I was recently honored to present Grand Rounds at Solnit Children’s Center, the adolescent psychiatric hospital where I work. GrandRoundsOT Outline Our dynamic transdisciplinary team over the past 5 years was able to significantly reduce the use of restraint and seclusion.OT role in Restraint Reduction Solnit which was celebrated by making a bench for the hospital grounds from restraint beds (which are no longer used).
Occupational Therapy is a vital intervention for adolescents with mental health, PTSD and developmental challenges. Occupational therapists address adolescent mental health in schools, outpatient mental health clinics, youth psychiatric hospitals, and juvenile detention facilities. Occupational Therapy (O. T.) focuses on promoting adolescent’s occupations, the things they want or need to do. Adolescent’s occupations typically include school,
activities of daily living (e.g., grooming, keeping their room clean), prevocational activities, sports, exercise, and social activities. For example, intervention on developing occupations is needed by some adolescents recovering from drug addiction, where their primary activities of taking drugs and doing illegal activities (to earn money for drugs) must be replaced by a new lifestyle with more functional occupations. I am repeatedly impressed by my client’s and their families’ ability to confront the challenges of mental illness, and their unique gifts as individuals http://www.behindthelabel.co.uk
Occupational therapy offers unique contributions to adolescent mental health intervention due to its foundations in neurology, physiology, psychology, development, human occupations, and sensory processing. At Solnit Children’s Center the primary frames of reference used include: mindfulness, sensory processing, sensory massage, trauma informed care, Pivotal Response Training (a research proven form of Applied Behavioral Analysis), exercise, and developmental intervention. Occupational therapy is a vital component of transdisciplinary team intervention for adolescents with mental health challenges.
