Esther is a trauma-informed occupational therapy (OT) practitioner and consultant with a focus on community-based and mental health practice, leading the emerging area of OT service provision in anti-human trafficking work. She co-founded the first occupational therapy-based non-profit, Dwelle Collaborative, serving survivors of human trafficking in the areas of wellness support as well as life/job skills and has served as its Executive Director from 2015-2021. As Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of QUALIFIED, Esther believes in going beyond business as usual to push the envelope for what can be done as an organization and what each survivor can achieve when given choices and a voice to navigate their own recovery and occupational journey.
SESSION(S):
Human Trafficking Survivors, Community Integration & the Missing Link: Occupational Therapy Services
- How are survivors of trafficking able to get back on their feet in the real world? Who follows up to see if they are living life meaningfully? The focus of this workshop is to discuss those questions and introduce the use of OT services as a solution in preparing and transitioning survivors into employment and beyond. It will address what occupational therapy services look like in the recovery and care of survivors of human trafficking at the end of their continuum of care.
