Emerging Practice in Mental Health

As society and its needs change, so does the role of occupational therapy practitioners in the lives of our clients. To cater to this, there are many different emerging niches within the field of occupational therapy. As time goes on and society continues to evolve, this list will expand even beyond what it encompasses currently. Justas well, some of the niches that are currently emerging, will no longer be emerging in the future because they will be mainstream areas of practice for OT professionals. For example, a few of the emerging niches in mental health include the work of occupational therapists with depression, recovery and peer support programs, sensory approaches to mental health, and veterans’ and wounded warriors’ mental health. Occupational therapists are slowly but surely finding their place when working with these specific populations and they will continue to develop the role that they play in the lives of those that fall into these more specific mental health categories.