What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational Therapy provides the skills for the job of living, to help people lead productive and satisfying lives. Occupational Therapists consider occupation to be everything people do to occupy themselves: Self-care, Leisure, Productivity/Work.

Occupational Therapists work in diverse setting, such as general medicine, acute care, physical rehabilitation, private practice, within the mental health and addictions system, and varied other settings.  The work that you might do with an Occupational Therapist can depend on what practice setting you encounter them in, and you own personal goals.  

What all Occupational Therapists have in common is their goal to break down the barriers which impede individuals in their everyday activities, whether these barriers exist in the Physical body, the Psychosocial sphere, or in Environment.

Depending on what your issue is, an Occupational Therapist can help you resolve it by:

• Helping you overcome your disability
• Adapting the material/equipment you use
• Recommending changes to your environment