Occupational Therapy in Short Term Psychiatry

This book is intended to assist occupational therapists and their students who are working in, or learning about, general psychiatry. The client group referred to includes those with a wide range of disorders which should not normally give rise to long-term care. Little emphasis has been given to classification on the basis of clinical signs and symptoms. A broader approach to unhappiness and disadvantage should be relevant to therapists who are primarily concerned with helping people to resolve individual difficulties in living. This presupposes, in each reader, a basic knowledge of psychology, sociology and psychiatry, or at least that these subjects are being studied concurrently. The first section of the book discusses the variety of problems which may lead to referral. The second section selects three topics. The first is humanistic psychology, popular with may therapists as a baseline for thinking and for action. The other two topics, cognition and social competence, are linked with each other and are the two concepts which therapists, knowingly or unknowingly, apply to almost every problem. These three chapters are intended to identify some particular influences on the way in which therapy is devised and presented, appreciating that there are many other factors which should also be taken into account. The third section is more practically oriented and describes what occupational therapists may actually do. The chapters on social skills training, the management of anxiety, and creative therapies are based on specific techniques. Those on constructive activities, leisure and strategic skills offer the background of concern and activity essential to an integrated service.