Definitions & Statements
Finish the sentence, “healing through…”
"...doing"
Is doing the laundry an occupation?
Yes! As part of doing the laundry, we use a variety of executive function skills and resources. Doing our laundry has meaning and value it contributes to our lives, regardless of how the task is achieved.
OT’s can’t talk with youth about their challenges
False. Communicating, leveraging community for support and connection, and self-reflection are all important elements of occupation. OT's have different training than more well-known or traditional MH services, such as talk therapy, and the mediums we use to accomplish processing are different between MH professions.
Rest is not an occupation.
False, it's an important way we spend our time.
How long is an OT session?
Define Occupation
Anything that occupies your time and brings meaning and purpose to your life.
Occupations include the things individuals need to, want to, and/or are expected to do.
Is being warm and welcoming to others an occupation?
No, but it is a skill related to the occupation of social participation. OT’s can support youth in developing/honing/or modifying the skills they value towards their occupations.
OT’s only work from specific school sites.
False, we're community based and we go to the youth!
OTTP has been around since 1975.
True, well Ray and Jacqui haven’t, but OTTP has! And OT as a profession is 108 years old!
Where do OT’s work?
Schools, homes, and throughout the community.
What we’re currently doing is an example of which occupation?
Play
Occupation-based means?
It means use of meaningful, client-chosen activities (occupations) as the therapeutic medium. Not all OT sessions are occupation based, some are focused (not doing the occupation but with focus on skill building or practice towards the ultimate occupation), etc.
OTTP OT’s study flexible behavior acceptance as part of their values and skillset to support youth.
True.
If a young person can only commit to meeting a few times in total, it’s not worth introducing them to an OT.
False, what an young person gets out of meeting with an OT is so individual and unique to the circumstance. How OT's support youth is a wide range from making a visual schedule for a parent to use at home to sitting with a youth at the DMV for three hours while they go through the process of getting their identification or drivers permit after months of driving related OT interventions.
Can OT’s support youth with executive function?
Yes! We are able to support directly and indirectly in the age appropriate development of EF skills that youth will use throughout their lives.
Can you name the guiding term from which OT’s use "healing centered interventions"?
Healing centered engagement - Shawn Ginwright Ph.D.
Share some things you think play can foster?
Answers may vary!
Playing games can build study skills, organization, and emotional regulation skills. Play is the main occupation of childhood, but it's important throughout our lifespans and has deep value and meaning.
If a young person is canceling/declining/difficult to reach, it is a standard indication of their need for support.
OT’s can support parents with getting signed up for summer extracurriculars.
True! OT isn't solely direct service to youth, sometimes it looks like supporting others in the youth's life to foster engagement in growth promoting opportunities and removing barriers for others to show up for youth!
When working with an OT, who is the expert about a youth’s challenges?
The youth! OT's are there to support/guide/and provide education and prompting as relevant to youth determined goals.
Name a term to describe “balancing freedom with guidance”
Intentional Unstructured Structure
Do OT’s learn about boundaries and study how to manage nonpreferred behavior from others?
Yes! Our work can look a lot different than that of other professions, which sometimes brings about the questions about how we manage this aspect of providing services to other humans! We certainly have a code of ethics that guides our profession, and each clinician determines and communicates what their boundaries and ways of managing and redirecting the behavior of others looks like in practice.
Only youth with a mental health diagnosis can benefit from OT.
OT can be a duplication of other mental health services.
False, OT is a unique service that can work together on youth teams with psychotherapists, teachers, mentors, and medical professionals. There is sometimes overlap in the means/outcomes but the science (occupational science) of our interventions is separate from other MH services.
Please name a measure of success of OT that we look for as they approach closure with a youth?
Youth's expressed satisfaction (with their abilities/capacities, how their life is doing, how they measure wellness in their life)