Naomi Aaronson, MA

Bio

Naomi Aaronson, MA OTR/L CHT CET CPI, is an Occupational Therapist, Certified Hand Therapist, Cancer Exercise trainer (ACSM) and Pilates instructor. Since she was a teenager, Naomi has always had an interest in movement and dance. For twelve years she worked as a Recreational Therapist with the geriatric population, as well as teaching aerobics and step aerobics. Naomi always felt that something was missing, and she wanted to do more to help others. Since she had much exposure to rehabilitation at work, she felt that guiding people to overcome physical and psychosocial barriers was her objective. In addition, Human Anatomy and Kinesiology intrigued her. Naomi decided she wanted a career that would combine holistic approaches with patients to help them transform their lives. Occupational Therapy was the career she chose, since it addresses the mind and body to help people overcome challenges and achieve their goals!

Naomi has been an Occupational Therapist for over twenty years. She has experience in working with pediatric to geriatric populations, and always incorporates her background in fitness. However, her passion has been working with patients with hand injuries which also extended to working with Breast Cancer survivors. Working with this population she believes is her calling.

Naomi continuously seeks to educate herself. She has sought out several certifications so that she could better help her patients. In 2000, Naomi took and passed the Hand Therapy examination and became a Certified Hand Therapist. This specialty designation ensures that the therapist has the knowledge and skills to help treat complex hand conditions. During her work at a city hospital, Naomi had Breast Cancer survivors referred to her for Occupational Therapy. At that time, rehabilitation was rarely recommended for cancer survivors. As a result, and to help provide more services for her patients’ special needs and concerns Naomi developed and created the Recovercises program. She obtained her CET (ACSM) certification in 2005.

Later on, Naomi was involved in two car accidents and was prescribed Physical Therapy. She learned that being a patient challenged her skills as a therapist, when she experienced the pain, posture deficits, and lack of range of motion that many of her patients demonstrated. At that time, she was introduced to Pilates and fell in love with it. This prompted her to obtain her Pilates mat certification from Balanced Body and to participate in ongoing courses in the method. Naomi was able to see first hand the benefits of Pilates for her Breast Cancer patients. She discovered that teaching her patients ribcage breathing and other principles helped to promote powerful methods of rehabilitation.

At present, Naomi regularly lectures to Masters level Occupational Therapy students at Touro College and NYIT. Her lectures include “So YOU Want to Be An Occupational Therapy Entrepreneur and Breast Cancer Rehabilitation for the 21st Century”. In November, Naomi will be a featured speaker at the Northeast Women’s Summit. In addition, Naomi is co-author of the book “Pilates for Breast Cancer Survivors: A Guide to Recovery, Healing and Wellness” (2014) which can be purchased online here. She also has published many articles in the OT Advance and IDEA magazine.

Naomi loves to educate health and fitness professionals with her webinars, CDs, DVDS, and books for continuing education. Her recent webinars include “Critical Knowledge for Working with Breast Cancer Survivors”(2014) and “Finger and Hand Fitness for School Based Therapists” (2014). She is co-author of the CDs “Return to Life: Breast Cancer Recovery Using Pilates” (2010) and “Breast Cancer Recovery :On Land and In Water” (2008).

Naomi loves history, cats, movies, plays , and learning about different countries through travel. She continues to take spin classes and does Pilates daily. Her motto is “take back your mind and body after undergoing Breast Cancer surgery and treatment.” Please visit her web site at www.recovercisesforwellness.com or email her at pilatesot@gmail.com for more information.