While I agree that, sadly, OT has moved its focus away from mental health, abandoning the mental health frame of reference could be our professional undoing. While I have never worked in a mental health setting, I had a phenomenal fieldwork placement in this setting. I believe that every physical disabilities patient is at it's root a mental health patient. There is significantly greater emotional trauma in any kind of injury than our current health care system cares to acknowledge. If we abandon this component of our profession we move one step closer to becoming PT's. The number of times I have been able to use my mental health expertise in helping a despondent patient or family member to overcome their perceived and real disabilities are too many to count.
Thus we come to the crux of our professional dilemma. How do we continue to maintain, (or regain) our mental health roots in a reimbursement world that fails to recognize the value of this expertise. We can continue to abondon opportunities to work in mental health settings, further reducing the availability of these settings for employment and fieldwork placement, and see OT replaced by lower paid recreation therapists, or, worse still, para professionals; or we can encourage our colleagues to work to support these settings and encourage new graduates to seek these opportunites. When hiring a new grad into my physicial disabilities positions, I put significantly more weight on mental health experience than I do doctorates. My two cents Redge L Campbell MS OTR/L Director of Rehabilitation Services Harrison Hospital Bremerton, WA 98310 360.792.6531 >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 12/05/02 03:20AM >>> Hi! I'm just wondering, why is it that almost every OT students that I know wants to pursue an OT career in physical dysfuntion settings rather than in the psychiatric setting? And as for the professionals, i just wanted to know some personal insights. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com *********��*********** Unsubscribe? Send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the message's *body*, put the following text: unsubscribe OTlist ** List messages are archived at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] *********��*********** *********��*********** Unsubscribe? Send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the message's *body*, put the following text: unsubscribe OTlist ** List messages are archived at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] *********��***********
