Mental Health Is Part of Everyday Occupational Therapy Practice
We spend so much time in occupational therapy looking at how people function. We consider what they can and can’t do, their routines, environments, roles, relationships and participation in everyday life.
But how often do we stop and consider what might be happening emotionally and psychologically beneath the surface?
A person's occupational performance cannot always be understood by looking at their physical abilities or functional capacity alone. Our physical health, mental health and occupational performance are deeply interconnected, and each can have a significant influence on the other.
Someone may be experiencing difficulties with motivation, initiating tasks, maintaining routines, engaging socially or managing everyday responsibilities. While these challenges might present as functional difficulties, there may be much more happening beneath the surface.
Mental health is not separate from occupational performance. It is often a significant part of understanding it.
Making space for mental health conversations
Recognising the relationship between mental health and occupational performance doesn't mean occupational therapists need to have all the answers or become experts in every area of mental health.
Sometimes, it simply means being willing to ask questions.
How have you been feeling lately?
What's been particularly difficult for you?
How are your current circumstances affecting your everyday life?
It means creating a safe space, approaching conversations with curiosity, listening without judgement and recognising that someone's experience may extend beyond what we can see or measure during an assessment.
These conversations can help us develop a more meaningful understanding of the person, their experiences and the barriers affecting their participation in everyday life.
Understanding our scope without avoiding the conversation
Of course, professional boundaries, scope of practice and clinical responsibilities remain incredibly important. There will be times when additional expertise, a referral or collaboration with other members of the multidisciplinary team is needed.
But I think there is an important distinction between recognising our scope of practice and avoiding conversations about mental health altogether.
We don't need to diagnose, provide psychological treatment or have all the answers to acknowledge that someone might be struggling.
We can recognise when mental health may be influencing occupational performance, consider how this impacts the person's everyday life and work collaboratively to identify appropriate supports.
In fact, understanding these connections can make our occupational therapy interventions more meaningful, relevant and responsive to the person in front of us.
Bringing mental health into everyday OT practice
I would love to see us become more comfortable bringing mental health into our everyday occupational therapy practice. Not as an afterthought, or something reserved for therapists who specialise in mental health, but as an integral part of understanding the whole person.
Because ultimately, we aren't just supporting people to complete tasks, improve physical function, establish routines or achieve greater independence.
We're supporting people to live meaningful lives.
And mental health is a pretty significant part of that.
A little reminder that you don't need to be a mental health OT to care about someone's mental health. 🤍
— Cullen & Co
