What is occupational therapy?
What is occupational therapy?
Occupations are the activities people of all ages need and want to do—things like making meals, dressing, managing medications, driving, going to school or work, playing, or caring for family members.
Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants help people participate in their desired occupations with the therapeutic use of everyday activities, based on the client’s personal interests and needs.
Occupational therapy (OT) considers the complex relationship between the client, the activity, and the environment in which the activity takes place.
Examples of OT interventions include:
- assisting an injured worker to regain skills they need to function in their job, or
- providing support to older adults experiencing cognitive or physical changes
- helping a child with a disability to participate fully in school and social situations,
What Does an OT Do?
An occupational therapist helps people of all ages. Starting from premature babies to young children, adults in midlife, and seniors to overcome challenges they face in everyday tasks or activities. They look at relationships between how you do any kind of activity or task along with the challenges you face in your environment. Then they come up with a plan to improve, make it easier and less painful. In your first appointment, the Occupational Therapist will develop a treatment plan which addresses the patient’s needs and helps them meet their desired goals.
Who needs occupational therapy?
Occupational therapy is a type of treatment that will help you with your pain, injuries, illness or disabilities that hold you back from your daily tasks, such as : household chores, schoolwork, job goals, or taking part in daily life activities. Occupational therapy is not age or condition-specific. Anyone who struggles to do any kind of task can opt for occupational therapy.
The following conditions can be treated:
- A child lacking fine motor skills
- A post- covid recovery patient
- A stroke patient
- Cerebral palsy
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Polio
- Fracture or injury
- Mental illness
- Emotional disturbance
- Trauma
What are the key highlights of occupational therapy?
Occupational therapy at Healing Hands Therapy Center involves the use of energetic as well as physical procedures to ease pain and movements and create a feeling of well-being.
A combination of exercises and energetic procedures initiates the healing process on both physical and emotional levels.
Occupational therapy is so effective because it focuses beyond superficial healing and dives deeper.
Why choose us?
Heather’s past 24 years of experience as a licensed occupational therapist, certified hand therapist and intuitive energy healer helps patients get the best results when she integrates both science-based therapy and intuitive energy healing. During the assessment/evaluation process, she carefully chooses the set of procedures, equipment, and techniques to be implemented for each of her patients, and then begins with the journey to wellness and healing
“ We focus on healing the whole person, not just treatment. “
About Heather
Heather Mogielnicki is professionally trained and one of 7300 Certified Hand Therapists worldwide with extensive experience in treating upper extremity injuries for the past 24 years. She is also an intuitive energy healer which helps in grasping the actual state of a patient and she curates exclusive treatment for every patient that visits her.
Heather is exceptionally good at creating an emotional connection with the patient, encouraging healthy communication with them, and producing better results in a shorter time span than other professionals in the field.
Her past experience with music helps her take the healing process a notch up, in a unique way.
FAQs
Can the procedure of occupational therapy for one case be used for another patient with the same case?
While the basic steps might be similar, it is advisable to consult an occupational therapist exclusively for each case because even though the conditions seem similar, the way the patient’s body responds to a treatment differs from person to person. Hence, we do not recommend going about any therapeutic procedure without the guidance of a trained professional.
Is occupational therapy the same as physical therapy?
While physical therapy is focused on helping the patients regain the proper and healthy state, occupational therapy is also associated with providing a patient with both physical and mental or emotional assistance.
For instance, physical therapy for a patient with Arthritis may involve relieving pain and reducing the symptoms while for the same patient occupational therapy would involve providing alternatives to the current lifestyle, battling the emotional distress that results from such a condition, and assisting with such exercises that would help improve the patient’s condition.
Is occupational therapy expensive?
While this is a very common question among people seeking occupational therapy for themselves or their loved ones, occupational therapy is not as expensive as it seems to be because only a few regular sittings are required to help patients recover well enough, and once their state stabilizes a little, they themselves know what procedures they need to follow to continue on the path of recovery.
The prices depend upon the quality of therapy and the time span of a particular session with the patient.
Is there a specific time duration up to which occupational therapy should be taken?
The answer is no.
Occupational therapy sessions have no specific duration of being administered. Patience is key. The more complicated a condition is, the longer it takes to treat it. Initial progress might be inconspicuous, but the effects show up eventually.