The Miracle of Occupational Therapy

A year ago, we were very fortunate to have wonderful USC-trained pediatric occupational therapist (OT) come to our clinic to start an OT program.

This is unusual in a traditional mental health setting such as ours, as OT is typically used for children with issues such as autism and feeding and eating problems.

Occupational therapy is essentially focused on helping a person to engage in meaningful and purposeful activities throughout his or her daily life. For a child, this would cover areas such as playing, learning, and engaging in relationships. A child can have difficulties with any of these areas for emotional or biological reasons, such as the trauma of loss or problems with brain development.

Since the arrival of OT at our clinic and its use with a number of the children I see with mental health and behavioral issues, the way I think about how to treat the young children who come into our clinic has changed dramatically.

Now, in addition to looking at what's happening in the family, the school, the child's relationships, the child's developmental history, and losses and separations, I also think about what is going on with the child's ability to self-soothe and manage incoming stimuli. This stimuli may include sound, touch, taste, movement, and pressure. I consider how we can use this additional sensory-related information to help the child to feel better emotionally.

For example, if a child is calmed by a rocking movement and the deep pressure of massage on the arms and back, then I encourage parents to use this at home, especially if the child becomes upset or tantrums. We might also use this in session.

I believe strongly that OT has the potential to help children with emotional problems to learn how to manage their feelings better. Through helping them manage their sensory experiences, we provide them with the miraculous beginnings of being able to handle difficult feeling states.