For almost 30 years, Samantha Breust has worked as a hands-on consultant helping injured or ill people to return-to-function, particularly, work
She has worked with small providers and large multi-state organisations, in workers compensation and life insurance schemes. She has worked in defense, DVA and employment services in all states and territories.
Samantha sat down with ASORC to share her Rehabilitation Counsellor Journey.
How long have you been a Rehabilitation Counsellor?
I became a Rehabilitation Counsellor in 1997 after completing a two-year direct supervision program in the injury management sector in Western Australia. I worked in a team of 20 rehabilitation consultants (what we were called then), with quite a few of us being Rehabilitation Counsellors, and it was a fabulously fun and stimulating environment.
I love that quite a few of the cohort I worked with back then, have made their whole careers in this industry and trailblazed for the space. I still count many of them as both friends and amazing industry colleagues.
My boss at the time was rather eccentric, he smoked in the office and was a Rehabilitation Counsellor! When I think back now, he really understood the holistic approach and its benefits for recovery. He was quite innovative in allowing us to offer pain, exercise and re-deployment programs to really help support the worker on their recovery journey. Despite that, his leadership tactics would not survive todays’ scrutiny!
Can you tell us a bit more about the various roles you have worked in?
For almost 30 years, I worked as a hands-on consultant helping injured or ill people to return-to-function, in particular, work.
Workers’ compensation in WA was my original training ground, I became very interested in and did several years of work in the life insurance space rehabilitating individuals who had life-altering illnesses or injuries. Some of these incredible cases and wonderful people I met along the way remain very strong memories and are some of my most satisfying work moments. Getting to make a difference to someone’s life so significantly is a wonderful way to earn a living.
I am very lucky to have had roles in interesting organisations who did great work. I have worked for smaller boutique providers, large multi-state organisations. I have been in leadership roles in organisations such as the ORS Group as State Manager and at Konekt as a Regional Manager and, for the last three years of my tenure, as General Manager nationally of Konekt, part of the APM Group. In these roles I was lucky to work across most sectors of injury management and disability including defence, DVA, employment services and workers’ compensation in all states and territories.
I also had a short stint as the Head of Health and Wellbeing at Synergy, the sole supplier of electricity to the Perth Metropolitan area. It was great experiencing life on the “other side of the fence” and learning more about the drivers of good health and wellbeing from an employer’s perspective.
What is your current role?
I am currently the Chief Operating Officer of RediMed, an end-to-end health and injury treatment organisation. RediMed is unique. We have nine clinics nationally staffed by our own teams of plastic, orthopaedic and other surgeons, together with treatment modalities including psychology, physiotherapy, OT/Hand Therapy and exercise rehabilitation. We work mainly but not exclusively in the workers’ compensation schemes; it is the first time I am directly leading and influencing the treatment end of recovery. I love it! I feel that with our nationalising business and 200 medical staff we can really start to make some changes in alignment with the “It Pays to Care” model and start bringing the “Health Benefits of Good Work” philosophy straight to the front end of a person’s injury recovery.
What drew you to this career?
It was purely chance and good fortune. Originally, I studied Human Movement and obtained a three-year degree. I loved working with people with barriers to functionality in this context and had a part-time job assisting people with Parkinson’s Disease and another helping people to recover from motor vehicle accidents through exercise. I was working as a physical education teacher but was not enthused by the thought of 40 more years working on an oval.
I had loved the rehabilitation programs I had done so I decided to study. Occupational Health was one of the few options available. I did a part-time Masters degree majoring in rehabilitation and ergonomics. I had the good fortune of being able to do many of my units in the Rehabilitation Counsellor course that Curtin University offered at the time. The course ceased many years ago now and was the only one in WA, which is why it is so rare to find Rehabilitation Counsellors on this side of the country. Especially when for many years the course was not available online.
One time during my school holidays, I turned up at a rehab business and asked for some work experience. The owner said “sure, come in and read these files” and 30-minutes later offered me a job! I finished work as a teacher on a Friday and started work as a Rehabilitation Counsellor under supervision the next Monday!
What is the best thing about your role?
I love the diversity. Every day of my entire career has been different. I have been in hangers and helicopters, mine sites and shipyards. I have worked with people from all walks of life, and I love being and working as an allied health professional.
Nowadays, I also get to speak at conferences, present to boards and help map the direction of our company and its people. It’s also included lots of travel opportunities, and I have been to every state and territory in the course of my work over the years. I have been given wonderful opportunities!
Can you tell us about a recent workday or project that you have found rewarding?
We have developed a program called Redirecover which is a front-end screening program for injured workers. We screen the workers at no-cost to the employer using a set of well researched and validated tools that show the psychosocial barriers to return-to-work that they may be encountering. We then review the results and make recommendations in a one-page report back to the employer so that they have the information that they need to intervene and support the worker very early in their injury recovery. Sometimes, this is as early as a day or two, post-injury.
We think there is some incredible power in how early in the case, we can do this, together with the power of having the treating practitioners understand the barriers to work from the very start.
What do you find most rewarding about Rehabilitation Counselling?
It is one of the few areas of health where you can follow someone’s recovery journey and play a huge part in it. The moment you see a worker start to believe that they can get better, and they begin to re-engage in life and work remains the most incredibly satisfying thing to witness.
Would you recommend this profession to our student readers? Do you have any advice?
Of course! I have learned so much about people as a Rehabilitation Counsellor and have enjoyed every role along the way. I know my training has helped me to have the skills for these roles.
I also think that the skills you learn as a Rehabilitation Counsellor are very helpful for informing strong leadership practices. The ability to listen with empathy, understand the perspectives of others and problem solve are skills that I try to use every day and really have equipped me well to take on the leadership of large companies in our sector. They are also pretty good life skills to have.
Whilst it was purely by chance that I ended up working in the space I do, I think that it was incredibly serendipitous, and I am very thankful it is the case. I would like it to be a little easier to explain what rehabilitation counselling is at parties and barbecues! Not an easy thing to sum up in simple terms for social introductions! I guess that’s on all of us to continue to publicise our profession and the part it plays in creating a happier and healthier Australia.