Is occupational therapy a hands-on job?

Question

I am a psychology major doing my undergrad.  I recently found out about occupational therapy and am very interested, but there are a couple of things holding me back.  

1)  I have hyperhidrosis so if occupational therapy is hands-on, I am going to need to scrap the idea. 

2) I am also very shy in front of groups so I would like to know if leading group therapy sessions is common?  Is public speaking part of the job (teaching, etc)?

Helping stroke victims recover and regain abilities is particularly interesting to me.  I would like to focus on psychological issues (perhaps eating disorders, mood disorders) more than physical issues due to my condition. 

Thank you in advance!

MomSezNo · Answer

Occupational therapy is practiced in a number of different settings.  Once you get your Master's in OT, you can work in a school, a social service agency, a hospital, etc.

Try doing a search on "occupational therapy career" or something similar and follow some of the leads you get from that.  I would think the OT professional organization [whatever it's called] would have a website that would be helpful.

I know a couple of OT's who practice in a school setting and it's not "hands on" in the sense that they have to touch the clients in a therapeutic treatment.

mistify · Answer

There is a lot of hands on therapy with OT...you are handeling patients, helping them transfer, helping them with exercises, massage, etc.  

...especially if you are hoping to work with a stroke population, you will need to put your hands on the patients alot. 

It sounds like you are more interested in neuropyschology as opposed to OT.  My other suggestion would be speech language pathology.  You'll still have to touch patients from time to time, but on a much more limited basis.  

I wouldn't say public speaking or ground therapies are all that common...when they do happen its usually in very small groups.

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Is occupational therapy a hands-on job?

2 Answers