Resilience, Desert life and being Uncle Elie (Lessons learnt practicing occupational therapy for over a decade).
What is unique about desert life? What are the unique personal and professional qualities that separates good therapists from the rest and personally myself as a therapist? Has living and practicing in the desert metropolis of Dubai shaped me as a person or my professional practice? Those are the pertinent questions I have been found trying to answer while on a short sabbatical enjoying desert hospitality lying on a beach with my family. I have practiced occupational therapy(OT) for over a decade and a majority of those years have been in Dubai, U.A.E(United Arab Emirates). Places like people tend to grow in you and overtime to a small or larger percentage define a person or his/her professional self. I can safely assume that the desert life has grown in/on me both ways. What are the unique features of deserts and/or UAE in general that have gradually shaped me as a therapist? Is it the extremes of temperatures, having the hottest temperatures during the day and the coldest durin...