Prof. Noomi Katz

I have known Noomi Katz from reading her articles, research, hearing her and about her. I think of her as one of the most influential people on our profession. From my personal perspective we have similar name, small differences, I'm a young PhD, and she is a professor. During the years, more than once I received e-mails addressed to her by mistake, or people thinking I'm her and was surprised that I'm not. Of course every time I sent them back to her, but those little funny experiences strengthen the impression about her from other people and let me see the difference between professor Noomi Katz, the one and only, and me. Later on I had the privilege to be supervised by her in my doctoral dissertation. As her student and colleague at work we went together to a conference in Japan, there I realized how much she is respected. I stood aside impressed and excited from the amount of people addressing her, recognizing her work, and specialty. Moreover, I was impressed by her modesty and how she addressed others speaking at eye level with each one. Sometimes in the moments I observe myself sitting with Noomi (drinking coffee, of course) and astonished by the calm atmosphere between us.

Yesterday we asked Noomi to interview her. We entered her office, an office where I have learned to enjoy and work together. On one wall is white shelves covered with master theses, and doctoral theses she has supervised for many years. One of them is her own. I could see names of occupational therapists, experienced side by side with young ones, a long chain of occupational therapists gathering together on this white shelf. What an impressive chain would it be!

We have learned to turn on the recorder in the beginning and that we don't need to ask questions, the discussion just flows and exists and there is so much to talk about. It was clear to us that every moment would teach us something about who we are. We asked Noomi where she started. I have heard her story so many times and any time I hear it is different.

This time I was busy with the change issue. Noomi had made so many brave changes in her life, not always conventional at the time she did them, like moving to another land, changing of roles and professional areas. She chose to develop and change, and told us stories from her past that I could easily imagine. When she talk about Claudia Allen, her thesis supervisor I recognized how she admired her, and with her developing side by side with Allen she tells us about the disagreements that made her develop new perceptions and new research.

Noomi tells us how as part of the team that established the LOTCA she traveled with a little wooden box to AOTA conference trying to find investments for this well-known evaluation. I could imagine that, Noomi and her friends with the wooden little box built by Loewenstein carpenter, walking through the performers fair looking for investors. More she tells how they arrived to Taiwan to a workshop about the tool and all of a sudden they realize that many people planned to come and they had only one kit. When they got to the hall where it took place they found out that the people there arranged many tables and on each table placed a LOTCA kit. I could feel the surprise, the astonishment and the excitement they felt. How did you know? How did you have the guts to do it? I asked. The field was mature enough, she answered immediately.

She told us how she and a group of friends felt they want change and made up the first committee of the Israeli Occupational Therapy Association. To the first meeting 100 occupational therapist who felt the same had attended. Where did you find the courage to do so? So many feel they want to make a change and so little do so. What is the mechanism that enables to make such an active decision?  These questions opened a long conversation of the evaluation, of the profession, of time changes, and different needs, how to feel that the field is ready to change and about the profession that change and evolve with the help of people who love and believe in it.

This conversation made me think and raised many questions. Where are we today? What is the field ready to today?

Where do you see the profession in 10 years? We ask, and Noomi answered, a profession that leads to cooperation with other professions. One that initiates connections with other health professions and doesn’t lose its own unique way.  

I picture it in my mind, occupational therapists initiating connections with other professions without thinking of missing parts of their own way – so much strength and respect in this picture, strength with who we are as occupational therapists, and what we can be as occupational therapists.

We leave the room, I glanced again on the occupational therapists chain that take place on the shelf. I can imagine how it grows and get more collared and varied. I leave the room proud and strong, love to be part of this exciting chain. Love to be an occupational therapist.

Naama

Stand on the shoulders of giants. Newton's phrase is placed so properly in the entrance page of Google Scholar. That was my strong feeling the moment we entered the room, a feeling that got stronger with every story and example of things that are so trivial to me and someone who had to start and establish them.

I knew Noomi from her papers, some of them I can say I know she wrote and some I don't just know that someone strong and meaningful wrote. That why I came to this meeting with my head, and by the time it ended, her story and how she organized things helped me find where I am with my professional heart.

While she speaks I imagine the reality of our community that has so many today without crucial things. I imagine how it is to have only one academic school, only first degree (and even no degree, just a vocational course), no association or a journal. All of a sudden everything is so precious.  

The fact that we have several occupational therapy programs in different area has enabled appreciation to an active academic action, that she was part of, an action to build up a group of occupational therapist with progressive academic degrees that would expand the opportunities.

I'm thrilled from thinking about the involvement and the thinking ahead and the ability to visualize it in the mind and make it happen. I look at myself and realized how much had to be done for me to put a lot of effort to get into a proper program and learn first and second degree, and answer any other one who ask me "does this profession has master degree?" with a great "Yes" and even show off with "..and even professors".

Suddenly the place, the association, and the journal mean much more than I had in mind. I'm a member from second year in first degree and have written to the journal several times. I could write to English journals but writing my last article (and thanks to Anat Mann for the insight) I addressed many things to the Israeli audience and to the local community and the IJOT, the Israeli journal is a great place for that, and was not as obvious as it is today until people made it a fact. Same thing for the annual conference.

Noomi talks a lot about doing things together, many names were in the room, colleagues, partners, family.  She describes a way to walk together, and this togetherness has a great power. I felt that she sends us with this power to make it within our community, a strong community that can work with others.

