What is occupational therapy anyway? The term “occupational therapy” gets bandied about a lot. Some people seem to think that it is important, others dismiss it as just another unnecessary ‘feel good’ discipline, but it is actually far more important than many people give it credit for.
Even the term “occupational therapy” may sound silly; like just one more of a multitude of psychological approaches to made up problems. However, if you do a little research you will find that occupational therapy is far more than just another psychological theory. In fact, it is not a psychological theory at all; or rather, it is far more than a psychological theory.
Photo by Official U.S. Navy Imagery
Occupational therapy is, at its most fundamental, a discipline. It is a branch of health disciplines that promotes physical, mental and emotional well-being by treating individuals who suffer from disabling conditions regardless of whether they are mental conditions, physical conditions, developmental conditions or emotional conditions.
These treatments are overseen by individuals called occupational therapists who go through extensive training and practice to be able to understand the many problems that they could be presented with, and how to best treat each and every one of them. Then, using a combination of physical exercises, mental disciplines and approaches as well as counseling, the occupational therapist begins treating the conditions.
The point of occupational therapy is to undergo treatments that will enable the patient to function normally. Sometimes this means developing skills that will enable them to live a normal life. Sometimes this means recovering certain skill sets that were lost due to illness or injury, and sometimes it means enabling (or helping) the patient to maintain their ability to function in a relatively normal (or functional) capacity.
While some patients who undergo occupational therapy may only be temporary patients; individuals recovering from accidents or emotional traumas, there are some individuals whose conditions dictate that in order to have a semblance of a normal life that they will need to be under the care of an occupational therapist indefinitely.
For these individuals, it is usually more about being unable to tend to everyday functions that most people take for granted. If extended or permanent help is needed, it is usually dispensed by occupational therapy assistants who, working within the framework of an occupational therapist, will provide the individual undergoing treatment with the help they need to be able to function properly.
While the history of occupational therapy can be traced back to the Greeks, where Ascelepiades encouraged the use of massage, exercise and even music therapy for those who had suffered physical accidents or illness, or even mental conditions, and can be traced down through the ages with the Roman physician Celsus actually prescribing things like stimulating conversation, exercise and travel to his patients.
While the concept of occupational therapy fell by the wayside in general society, the 1700’s saw a resurgence of individuals who completely revolutionized the hospital and mental health systems of the timeframe by encouraging patients to pursue everyday activities such as daily tasks and relaxing activities (under the supervision of the physician) in order to encourage their health and healing.
It wasn’t until the early 20th century that the idea of occupational therapy began to take root as it because more widely accepted that there wasn’t just one reason for anyone’s illness; that even mental or emotional breakdowns could be caused by a combination of physical, social and economical problems.
In this regard, treating the whole individual is of primary importance in occupational therapy. By focusing the patient’s attention on seemingly mundane activities (but activities specifically selected by the occupational therapist to help them overcome the issues of their particular illness) occupational therapy has enabled many thousands of individuals to regain (or attain) the confidence they need to be able to join (or rejoin) society even after the most traumatic of incidents.
So now, if someone asks you what is occupational therapy for, you will be able to answer that it is a way of ensuring that even those who have lost their ability to function in society for whatever reason can regain or learn (or be provided with) the skills and help necessary to live as normal of a life as possible.
