Miriam Garcia, Occupational Therapist

Miriam’s nomination

Miriam has been my Occupational Therapist for the last 8 months while I’ve been an inpatient at Cotswold House in Oxford.

I have known Miriam from previous admissions when she was an Occupational Therapy Assistant but not having the title of ‘Occupational Therapist’ never stopped her from being all in on encouraging me to get the most out of my treatment, often seeing the positives when I could not see them in myself.

With this latest admission and Miriam’s absolute dedication to her new role of ‘Official’ Occupational Therapist our work took a real leap forward. She stood out as a really valued member of the multi disciplinary team and I always felt that she had my back, holding hope for me when things were often quite dark.

I began to struggle with some sensory issues early on in my treatment which were distressing and Miriam spotted this – wasted no time doing assessments, figuring out (often during her evenings and days off) the best course of action, researching and scoring questionnaires and we then collaboratively worked together to minimise sensory stress during the busy ward life by making reasonable adjustments where necessary.

She always made sure that everything was thoroughly care planned and was always willing to stay late or come in early, trouble shoot and talk to other members of the team to help in any way she could to enable me to get the most out of my treatment.

Miriam knows as well as any of the rest of the MDT the importance of trying to increase my life outside of an eating disorder which I’ve had for nearly 30 years.

Lots of this work has been done through my transition period between inpatient to day patient and then to stepped care/outpatient.

This was no mean feat but every success however small was really celebrated and she would never let me minimise any achievement. I joined a choir again and this may seem like a small step but it was huge for me – I struggle and have huge anxiety with lots of new people and faces, lots of noise and conversations happening at the same time.

We talked through everything beforehand – put plans A, B and Cs in place should they be required! When I emailed her afterwards on that first Thursday evening that I went and actually sang and enjoyed it Miriam was my biggest Cheerleader!

Miriam truly works holistically, treating everyone as individuals.

Having had an eating disorder for as long as I have and having been through treatment numerous times it can become so disheartening and the idea of ever being well again is often very hard to imagine.

This is why Miriam is such an asset to the team and to her trade as an OT. She never gives up, she treated me as a person who is individual and unique and not just as an eating disorder patient.

She actively listened when I spoke to her and with so much going on on a busy unit that is a gift in itself. I trust Miriam implicitly, I trusted her when she told me she believed that I could get better and that instilled some hope in me. Instilling hope in me – now THAT’S an achievement!

Miriam deserves every award you could give her but her humility is another attribute she has so she probably wouldn’t accept them!

She is willing to learn all the time from patients and is always asking for feedback so she can do that. Miriam’s work does not appear to be just a vocation for her – she puts her heart and every bit of soul into it.

Miriam is such a valuable member of the team at Cotswold House. Hang on to her with all you have because she is a real game changer and she really does change lives!