The Cognitive Capacity Chat

If you have ever felt completely maxed out but couldn't quite explain why, this episode is for you. In Episode 10, Imogen introduces the Traffic Jam Analogy — a framework she developed through clinical work with a client with an acquired brain injury and has since used with therapists, support coordinators, mentees, and parents. Your brain is a highway. Your thoughts are vehicles. And when you are running too many trucks, hitting too many potholes, or navigating roadworks, the traffic banks up. This episode breaks down each element of the analogy — from government vehicles to lane openers — and applies it to client...

You're waiting for the renovation to finish. For referrals to ease up. For a week that finally feels calm enough to sit down and sort it all out. Sound familiar?

In this episode, Imogen names the waiting trap for what it is — and why that perfect week isn't coming. The paradox of cognitive load is that getting on top of it requires adding to your plate before you can reduce it. And that's exactly where most therapists get stuck.

Imogen draws on the framework you already use in clinical practice — assessment before intervention — to reframe why do...

If you're a clinic owner sitting on the fence about NDIS registration, this episode is going to reframe the whole thing for you. Getting registered isn't a compliance exercise — it's a systems assessment. And as OTs, systems assessment is literally what we do.

Imogen is currently going through the registration process herself and shares what she didn't see coming: why having great policies isn't enough, why the audit is really asking whether your clinic can function without you holding it all together, and how getting on top of your cognitive load and getting NDIS compliant are — almost exac...

Tell me one physical movement you do that you do not have to think through. There is not one. Every occupation you assess in a client, and every occupation you engage in yourself, runs on cognition and yet most occupational therapists got one lecture on it in their entire degree.

This episode is back to basics. A more clinical conversation than usual, walking through what functional cognition actually is, where it sits in the cognitive hierarchy, and why so much of what gets delivered in community practice — the whiteboard, the visual schedule, the calendar reminder — is the outp...

You walked out of uni expected to just know how to manage a complex caseload, regulate after a tricky client, and write the case note before you've finished the drive home. No one taught you that. And no one's named that this is the job underneath the job.

In this episode I talk about why I built the Cognitive Capacity Reset — and the moment four years ago that started it. We get into why we don't have the language to bring cognitive load to supervision, why community OTs are already climbing a mountain every day, and what to...

If you’ve ever sat there and questioned if you’re actually a “good mum”… this is for you.

In this episode, I talk about:

If you’re feeling like your brain never switches off, I’ve created something for you.

My private podcast is designed to help you reduce your cognitive load in just 20 minutes a day.

It’s availabl...

In this episode, we're looking at collaboration through a functional cognition lens and making the case that effective communication isn't just about what you're transmitting. It's about the cognitive state of the person receiving it.

Whether you're writing to an NDIS planner at the end of a saturated workday, creating instructions for a support worker who'll pull them out in an emergency, or trying to build genuine trust with a client who's already exhausted from navigating the system — the information alone isn't enough. You need to understand who's reading it, what they're carrying, and how to structure yo...

AI is creeping into therapy work in a way that feels helpful and risky at the same time. I’m talking about what happens when we start using AI to write our reports, our notes, and even our thinking, especially when we’re overloaded and just trying to get through the week. I love AI for the right jobs, but I’m seeing a pattern: when the cognitive load is high, we reach for shortcuts, and the quality of our clinical reasoning can quietly slide.

We dig into why AI can’t truly formulate a clinical opinion, and why...

 You were trained to be an excellent clinician. You were not trained to manage the mental load of actually being one. In this episode, Imogen unpacks why systems and processes aren't just admin, they're cognitive load tools. She walks through the ones she uses in her own practice (seating proformas, task databases, Heidi AI, voice-to-text) and gives you a framework for auditing what you actually need — not just chasing the shiny new app. If you're going home with work still whirring in your head, this one's for you. 

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If you’re a community or occupational therapist who finishes the day feeling heavy, scattered, or constantly behind, this episode will make sense of why.

In this episode of The Cognitive Capacity Chat, I dive into cognitive load and why it is foundational to how we function as therapists.

Cognitive load is the amount of information your brain is holding, processing, juggling and anticipating at any one time.
 Your calendar. Your reports. Your emails. Your open loops. Your energy. Your sleep.

And as therapists, we rely on executive function all day.
 Plan...

If you’re a community occupational therapist who feels mentally full before the day has even started, this episode is for you.

In this short introduction to Cognitive Capacity Chat, I share why I started this podcast and what you can expect moving forward.

We talk about: