My OT Adventure

Therapeutic relationships are an important aspect of being an effective occupational therapist. I found the last class to be very interesting and informative on this topic, and it really helped me to understand the importance of empathy and the therapeutic use of self when creating a therapeutic relationship with your client. During the class activity, my group and I were able to share ideas and what we thought each of these topics meant which was very helpful. My biggest take away was the use of empathy in the therapeutic relationship and how an occupational therapist must be understanding, collaborative, helpful, and patient with their clients. You cannot fully know what someone is going through in their day to day life and it is important to be aware of that and do everything you can to work together with them to create the most effective environment and therapeutic relationship.

Dr. Keisling's presentation on the history of disability was very inspiring and made me more aware of the major strives the world has made towards equality. I had little knowledge about the specifics of this history and it was very interesting to hear about the people who influenced these movements and actual events that occurred. I found the story of Ed Roberts to be the most inspiring, and particularly enjoyed the video clip we watched of him. It is unbelievable to see stories like Ed’s, and see how someone can take something that could be so negative, like being paralyzed from the neck down, to turn it into something positive by being an inspiration and a leader to those around him.   One thing from this presentation that I was able to relate back to our Era Presentations was the movement John F. Kennedy began in the 60’s. My group presented on the 60’s and we barely scraped the surface on the history of the Kennedy family so it was very interesting to hear what Dr...