Linda Rylands Occupational Therapist

Linda Rylands is a well respected health practitioner with almost 20 years experience in occupational therapy. Linda’s passion for guiding people to better mental health has led her to work in a diversity of mental health sectors, including disability, multicultural communities and holistic healing.   After completing further studies in Anthropology and Political Science in 2015, Linda founded Diversity OT. Her anthropology studies have taken her to Guatemala and South Africa to deepen her critical perspective and practice in human rights, social and occupational justice. The heart mission of Diversity OT, is to offer OT services, inclusive of diverse world-views, to address cultural, linguistic or political barriers and gaps in global health services. In Australia, Linda provided innovative OT services at the start of NDIS roll out in 2017 - 2018. In 2019 she worked both in urban (Melbourne) and remote Australian communities in Northern Territory, offering responsive mental health OT Functional assessments, reports and services.   In 2020 she broadened her services to offer online mental health support for people all over the world, especially responding to global crisis where many people’s usual social roles and routines were disrupted and were dealing with enforced and complex social isolation. Her online platform now allows universal access for people to benefit from her practical, compassionate and holistic approach.  In 2021 Linda continued her yoga studies in India. She is currently working on an innovative participatory research project in Auroville, India, documenting a community development process aimed to improve individual quality of life through energy cultivation techniques. Historically, as an influential leader in occupational therapy and multicultural health, in 2018 Linda co-presented a baby massage therapy program for mothers from refugee backgrounds at The World Federation of Occupational Therapy Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. She has also worked supporting OT curriculum development and as a mentor for OT graduate students and is passionate about supporting knowledge development in the profession. She was part of team of early career occupational therapists who innovated Occupational Opportunities for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (OOFRAS) at the World OT Conference in Sydney 2006. To deepen her holistic health perspective, Linda completed 350 hours Okido Yoga studies in 2016 in Australia, Trauma-sensitive Yoga (20 hours) and then 200 hours Hatha yoga 2021 in India.   Personally, Linda is a big advocate and lover of world dance and is an intrepid global explorer of global healing modalities, humanitarian projects and healthy lifestyles.