callum

Callum MacKinnon

Specialist Occupational Therapist

Degrees & Education

I am a registered member of the Health and Professions Council (HCPC) & the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT).

Degrees And Education 

  • BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy – Glasgow Caledonian University
  • PGCert Sensory Integration – Sheffield Hallam University
  • PGDip Advancing Practice in Occupational Therapy (Post-Reg) – Queen Margaret University
  • AHP Fellowship 2024-25, NHS Education for Scotland

Further Training 

  • Care Aims – Clinical Reasoning Skills
  • Occupational Formulation & Goal Setting
  • OPC – Occupational Performance Coaching
  • COOP – Cognitive Orientation to Occupational Performance
  • Behavioural Activation
  • Sensory Ladder
  • ASSIST – Suicide Prevention
  • The DECIDER Skills
  • Functional Assessment
  • Quality Improvement

My Clinical Practice

As an Occupational Therapist (OT), I help people of all ages overcome challenges in completing everyday tasks or activities – what we call ‘occupations’. These occupations are essential to living; they give our lives meaning, purpose, and structure. This could mean assisting individuals in overcoming challenges at school, work, sports, or even simple tasks like doing the dishes. OTs are skilled in working with complexity and supporting people with multiple co-occurring conditions or needs that affect their daily lives.

Since 2017, I have been fortunate to work across a broad range of children and adult services, both within the NHS and as an independent OT. Currently, alongside my work with The Edinburgh Practice, I am employed as an Occupational Therapist within an NHS mental health service for adults. In this role, I specialize in providing tailored support to neurodivergent adults and upskill my colleagues in evidence-based and neuroaffirming practices.

This diverse range of experience across different areas of practice, workplaces, and a mix of clinical and leadership roles continues to challenge and inspire me. It drives me to strive to be the best OT I can possibly be, ensuring that I make a meaningful impact on the lives of those I support.

My Therapeutic Approach

At the core of my practice is a strengths-based approach, empowering individuals to understand and meet their own needs in a society that often doesn’t. I consider the whole person, working collaboratively to identify any physical, mental health, learning, and sensory needs that impact daily life and well-being. My person-centred approach respects each individual’s personal, spiritual, religious, and cultural values and choices, recognising that people are unique even if they share the same diagnosis.

I grade activities and work with individuals in context to enable them to take positive risks, master skills, grow, and thrive. Understanding that performance may vary from day to day, I help individuals find ways to accommodate these fluctuations. I collaborate with individuals, employers, and others to identify reasonable adjustments that support well-being, making no assumptions about a person’s abilities or support needs based on their diagnosis or any other factor.

My trauma-informed approach involves working collaboratively with individuals using coaching methods to foster self-management and problem-solving skills. I co-produce resources with people to raise awareness of the challenges they face and the reasonable adjustments that can help them participate and achieve.