Celebrate with Dr. Kathryn Hayward as she fulfills one of her yearnings for Living Whole Online, which is to include a talented Facilitator who is expert in the fields of Education and Occupational Therapy (OT).
Dr. Elizabeth Alicea-Torres (Beth) defines OT as a dynamic profession focused on enabling individuals to recover and maintain participation in their activities of daily life. When she evaluates someone who has health challenges, Beth considers the whole person, including physical, emotional and cognitive abilities, and learns about personal habits, routines and the environment in which the individual lives and works.
We can work with an individual who was just born and in the NICU, all the way through individuals who are at the end of life stage.
-Dr. Elizabeth Alicea-Torres
Beth describes the history of OT, which was established as a profession in 1917 in response to caring for shell-shocked and physically injured soldiers.
During the years since, the field has evolved to take a more holistic view, with the primary goal being to help individuals regain the ability to live in safety and independence.
OT utilizes a variety of practices and theories, and she describes in some detail the Kawa Model and the MOHO Theory. The Kawa Model originated in Japan (Kawa means “river” in Japanese), and uses a river and its riverbanks as a metaphor to visualize a person’s life journey. The MOHO theory focuses on volition (motivation), habituation (patterns and routines), performance capacity and environmental factors.
We try to honor every single part of who that person is and make that part of the therapeutic process.
-Dr Elizabeth Alicea-Torres
Both Kathryn and Beth agree that healing is a somatic (body) experience, and is best pursued through holistic healing practices. Kathryn loves that the conventional medicine system includes occupational therapy as one of its specialties, and feels that OT fits in well with the other offerings in Living Whole Online. She wishes more conventionally trained practitioners would know about OT and refer their patients to practitioners who are skilled in this discipline.
We are interested in the whole person which is very much aligned with our focus in Living Whole Online.
-Dr. Elizabeth Alicea-Torres