Occupational Therapy in Mental Health
Definitions of Occupational Therapy in Mental Health:

Occupational therapists (OTs) believe in „occupation for health“
(Wilcock, 1999) occupational therapists are concerned with
individual's quality of life of how their engage in satisfactory and
meaningful occupations. OTs have a deep appreciation of the
occupational nature of humans, of the relationship between
health and occupation, and of how occupations can be used to
influence health.

OTs focus on occupational performance. OTs are centrally
concerned with how individuals function in work, leisure,
domestic life and personal self care. For OTs, a healthy person is
one able to perform his or her daily occupations to a satisfying
(for the person) and effective level.

OTs believe in the importance of participation and of being active
in life situations. OTs aim to assist individuals who feel excluded,
isolated, empty or worthless to feel part of their social world.

OTs value the therapeutic potential of meaningful and purposeful
activities to promote health and well-being. Individuals are seen
as innately active beings. Through being active we learn about
ourselves, develop our capabilities and maintain our
physical/mental health.

OTs view persons holistically as unique individuals who have
particular life experiences, interests, needs, skills, problems and
motivations arising out of their particular social and cultural
background, connecting them to others and fulfil basic needs.

OTs aim to take a person/client-centred approach to practice.
Occupational Therapy is premised on the idea that purposeful activities can be
therapeutic and can be used to improve individual's functioning when used in a
way that is meaningful to the person. One of the OT skills is to being able to
apply activity in the treatment process, valueing the inherent properties of
activities, the experience of “doing“ and the end product.
OTs attend to emotional, cognitive, physical and social dimension, in the context
of the person's wider life style.
One key skill used by OTs is the ability to analyse the component parts of an
activity in order to use it purposefully, meaningfully and therapeutically.
Occupational balance is a key concept in the occupational therapy practice.
Often misunderstood as the balance between work, play and rest, it is, in fact, a
much more complex and holistic concept related to balance in life style and
tasks. Balance is about the relationship between a person, their occupations and
their worlds. It means being able to engage in a diverse range of meaningful and
purposeful occupations in order to meet our needs.
Reference:
Finlay, L. (2004). The Practice of Psychosocial Occupational Therapy. Cheltenham:
Nelson Thornes.