Occupational therapists only

This page is set up for topics relevant to occupational therapists - and an opportunity for me to rant on occasion on topics dear to my heart. An area in here will be password protected to enable therapists to comment and debate in relative privacy - there are some issues that occupational therapists, particularly in New Zealand, can and should debate vigourously and substantively. These include areas of practice that may be regulated by other professions (eg the use of cognitive behavioural therapy, psychometric assessments, exercise), as well as ethical issues (eg how do therapists determine boundaries if a client wants to attend the same social group in a small town?). If you want to access the topic area, please email me to obtain a password. The provisions for receiving a password are:

1. You are a registered occupational therapist
2. You will keep the information detailed in this area confidential at all times
3. Your interest in participating in this forum is to debate honestly and with integrity, and not to personally attack or denigrate any individual
4. You will be responsible for the content of your posts
5. The posts will be moderated by me, and while I intend to wield a light touch, I may remove or edit posts that don’t adhere to the nature of the topic

email me>

Please note: Occupational therapy in New Zealand is a registered health profession. The way the profession is practiced in New Zealand may differ from other parts of the world - and this is one reason I want to include this area. The differences in some areas of practice even in New Zealand are so great that it can feel like one therapist works completely differently from another. Role ‘boundaries’ blur and overlap more or less within interdisciplinary teams.

My ongoing questions are: how can I maintain my own professional and academic standards without (1) constraining my own (and others) practice, (2) without expanding ‘occupational therapy’ to the point where it loses efficacy (3) being over-zealous about the profession (the ‘I can do everything’ trap)?

I’ve just used Google to look for an image reflecting occupational therapy, and I am depressed. Overwhelmingly the images are of women, hospital settings, gadgets, wheelchairs, splints - the first two images are cartoons reinforcing the stereotype of occupational therapists ‘keeping people busy while in hospital’. Shame! Here is my effort for an occupational therapy ’slogan’ for 2008:

Oh, BTW, some of this image was snaffled from AOTA (apologies - contact me if you would like this amended)

Date last modified: 11 March 2008

Confidence to strut your stuff

Theory - what is the difference between occupational therapy theory and theories of motivation, goals, self regulation in psychology?