Occupational Therapy: Where Science and Spirituality Collide

At the start of the AA meeting I attended, the group facilitator opened by explaining the basis of their beliefs were in a higher power.  He went on to pray and then opened the session by welcoming members.  He emphasized that if people have differing views about who that higher power is that is fine, but he wanted to make sure group members understood his foundational beliefs.  He also made sure to lay ground rules to where members should feel welcomed to share and encourage one another.  A group member was invited to read the twelve steps which relied heavily on believing in a higher power to help them through the process.  The group went on to share personal stories about what lead them to become alcoholics.  A lot of similarities existed in that a lot of members attributed their alcoholism to dysfunctional family dynamics.  If members began to go off topic or interrupted one another, the facilitator made sure to keep the group on task.  The facilitator made sure to include all memb

My leadership summit meeting was very insightful.  I met with Lauren Newman and Sarah Caitlin Wheat and we discussed our ideas for leading group.  They encouraged me to start with a warmup activity that can also be linked to what we could close with in order to increase generalizability.  They helped me think of common tasks associated with care of pets and agreed that the pet Bingo would be a fun activity. I helped them think of ideas as well.  Lauren needed help figuring out how exactly to plan her activity, so I encouraged her to assign people their own profile so they have a general idea of how to approach their activity.  I helped Sarah Caitlin plan her activity by telling her she should have group members discuss the areas they need improvement when doing their daily chores.  Having them write out a schedule can keep them accountable and provide a visual checklist of chores needed to be done.  Overall, the leadership summit was a helpful time to brainstorm ideas.

Overall, I think the group on care of pets went well!  Timing went well as far as the warmup activity, activity, and wrap-up.  Everyone was willing to introduce themselves and their pet schedule.  While everyone participated from the start, I think I should have started out having everyone introduce themselves and their pet, then we could have moved into the warmup activity.  Instead, I had everyone introduce themselves, their pet, and their pet schedule all in one which was a lot to remember.  The warmup activity went well, but I should have given the group members their Bingo sets from the start because it got a little chaotic after I passed out the cards since everyone wanted to see the pictures of their pets on the cards.  I did feel like the activity went slowly, so I think there could have been improvements made to let it be a little more exciting.  Everyone was willing to participate in the sharing portion.  I really enjoyed hearing everyone's strategy to being a pet owner a

Based off Worksheet 3-1, I would say our building empathy group did well on the introduction portion of the group.  The main place I could see improvement would be that we could have outlined the time frame of the group a little better to the group, but I think overall we did well with our warm-up and introductions.  As for the activity portion, I believe we did well.  We had appropriate timing and directions were clearly given on how to complete the activity.  Sharing went even better than I anticipated because everyone was willing to read their scenarios and opinions.  We also had great processing time as well because group members were willing to share their thoughts on other individual scenarios as well as provide feedback about their own perspectives.  Generalizing and group motivation were also evident as everyone was willing to encourage one another and apply their thoughts to their own experiences.  I think everyone had sufficient time to share and everyone really seemed to gra

This article explores the current literature related to the use of the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance within a group setting involving children living with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD).  Children diagnosed with DCD struggle with tasks requiring muscle coordination which in turn leads to decreased occupational performance.  While believed to be a childhood condition, the secondary impairments associated with DCD often endure into adulthood.  Thought to be linked to low self-esteem and motor skill competency, obesity and feelings of isolations often are found in conjunction with DCD.  In order to enable occupational performance within this population, practitioners are now pursuing group intervention strategies as a way to empower those with DCD.  After searching the literature, six articles were selected which met inclusion criteria.  Findings from this review showed the importance of group process for individuals diagnosed with DCD.  Group format

In her emotionally inspiring testimony about her fight with epilepsy, Sitawa Wafula shares her encounter with the stigma associated with her condition.  Unable to finish college and fired from her job, Sitawa learned to adapt.  She now advocates for those who share her battle in order to raise awareness and reduce the prejudice against those with unpredictable seizures.  Sitawa admits to her doubts about continuing to live and how debilitating her epilepsy can be even days after a seizure.  Increased stress and anxiety are triggers for a seizure and she admits that she would experience two to three seizures daily.  In its most severe form, epilepsy prevents independent living and requires constant supervision.  Nonetheless, Sitawa fights against the debilitating effects of her epilepsy and strives to increase the understanding of those who struggle with this disease. Something that I have learned is how often we as a population prejudge what is a disability and what is not.  Those wh