1st Edition
Coping Strategies to Promote Mental Health Training Modules for Occupational Therapists and Other Care Providers
This manual offers care providers a unique combination of evidence-based methods for adult learning and coping strategy development when training clients individually or in groups.
Coping strategies help clients to engage and thrive in meaningful self-care, as well as productive and leisure occupations. The coping strategies are divided into four categories: health and wellness routines, changing the body’s response to stress, changing the situation, and changing attitudes. Each category contains four modules with client handouts for coping strategy training, including sleep hygiene, suicide safety planning, setting healthy boundaries, and cultivating gratitude. Every module contains a facilitator lesson plan, specific learning outcomes, and examples of expected client responses to ensure the learning is taking place.
Occupational therapists and other care providers, both novice and experienced, will find this manual useful to improve efficiencies in practice and provision of meaningful teachings.
Introduction; 1: Modules: Health and wellness routines; 1.1: Sleep hygiene to improve daily occupations; 1.2: Medication adherence as part of a healthy routine; 1.3: Forming health habits and balance in occupations; 1.4: Meal simplification to fuel occupation engagement; 1: Handouts: Health and wellness routines; 2: Modules: Change the situation; 2.1: Overcoming roadblocks to change occupation performance; 2.2: Building community networks to increase opportunities for occupation; 2.3: Defining healthy boundaries; 2.4: Setting healthy boundaries to support meaningful occupation; 2: Handouts: Change the situation; 3: Modules: Change body response to stress; 3.1: Behaviour activation to assist with initiating occupation; 3.2: Anger management strategies for constructive action; 3.3: Choosing occupations for distress tolerance and resilience; 3.4: Suicide safety plan for occupational engagement and recovery (SSP-OEAR); 3: Handouts: Change body response to stress; 4: Modules: Change Attitude; 4.1: Building on our strengths to aid with occupation engagement; 4.2: Problem solving to address challenges in occupations; 4.3: Intentional positive occupations to boost mental health; 4.4: Gratitude as part of daily occupations; 4: Handouts: Change Attitude.
Biography
Theresa Straathof, OT Reg. (Ont.), is an occupational therapist at The Ottawa Hospital in Ontario, Canada with 30 years of practice. Special interests include coping strategy training and suicide prevention.
"Once again, Theresa has shared her depth of knowledge and practical strategies in an accessible way for occupational therapists at all levels of their practice. Having used the first manual, Coping Strategies to Promote Occupational Engagement and Recovery (McNamara & Straathof, 2017), for several years in our practice, our group of occupational therapists is excited to see this next volume with even more relevant, useful guides for group and individual coping session delivery. The handouts are easy for occupational therapists to sort and select, and easy for clients to read and understand; a recipe for success across many clinical environments." —Fiona Smith Bradley, OT Reg, occupational therapist, partner, Modern OT, Ottawa, ON
"An excellent follow-through from the first book. The modules are well thought out and beautifully presented. A very potent tool box for Mental Health in-patients and for Day Hospitals. Easily adaptable to individual therapy. The suicide prevention and anger management modules alone are worth the cover price. —Keith Anderson, MD, FRCP(C)
"The step wise approach based on adult learning principles makes this book extremely easy to refer to, to use with clients and guarantees benefits for them, as it always leads to identifiable and observable changes in behaviours. The links made between cognitive-behavioural principles and various occupational therapy concepts brings an innovative aspect to client care and gives a very unique OT lens to the book. The handouts are user friendly, well done and straight to the point. They are clear, concrete, and link to meaningful behavior change and participation-based examples. This book will be a very useful resource for occupational therapists working in adult mental health and community-based workers needing resources for people with severe mental illness." —Suzanne Rouleau, OT, MSc, occupational therapist-psychotherapist, assistant-professor, Occupational Therapy program, McGill University
"Theresa’s book is an invaluable resource for Occupational Therapists and other care providers. It provides clear and practical modules, including learning plans and activities, covering many key coping strategies. Theresa’s modules have become an integral part of the treatment for many of my patients as they strive for improved mental health and wellness." — Gary Kay, MD, FRCPC, staff psychiatrist and inpatient director, The Ottawa Hospital, Civic Campus
"This book is an essential expansion from the previous Coping Strategies to Promote Occupational Engagement and Recovery : A Program Manual for Occupational Therapists and Other Care Providers. The modules’ structure makes the content accessible to care providers regardless of experience level. The details help to build the care provider’s confidence and enables pre-application preparation. I have found that the functional real-life examples are relatable to clients from diverse backgrounds, and with cultural humility can be applied to a variety of contexts. In my previous work as a mental health nurse in a remote Northern indigenous community I used the modules daily. I received feedback that the worksheets were valuable, often-referenced takeaways. The practical modules in this book successfully translate abstract concepts into actionable, client-centered plans. I look forward to using this book in future practice and am sure it will be an indispensable resource for many care providers." —Marley Pickles White, RN
