Our Beliefs

Every OT practitioner and practice is unique. Each of us integrates his or her own individual personality, passions and abilities with the knowledge, skills and values that are learned in school, through practice, and in post-professional education.

Each of us must determine and create our own authentic OT, while working within the structure outlined by AOTA’s OT Practice Framework and Code of Ethics, and our states’ licensure laws.

You worked hard and made sacrifices to get to this point in your career. You deserve to:

love your job
feel excited and proud of your work
be confident that you make a big difference in your clients’ lives
be challenged at a “just-right” level… using your creativity and growing new skills

Authentic occupational therapy can be life-changing, especially when clients’ needs are complex and have not been responsive to more conventional or limited interventions.

Responsibilities and Rights of OT and OTA Practitioners

Responsibilities: What we need to do	Rights: What we need in order to do
Occupational means & ends Learn about our clients’ occupational histories, capacities, desires and priorities Use motivating, reality-based activities as interventions	Time with patients to do personally meaningful activities at natural times and in appropriate places; Places and materials to do activities that fit clients’ needs and preferences; Freedom to use our clinical reasoning to plan and deliver individualized care
Client-Centered Strive to understand the clients’ and families’ perspectives, feelings and preferences Educate clients about their health conditions and options for evaluation intervention Provide clients the opportunity and tools to decide how/whether they want us to help them Advocate for clients’ rights at all times	Time and privacy to talk with clients and/or family members; Assessment tools designed to help clients decide and communicate their choices and priorities; Freedom to use our clinical reasoning to plan and deliver individualized care
Holistic Evaluate relevant personal, environmental and occupational features Plan and deliver interventions to address Personal, Environmental and Occupational needs Help clients to access other team members and resources as indicated	Freedom to evaluate and offer interventions relevant to the person and his or her environments and occupations; Times and places to regularly meet with fellow team members (including the client and family) to share information and plan effective evaluation and interventions in a secure/private setting; Time and place to thoughtfully document care plans and progress
Inclusionary Understand and adhere to the values of Independent Living and Patients’ Rights Assist patients to establish and participate in personally valued roles within their own homes, communities, workplaces, schools, and the wider world	Understanding of and respect for of the person’s social, cultural, physical and economic realities and hopes/desires; Adherence to values of the Independent Living Movement and Patients’ Bill of Rights; Working with clients in their actual environments and at times they prefer