What is Occupational Therapy anyway...

If you meet an OT, guaranteed they've been asked, "What is OT". As OT's have such a large scope of practice and different ways of doing therapy, it can be hard to keep track of what an OT really does. Sometimes it's equipment prescriptions, sometimes is re-learning how to get dressed, sometimes cognitive assessments...the list goes on and on.

OT can be defined as providing strategies and/or tools for someone to be able to do what they want to, need to or have to do in their day. I find that kind of a boring definition. Instead, using the Kawa OT model, I like to think of people's life like a river. At times our river can feel slow or blocked by boulders (acute accidents/injuries) or driftwood (ancestral traumas, inherited conditions) and it can feel challenging to get down your river. My role as an OT is to stand on the banks of your river and act as a guide to ease navigating around, over, under or through your bounders and driftwood to get your flow back.

And we do that is so many different ways!

🌿meditation

🌿mindful movement

🌿head stands...yes, head stands!

🌿drawing out our constellations of our 'parts' (emotions, thoughts, inner child)

🌿bodywork

🌿accupressure

🌿self care

🌿self compassion

🌿supportive listening

🌿Eye movement (Polyvagal tools and Brainspotting)

🌿nice chats walking in nature

🌿binaural music to stimulate both sides of our brain

🌿sound therapy and sound vibrations

🌿going on a drive and facing fears

For this year's OT month (every October...but we were kinds delayed this year), we made a poster to display all the fun, unique, different, cool ways that we like to do OT.

Wanna know more? Reach out and we're happy to chat about the age old question of "What is OT?".