Why I Love Being an Occupational Therapist

The month of April has been set aside as Occupational Therapy Month. It’s designed to be the month in which we celebrate and educate the public about what it is that we actually do.

I’ve been an OT for almost 2 years now and I’m still figuring out just exactly what we really do because, if you’ve ever encountered one of us, we do a lot--with a lot of different types of people in a variety of settings.

Today at work I had a lot of sweet, moving moments with my patients and I decided it would be worth my while to sit down and express just exactly what it is that I think we do and why I love being an Occupational Therapist.

I love being an occupational therapist because I believe the core of what we do is empower our patients by providing them with the support, tools, knowledge, and assistance they need in order to regain access to the most fundamental and crucial aspects of their lives--which is anything of value that “occupies” their time.

The things that are most valuable vary from each individual but the overarching categories I most often see are returning to their role in their family, returning to their hobbies--such as playing the piano, swinging the golf club, or playing bridge with the girls (and poker with the guys), and returning to their daily routine-- the one in which they get up in the morning and make their coffee, kiss their spouse/kids goodbye, wipe their own ass, and drive their car.

The most valuable aspects and roles of their lives have been diminished, discarded, and abandoned due to some illness, injury, or disease that has, for all intents and purposes, destroyed the only life they’ve ever known. In the last week those “fatal” disasters I have personally encountered with my patients have been stroke, heart attack, motorcycle accident, drug overdose, domestic abuse, dementia, and cancer.

As an OT, my job is to establish what their previous level of function was, prioritize their limitations/deficits, develop a treatment plan to increase their independence, but most importantly, to establish what THEY are wanting and hoping to be able to achieve again. On the surface this may look like I help people sit at the edge of their hospital bed, transfer to the sink, brush their teeth, and help them put socks on their feet--but if you look a little closer, the purpose I see in doing all of those things is to provide inspiration, motivation, and hope. Because when you can’t even stand up or put your damn socks on your feet, you don’t have much hope that you’ll ever be able to walk to your mailbox again or bake your great-grandmother’s famous chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Each and everyday I have the chance to make a personal connection with every one of my patients. I have the opportunity to not only look them in the eyes---but to make sure they are really seen--not just as patients, but as human beings who have intrinsic worth and value. I have the opportunity and responsibility to make sure they know that they are stronger and more capable than they think they are and that they are worthy just because they exist.

On a lot of days this is difficult because, well, people are difficult--and they are challenging-- which further provides me a chance to practice my yoga off my mat--it gives me a chance to change the way I perceive people and the way I react to people. It provides me with either a platform for frustration and discontentment or of compassion and love.

You see, I love being an OT not just because I get to help people get back to the life they once had but also because I get the chance to watch people examine the life they once had--and figure out if they want that life again or if they want to change the way they live their life. I get the opportunity everyday to (hopefully) inspire people to not just merely continue to exist--but to truly live--either again or sometimes for the very first time.

Do I always see amazing miracles with my patients and a newly reinvigorated enthusiasm for living life?? Not hardly. In fact, most of the time, they go back to the exact same lifestyle and habits they had before. But every once in a blue moon I’ll have a patient really look me in the eyes and say, “Thank you for taking the time out of your day to come see me. You made my day so much better than it was before.”
And THAT gives me enough hope and enough motivation to wake up the next day and do it all over again.

I love my profession. I love being an OT and I am immensely grateful to all of my amazing co-workers both here in Colorado and back in Mississippi for all the lessons they teach me and have taught me on a regular basis for the past 2 years. AND I’m also indebted to my professors at UMC and all my AMAZING classmates that I miss daily.

Here’s to OT month, my friends! Hug an OT next time you see one and tell them to keep up the good fight. Because it’s not always an easy one;)

With Love,

from your favorite hippie wild child,

Jen