Continuing professional development
Self-directed CPD for occupational therapists. Read all five parts of the Seeds OT Model, work through the structured reflection log and clinical guidebook, and apply the model to a real clinical case from your practice.
Three connected activities
The module is built around three resources that work together. The five-part series establishes the model. The reflection log structures your thinking across all five parts. The clinical guidebook applies the model to one real case from your practice, producing a clinical reasoning summary you can use directly.
The five-part series
Read all five parts at your own pace. Each builds on the one before, and each can be read on its own.
CPD reflection log
Structured reflection questions for each part, plus an integrated final reflection. Complete each section after reading the matching part. Retain as CPD evidence.
Clinical guidebook
A fifteen-section workbook applying the model to one real de-identified case from your current practice. Produces a clinical reasoning summary for supervision or reports.
On completion, download and complete the CPD certificate — a self-declaration record suitable for your AHPRA CPD portfolio, with the learning outcomes addressed, AHPRA domain mapping and an hours breakdown.
Ten hours of self-directed learning
Ten hours is a reasonable midpoint for a clinician who engages genuinely with all three activities. The actual time you spend will vary. Record your real hours on the certificate — AHPRA asks for honest self-assessment, not a fixed number.
| Activity | Description | Indicative hours |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction + Parts 1–5 | Reading the complete series, including the hub page and all five parts | 3–4 hours |
| CPD reflection log | All structured reflection questions across the introduction and Parts 1–5, including the integrated final reflection | 3–4 hours |
| Clinical guidebook | Working through all fifteen sections, applied to one real de-identified case | 2–3 hours |
| Application & notes | Applying the clinical reasoning summary to documentation or supervision preparation | 1 hour |
| Recommended total | ≈ 10 hours |
Read more quickly or reflect more briefly and you may finish in fewer hours; use the guidebook extensively, or take it into supervision, and you may spend more. Record what you actually spent.
The reflection log, guidebook and certificate
All three are designed to be printed or completed digitally. The reflection log and guidebook include writing space throughout. The certificate is a self-declaration document — complete it after finishing all three activities, and sign it for your portfolio.
CPD reflection log
All reflection questions across the introduction and Parts 1–5, with writing space, an integrated final reflection and self-declaration. Retain as CPD evidence.
Clinical guidebook
A fifteen-section workbook for applying the model to one real case — worked examples, the conditions mapping table, loop diagrams, the clinical reasoning summary template and translation prompts.
CPD certificate
A self-declaration completion record, with learning outcomes, AHPRA domain mapping, an hours breakdown and signature fields. Suitable for an AHPRA CPD portfolio.
The five parts, online
All five parts of the Seeds OT Model. Read in sequence for the whole framework, or individually as standalone resources.
Sample questions from each part
Three from each part, to show the shape of the reflection. The full set, with writing space, is in the reflection log.
Why health is never caused by one thing
- Which of the six condition domains were you assessing thoroughly in your example — and which less rigorously? What made the difference?
- Identify one negative loop in the child's daily life. What conditions feed it, and where might a leverage point sit within that loop?
- What was building before the visible difficulty appeared? What cumulative load was the child already carrying?
Problems are patterns, not fixed objects
- Redescribe a presenting difficulty as a recurring pattern. When does it appear? What conditions are consistently present? When is it absent?
- What labels have been applied to this child? Have any begun to function as explanations that stopped further inquiry?
- What changes clinically when you see the difficulty as a conditional pattern? What questions become available that were not before?
Working with conditions, not just problems
- Using the upstream flow: what was accumulating in the hours before the visible difficulty appeared?
- Sometimes the most useful leverage point is not the child. Where outside the child might the most useful change be possible in your case?
- For each condition you are considering addressing, is it moving the system toward regulation or toward strain?
Learning to see differently
- Where did you feel pressure to arrive at a clear explanation quickly? What drove it — and did it affect what you continued to notice?
- Under clinical pressure, where do you tend to sit — toward rigid certainty or toward paralysis? What pushes you each way?
- What would it look like to stay genuinely curious about this case without becoming vague or losing direction?
The formal structure
- State the three foundational propositions in your own words. What do they mean for how you approach a complex case?
- Complete a pattern map for your example: presenting pattern, surrounding conditions, one maintaining loop, protective conditions, leverage points.
- How would you use this model in a supervision discussion, a progress note or a report formulation? Write a brief example.
AHPRA guidance for self-directed learning
AHPRA requires occupational therapists to complete twenty hours of CPD per registration year. Self-directed learning counts toward this requirement. To be valid and auditable, self-directed CPD should be documented with the activity title, provider, date, learning outcomes, hours claimed and a reflective statement connecting the learning to practice.
The Seeds OT Model CPD module provides all of this through the reflection log, guidebook and certificate. The certificate includes the self-declaration statement, AHPRA domain mapping and learning outcomes. The reflection log provides the substantive reflective record. Together they constitute adequate documentation for an AHPRA audit. The learning maps to:
The most useful thing this module can do is help you see one current case a little more clearly. Not resolve it, not provide a definitive answer — just make the conditions surrounding the pattern more visible, and give you a clearer sense of where to begin.