AOTA

Stephen Nawotniak, OTR/L, NYCPS

Occupational therapist

Director of Peer Services, Buffalo, New York.

Credit:  .1 CEU (1 contact hour/1.25 NBCOT PDUs)

Description

Opportunities for occupational therapy within mental health are increasing and our roles expanding. Recovery is defined by SAMHSA as a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.  This approach has gained acceptance as the Recovery Model throughout the mental health community and supports the role of occupational therapy through its tenets.

Additionally, the Peer Movement has had a significant impact on the development of the Recovery Model. Peer Specialists are becoming commonplace in the mental health workforce.  The values and methods of the peer perspective are very similar to those found in occupational therapy and therefore our work as team members can bring a combined focus to assist clients who are not merely managing symptoms or mental illness, but learning to adapt, to learn ways to manage challenges and develop skills and strategies to live a fulfilling life.  

This course describes the Recovery Model and the peer approach to assist OT practitioners in understanding the ideal role of peer specialists, supervision approaches for peer specialists and the  incorporation of peer values in their own interventions..  

Learning Objectives:

Following this course, the learner will be able to:

• Describe 3 peer values.
• Identify 2 aspects of supervising a peer specialist
• Describe the role of the occupational therapy practitioner using recovery-based principles and peer values
• Identify 2 ways to incorporate recovery-based principles and peer values into intervention approaches.

Audience:  Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants

Level:  Introductory