Understanding Mental Health and how OT can help!

Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood to adolescence through to adulthood. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being.

An Occupational Therapist looks at how a person’s function is impacted by their mental state. Mental health is key when considering any occupational therapy intervention to empower and motivate a person through periods of change.

At Living Strength, we focus on improving a person’s function and promoting independence by providing treatment, intervention and strategies for all ages with chronic illness. The following are how some occupational therapy is used to support a people with mental health recovery:

• Assisting with identifying healthy habits, and with implementing them to establish a lifestyle that contributes to overall wellbeing. This involves removing and managing barriers, and promoting a supportive environment.
• Educating clients and supporting the uptake of coping strategies in order to assist the management of symptoms.. This may include techniques and developing strategies to independently participate in activities of daily living.
• Supporting long-term planning processes to meet personal recovery goals, including budgeting
• Providing resources to enhance awareness of community-centered programs

If you are concerned about yourself, a family member, or someone you know, contact our friendly Occupational Therapy team for a chat on 02 4340 0883.