Occupational Therapy & the Daily Life

Stefanie Chun
Sep 6, 2018 · 3 min read

WWhen I first told my parents that I wanted to pursue occupational therapy, they asked me, “You want to help people find jobs?” Coming from a traditional Chinese-Filipino family background, you can imagine how this conversation went. I was straying from the path assigned to me at birth of becoming a doctor and choosing a profession my parents had never heard of prior. Rest assured, once I explained that I would still have the title of a doctor just not in the traditional sense of the word, my parents were relieved.

No, occupational therapy is not about helping individuals find a job — though we can help people return to their jobs after an injury by modifying how they might accomplish a task. That being said, occupational therapy is much more far reaching. Let’s look at a few cases.

A concerned mother comes into the clinic because her baby is not reaching developmental milestones.

A middle school student with autism is struggling to make friends and stay focused in school.

A college student is overwhelmed with the demands of college, experiencing stress and anxiety.

An elderly man recently survived a stroke.

What do all of these individuals have in common? They would benefit from occupational therapy. Now you may be confused how a single field could help such diverse issues. I was once in your shoes, asking myself the very same question three years ago when I first discovered occupational therapy.

When I first arrived at the University of Southern California, I was a hopeful pre-med majoring in Biochemistry with a love for working with children (the main reason I wanted to be a pediatrician). However, my mindset did a quick 180 during a special networking dinner hosted by the pre-Health office. We had the choice of where to sit and obviously I sat next to the pediatrician. After eating, we moved around again to have the chance to talk to another professional and I ended up next to the occupational therapist. I don’t remember anything that he said in particular but he left a distinct impression on me. He was absolutely in love with his job and I have never seen someone so passionate about what they do. Comparing the passion of the pediatrician and the OT, the pediatrician was a small firework you buy off the streets of Los Angeles and the OT was full on firework show at Disneyland. This is a common characteristic I’ve noticed in the OT’s I’ve come across since then. They all genuinely love the field they are in. Following this dinner, I immediately enrolled in an introductory OT course (OT 220 Lifestyle Design: Introduction to Occupational Therapy) and eventually became an Occupational Science minor pursuing OT.

USC Professor Kim Eggleston Discussing the OT 220 course.

The field of occupational therapy is fairly new having only turned 100 years old last year. In celebration, the community was a whole came together to even have their own float in the 2018 Rose Parade. Taking into consideration occupational therapy is still an emerging and progressive field, it’s no surprise many people are still unfamiliar with us (often confusing us for physical therapy). Perhaps long ago, the two professions were similar but the current societal climate has led to increasing awareness of mental health, allowing us to further distinguish ourselves and progress even further. The most significant difference is that OT uses a holistic approach of physical health, mental health, spiritual health, and emotional health. Through prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation we help people across the lifespan participate in the activities they want and need to do by using common day activities — “occupations” (therefore the name “occupational therapy”).

You may be thinking, “Ok, this is all great but I don’t need occupational therapy in my life”. This is where I politely disagree with you. There are so many ways in which aspects of occupational therapy can be applied to the typical healthy person. It could be through Lifestyle Redesign, ergonomics, stress management, sustainability and even creative projects.

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