Is Occupational Therapy the Career for You?
Occupational Therapy for Mental Health
Occupational therapy is used in many types of settings. One setting a person may choose to work in is a mental health facility. An occupational therapist will help a mental health patient improve their functional capacity and quality of life in the areas of education, work, living within a community, and home and personal care. From young children to geriatrics an occupational therapist can help any age person that has any kind of mental health issues or illnesses. Some of the conditions a person may have include: anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, mood disorders, psychoses, dementia, addiction, and eating disorders, along with many others.
As an occupational therapist working with a mental health patient it will be your job to help the person acquire the skills they need to care for themselves. Most times this will require the occupational therapist to help the patient find and maintain a job. Helping the mental health patient to learn and stick to a routine will help the person become more independent. This will include taking their medication on a daily basis. Occupational therapy for mental health can take place in a number of locations. There are inpatient facilities such as mental health wards, rehabilitation wards, psychiatric intensive care units, and specialty units for learning disabilities and eating disorders. There are community based teams that will work with a person in their home or at an outreach program located in the city. Working within a school district may also be an option. This type of work may include helping students who have a learning disability.
Find out if occupational therapy would be a good career choice for you by seeing what occupational therapy is with some case examples of the sort of work occupational therapists do. Includes a lighthearted depiction of reasons to choose (and NOT to choose) a career in occupational therapy. Please feel free to embed this video on your site or blog!
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