas of practice including her work as a certified Death Vigil Doula. We talk about how OT can often seem almost like "magic," and Courtney offers suggestions for ways to learn more about serving consumers as an OT in hospice and palliative care.