As a registered Occupational Therapist with more than 10 years experience, Carlen thrives on offering a diverse range of services. Carlen has experience as a Advance Care Paramedic with the Qld Ambulance Service prior to becoming an Occupational Therapist which means Carlen has a unique ability to assess the complex intersection of a broad range of injuries, complex medical conditions, rare conditions and disabilities. Carlen has a broad range of interests and experiences, driving passion for learning and a strong need to ensure quality, efficiency and effective services are provided.

Carlen’s interest in human behaviour, blended with his training in Occupational Therapy drives him to seek to integrate intellect and emotional experience. Training in Occupational Therapy with a background in Paramedical Science and further training in cognition, neurodiversity and mental health provides him with an effective approach to rapport building to facilitate assessment.

Carlen thrives on the detail oriented, clear and concise nature of Expert Witness Report Writing. Carlen has honed the skills necessary for this type of assessment and report writing through advanced training in Medicolegal Assessment and Report Writing which furthered his foundation of a number of years completing reports for the Administrative Review Tribunal.

Carlen is very adept at ‘switching hats’ and enjoys direct therapy and assessments and report writing, keeping his clinical skills relevant through delivering direct therapy to complex client groups, often those who have not been able to achieve goals with other clinicians. Carlen is experienced in assisting those in the Child Protection system and a range of minority groups and diverse backgrounds.

Carlen’s rich experience and knowledge base has meant he has had the opportunity to deliver Professional Development training to Occupational Therapists around Australia in the Cognitive Disabilities Model for several years. Furthering his career as a Clinical Lead, he supervised other therapists, conveying his passion for learning through sharing knowledge and creating engaging learning platforms for other clinicians before moving on to open two companies of his own, both with different focuses.

Carlen graduated from the University of Sydney with a Masters Occupational Therapy in 2015. With a background as an Advanced Care Paramedic, in his first year out, Carlen became a lead clinician for an NGO involved in an initiative that commenced as a LINK funded research project with the Royal Brisbane Hospital. The research project aimed to create continuity of care for individuals who presented to the Emergency Department with a high frequency to reduce presentations. It involved engaging with community-based organisations, Emergency Departments, Mental Health & AOD teams, Emergency Services and other government organisations, providing training to the staff and working directly with the individuals. Through this program, statistically significant results were achieved and the research project became the Working Together to Connect Care Program. The following years saw Carlen start his own private practice and eventually move to Toowoomba where he began working as an Occupational Therapist for a medium sized company. As his reputation for high quality services grew rapidly, he grew their team significantly over several years. At that point, he chose to move on and challenge himself further which saw the beginning of KOT.