What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapy is a client-centred health profession concerned with promoting health and well being through occupation. The primary goal of occupational therapy is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. Occupational therapists achieve this outcome by working with people and communities to enhance their ability to engage in the occupations they want to, need to, or are expected to do, or by modifying the occupation or the environment to better support their occupational engagement. (WFOT 2012)
Occupational Therapy in Mental Health
Looks at:
- How mood and motivation impact on the activities people are engaging in, their ability to engage in these occupations and their enjoyment of them.
- Choice (habituation)
- Values (volition)
- Interests
- Performance capacity (physical and psychological)
What we do
Motivational Interviewing (MI)
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
Time Management (ie. daily/ weekly planning)
Worry Techniques (to manage anxiety/ concerns)
Sensory Modulation (OT specific technique)
- Develop awareness of emotions (label feelings)
- Developing insight regarding stress (psycho education re illness and fight/flight response)
- Build awareness of psychosocial dysfunction (ie. negative signs /symptoms of stress)
- Enhance client’s ability to monitor stress and coping
- Sleep hygiene (improve sleep quality and quantity)
- Relaxation techniques
- Harm reduction and safety management plans
- And many more
Our Process
- Initial Interview
- Develop awareness of stress and coping
- Psychoeducation (illness education)
- Increase occupational balance
- Challenge negative thinking and/or maladaptive behaviours
- Increase coping techniques
- Increase social supports
- Develop action plans
- Discharge from OT