I left the meeting fascinated, with thoughts of how with the change and the development we keep our frame, how we innovate without throwing away the good and old. I feel that when we manage to stand on giants shoulders and not start from scratch, it can be done great and strong. It is a lot about if the field is ready and the gathering together that is always so important. It is unique people that walk together to made up a vision, and a lot of learning and building a legend that make up the sequence that leads to a development.

Sivan

Aviva Fried

For a while we are thinking about the need to document seniority occupational therapist, those who influenced in meaningful way about the profession. I feel responsible to do so. How can it be that an occupational therapist won't meet with Dalia Sachs and get excited or get a bit confused with Aviva Fried.

After all, we are here thanks to so many..

The journey starts.

The first meeting is with Aviva Fried. For me Aviva is an unclear figure who I met in a course at the master degree in Tel Aviv. I remember thinking in the class thinking Aviva is talking about something high and important. Remember the feeling of not understanding the idea she is talking about and in the same time it is clear to me that there is something I should understand. Something is telling me, loud and clear – one day you will understand.

A phone call and coffee, coffee at Aviva.

There is a sign in the entrance that gives us the notion of the occasion. This is the house where Prime Minister Rabin lived. Already a story, piece of history.

The mailbox marked as 1 but after it the number is 11. What does it mean? Is it 10 with dropped number? Another enigma…

The sign that tells it used to be Yitzhak Rabin house

We found the apartment and get into Aviva's privet space. A smell of lavender welcomes us, biscuits and coffee. 

Same as I imagined carpets and leather couches, books, coffee table. We sit on the couches, from the first moment the stories start. The friendship with Rabin and Leah and the unmediated encounter with their security men.  I find myself concern with the thought that I should have turned the record in the stairway… every moment worth recording.

Aviva immediately start telling, even any question was asked about Yael Halevi, the one to influence Aviva's perception and her professional development. I stop and ask for permission to record, feel that any interruption stop a story that could be told. Decide not to interrupt more. We both set up the record and dig into a conversation about the essence, the profession, intuition and its meaning and about being. A philosophic conversation that can be possible only with her. During two hours that pass without notice she hand out a picture of Yael Halevi with awed, a pile of papers written with an old font why it is important to create a proper academic root to the occupational therapy profession.

We look at those pages, stop on a list of reasons why this process is not necessary. First reason – if it likes physiotherapy there is no need. The similarity to our nowadays reality hits me. Is it possible that so little has changed? There are moments in the conversation that I find myself observing the almost sorialist situation. Me, Sivan and Aviva drink coffee and talk about the togetherness, the same and the different.  

I'm excited.

We copy the papers with awe; feel as if a fortune of professional history found her way to us, while we expose Aviva to the technology that made it possible to us to do so without taking the papers out of her house.

I'm excited again.

Last question, if you could build a community of occupational therapists, that you are part of it, who will you invite to be in it?

The name rise without any other thought.

It came naturally and meets me with great pleasure.

The next link in the chain.

We leave with feeling of euphoria and elation. Smile on my face for the days to come, rare one, saved for special occasions. We are out for the journey, and I have this feeling it takes us to great places.

Love being an Occupational Therapist.

Naama

In a blue folder that moves with me to every apartment gathered together Brill, Leibowitz and Hegel, tempting me once in a while to peep at the anthology Aviva Fried made us, first year students in the occupational therapy program. In the reading list I give my students there is an article from the book published upon her lectures in the Broadcast University. What I learned from Aviva and from many other Occupational therapists I want to pass on to others, to my students who soon become my colleagues, and to my community which I feel deep feeling of belonging.

In the phone call she try hard to remember me from all the students she had, and open the door widely, it feels as if she is on her way to join us. With a sense of mission she asks me questions that get deep into the goal of what we want to do in this meeting, the first, that would direct us to all the others. When she raise Yael Halevi's name I feel that she do for me what I want to do for others, telling me about someone I didn't have the chance to know and made a main difference for Aviva helping her find her professional way.

I was glad that she invited us to her home, telling us more about herself, if to use her words – entering us to her own space, to a discussion which is our safe space. We came to hear about the beginning, about her being a young, 22 year old woman, placing in this high position because there was anybody else. Hear about the people who influenced her, and how things rolled. Little stories about her patients, about teaching, inserted to the big story as jewels. Describing us, with the tune of one who explain it so many times and never get tired of it, how by experience, and philosophy, one learns how to get the courage to care for another, to enter his life and take part in them. How from all these you build your intuition and how this intuition is a tool, so important tool in our daily work.

Time pass and the conversation was no more just an interview but a talk made by three occupational therapist about the past present and future, about the professional identity, the special and unique. A meaningful conversation of our profession which let and demand us to be humanistic and to consider the other own space, to identify, always be the one to identify the key point. For me it was an amazing opportunity to put in words what I do every day in my workplace with the people.

In the days after the meeting every second sentence started with "Aviva said…" and the energies were so high. The thoughts, about the content as well as the meeting itself, accompanied me in all other human interactions. Suddenly to think – Who is my Yael Halevi? What move me in my professional way? What are the thing I won't give up for? I am quite pleased that I have answers to these questions, and moreover of the fact that they change all the time.

From all the knowledge and the deep experience of walking together the same path I take with me what Aviva said when we asked her what have changed. She took some quite moment before she answered. "What changed is that there are educated occupational therapists like you, who come and ask the questions". The best way greeting to a wonderful journey.

Sivan