Working in Mental Health

I am 2 weeks into my second and last rotation. (Only 10 more weeks to go!) The University of Minnesota sets up our placements and they try to give us two different types of settings. My first one was in a smaller hospital where I spent my time primarily in physical disability/rehab. This time I'm in a mental health setting at the VA in St. Cloud. While some of the Veterans I'm working with have physical disabilities, the focus of the OT treatment is helping them in their mental health recovery. The diagnoses include depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bi-polar, and PTSD. The Veterans involved in OT are living in the community with varying levels of independence. Though each Veteran has different goals, overall they want to increase their independence.

One of the therapists I've been working with has been at the VA for a long time. 30-40 years ago, Veterans could come to OT all day every day. Treatment consisted of some type of creative work with their hands. They worked on wood-working, leather carving, ceramics, models and a host of other projects. Having something purposeful to do did help them improve but coming all day every day didn't necessarily increase their independence. Over the years, the OT program has evolved to the point where now OT continues to provide the creative outlet through "therapeutic media" but the main focus is on skills groups. These groups are designed to help the Veterans increase their skills in every area of life and the Veterans choose which group(s) they will attend each quarter based on their goals. During my first two weeks I've observed a sleep group which is especially helpful to those with PTSD. Another favorite is the relaxation and sensory group where Veterans experience many different types of relaxation and become aware of how different sensory experiences impact their emotions and mental state. The group on dealing with stigma had some animated discussion as the Veterans discussed how to deal with people who treat them unfairly because of their mental illness. This next week I'll go from mainly observing to leading some simple groups and beginning the always present documentation. Thankfully this time it's on the computer so cut and paste makes that process much quicker. I've enjoyed interacting with the Veterans. They are interesting people and have had some rich (and difficult) life experiences.