By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN
We continue to celebrate Occupational Therapy Month and honor occupational therapists and travel occupational therapists for their work in maximizing life’s daily potential for all types of patients. To accomplish this, occupational therapists address all aspects of the individual – physical, psychological, emotional and social. Therefore, OT services are particularly valuable to individuals being treated for addiction.
Creative but extremely effective therapeutic occupational therapy approaches such as art therapy are frequently used with patients in treatment for addiction. One of the goals of art therapy for these individuals is, through targeted arts and crafts and creative writing activities, to assist the occupational therapist in understanding some of the deeper motivations, psychology and history behind the addictive behaviors. A project by occupational therapy students in Scotland, also found success treating individuals experiencing addition by teaching them the skills needed to adapt and cope with daily life.
The path to, effects of and recovery from addiction is deeply personal and unique to each individual who experiences it. Occupational therapists and other healthcare professionals who choose to work in this area of rehabilitation are often personally motivated by the stories of recovering addicts or in some cases the stories of family members, friends or even their own personal success stories.
Are you an occupational therapist who wants to enjoy the excitement and challenges of a travel health career while specializing in addiction therapy? Visit our “apply now” page and speak with a recruiter about assignments in addiction medicine. Addiction is a steadily growing area of healthcare with a big demand for treatments that work. Occupational therapists and travel occupational therapists are needed more and more to meet this demand.
Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.
