Occupational Therapy is a person-centred health profession focussed on promoting health and wellbeing through occupation.
Occupational Therapy helps people of all ages regain or improve their ability to do the things that matter to them in their daily life. We focus on understanding what activities (occupations) are important to you and what barriers may be preventing you from participating in them. This could be due to mental or physical health challenges or limitations in your environment. By considering your interests, values, and what is meaningful to you, occupational therapy helps you achieve a healthy and fulfilling life.
Occupational Therapy is a registered profession through Health and Care Professions Council. The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC, hcpc-uk.org). Occupational Therapists are duel-trained at point of registration and can support people who have both mental and physical health issues.
How Occupational Therapy can help you
Occupational therapists can empower you to manage your mental health by improving your daily living skills; for example: cooking and budgeting. OT’s can help you build a balanced routine, explore new interests, and re-establish your social roles. Additionally, they can work with you to modify your environment to support your needs. This might involve implementing strategies or introducing assistive equipment to make daily tasks easier. They can also equip you with coping skills to manage stress, anxiety, and low mood, while also supporting relapse prevention and the development of life skills for long-term well-being. We aim to focus on goals to promote your participation with day-to-day life, re-connecting or re-establishing your sense of identity and ability to cope with life challenges.
The primary goal of occupational therapy is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. Occupational therapists achieve this outcome by working with people and communities to enhance their ability to engage in the occupations they want, need, or are expected to do, or by modifying the occupation (everyday activities) or the environment to better support their occupational engagement (WFOT, 2012).
The process your Occupational Therapist will follow
Information gathering
In the initial stages your Occupational Therapist’s aim is to gather all information relating to your engagement with occupations in the past and what your current challenges are. This will include gathering information from you and other relevant people in your life, if appropriate, along with discussion with those already involved in care.
Assessment
The Occupational Therapist may complete various assessments to establish your strengths and challenges. These assessments may be observational, interview, or involve engagement in an activity.
Goal setting and planning
Following assessment, the occupational therapist will work with you to set goals and create an intervention treatment plan.
Treatment, interventions and monitoring
Treatment will focus on motivation, habits and routines, or skill building to improve participation in day-to-day life. The environment plays a crucial role in supporting recovery and enhancing daily functioning, as part of treatment the environment may be modified with use of equipment/ adaptations. Individual or group work may be used to support treatment for example: creative groups, community integration, recovery through activity, journey through dementia or home-based memory rehab.
Review outcomes and evaluation
The Occupational Therapist will review the effectiveness of your treatment and make informed decision about continuing, modifying or ending occupational therapy.
Occupations
Your Occupational Therapist will explore a range of occupations. An occupation may be:
Self-care
Self-care may include activities you do to care for your mental, physical or emotional health. This typically includes how you can manage your basic needs: hygiene, diet, sleep.
Leisure
Leisure activities.
Productivity
Productivity typically includes home or garden maintenance, fulfilment of roles and responsibilities, financial activities, educational pursuits or voluntary, or paid employment.
In a range of environments
Occupational therapy assessment and intervention can take place, in your home, hospital, clinic, community, or workplace settings. Sessions may take place face to face or virtually via telephone or digital platforms. Depending on your needs or preferences, sessions may be individual or in a group
Mental Health Occupational Therapy Services
We offer occupational therapy services to adults aged 18 and above who are currently receiving care and treatment from any of the following Greater Glasgow and Clyde mental health services including specialist areas:
- Adult/Older people Community Mental Health Teams (located throughout NHSGGC resource centres)
- Inpatient Mental Health Services (located throughout NHSGGC inpatient sites)
- Specialist and additional occupational therapy services, which include:
- ADRS
- esteem
- perinatal
- eating disorders
- forensic services
- complex needs service
- psychological trauma service
- ADHD – assessment and intervention service (East Renfrewshire only)
For a broader range of occupational therapy needs, visit our Occupational Therapy webpage, or your local authority or HSCP website.
Patient Testimonials
‘You asked what I wanted to do with my day rather than just ask if I have been drinking and offer medication. Thank you.’
‘I love attending the poetry group, you learn and philosophise views of who and what we are collectively reading. We compose our own poems and perform them in this group setting which is supportive, makes you feel at ease and offers fair and balanced feedback. This group is so important to me.’
‘The Occupational therapist helped me leave my home for the first time in two years. Without them I would not have went across my door as my anxiety would stop me.’
‘I felt lonely, had no friends and everyday was the same. My occupational therapist helped me to structure my day and weeks. I joined new clubs, met new people and I now volunteer in my local charity shop. My live now has meaning.’
‘I was struggling at work to manage my ADHD. I couldn’t organise myself, I was missing deadlines and I was prioritising all the wrong things. My Occupational therapist helped me to adopt new strategies to support me in my work place to allow me to do my job.’
Useful Resources
The Royal College of Occupational Therapists have posters (A3 and A4) and leaflets available to download for your own use or to promote the value of occupational therapy in your workplace, community or event.
The posters and ‘Occupations matter’ leaflets highlight different ways occupational therapists support people.
Visit their page at:
Occupational Therapy posters and leaflets – RCOT
These include:
- Living with anxiety and depression
- Living with a long-term condition
- Managing well at work
- Managing well in education
- Living an active life as you get older
- Living well at home
- Living with dementia
Careers in Mental Health Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapy is a degree-level profession, so you would need to complete a programme of study at one of the accredited higher education institutions that offer occupational therapy courses in the UK. We also have non-registered staff working in Occupational Therapy Support Worker roles. There are alternative ways to access undergraduate programmes, some people undertake a HNC in Occupational Therapy and enter the undergraduate course in Year 2. We are committed to offering student education in all our mental health services.
FAQs about careers in Occupational Therapy – RCOT
NHS Recruitment Video (insert when ready). Contact Pauline Johnstone (AHP Corporate lead).
Follow Us!
Keep up to date with our latest news on X.