Interoception: The Foundation for Emotional Regulation - Conversation with Dr. Kelly Mahler OTD and Susan Cherian-Joseph OT Reg. (Ont.) Artwork

Battles and Blessings

Battles and Blessings is a Canadian Occupational Therapy Podcast hosted by Susan Cherian-Joseph OT Reg. Ont. who is an OT and an Autism mom. The podcast has been launched to expand conversations between professionals and parents who work and support Autistics and the Neurodivergent community. At OT4Kidz, the mission is knowledge translation to professionals such as Occupational Therapists, Speech-Language Pathologists, Educators, Child and Youth Workers, and Social workers as well as parents and the kiddos themselves. This is hoped to be achieved through discussions on the latest research, evidence-based frameworks, and trauma-informed practices to ensure that our kiddos are being equipped and transformed to their perceived best version of themselves with us as the professionals being their agents of change and coaches along this journey!!

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Battles and Blessings

Interoception: The Foundation for Emotional Regulation - Conversation with Dr. Kelly Mahler OTD and Susan Cherian-Joseph OT Reg. (Ont.)

May 12, 2022 • Susan Cherian-Joseph • Season 1 • Episode 2

“Interoception transformed my life both personally and professionally." - Susan Cherian-Joseph OT Reg.(Ont.)

Listening to your body is often a difficult process. It's much harder for most of us and someone especially who is Autistic to express what they’re feeling on a day-to-day basis. As we dive deeper we introduce Interoception, the eighth sensory system that helps us understand the way our body tells us what it wants us to notice.

In this episode, we have a special guest: Dr. Kelly Mahler OTD, OTR/L. She’s a gold medal recipient of the Mom’s Choice Award and has been pursuing her profession for 20 years. Her passion for serving clients and their families led her to the goal of inspiring people to think differently, dig deeper, and discover the root causes of the behaviors that everyone observes.

Listen in as she discusses Interoception and how to teach us both Neurotypical and Neurodiverse how to use it, its impact on her clients and their caregivers, and its general importance towards self-care.

Blessed Wisdom:

We know that we all have a very different range of how aware we are of those interests and those sensations we were talking about. And for some people, they might be on these extreme ends. - Dr. Kelly Mahler
If we're really struggling to self-regulate to provide the care our body needs, it can definitely lead to mental health challenges. - Dr. Kelly Mahler
Interoception is a journey for all of us. - Dr. Kelly Mahler
There is no such thing as a wrong interoceptive experience. Our work is all about helping each person discover how their body uniquely feels when they're anxious when they're hungry, or whatever it is they might be feeling. - Dr. Kelly Mahler
Interception is an everyone thing. It impacts all of our lives all day long.- Dr. Kelly Mahler

About the guest:

Dr. Kelly Mahler OTD, OTR/L is an occupational therapist, research enthusiast, and self-termed Interoception groupie. She’s been an occupational therapist for 20 years and earned a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Misericordia University, Dallas, PA.

Her passion for serving her clients and their families led her to the goal of inspiring people to think differently, dig deeper, and discover the root causes of the behaviors that everyone observes. She’s the winner of multiple awards including the 2020 American Occupational Therapy Association Emerging and Innovative Practice Award & a Mom’s Choice Gold Medal.

Connect with Dr. Kelly Mahler:

Additional Resources:

Connect with Susan Cherian-Joseph:

Links to the Podcast: