How will I help to restore clients to the roles they desire? I will do what comes naturally to me: listen to a story. Perhaps I should explain.
As a toddler I loved my Gramma and her bedtime stories. Nothing brought me greater joy than snuggling under a cozy blanket while she spun a tale with her feather-soft voice. This affinity for stories grew even stronger when I entered kindergarten and discovered that impossibly wondrous thing called a library. Indeed it has never stopped.
I like happy endings, but having winced my way through some of the grim offerings of modern literature I no longer expect the last three words of any tale to read happily ever after. That's okay. Little triumphs are cause for celebration. And declines? Well, they are a great reason to find the humor in this short life and laugh with abandon.
How does this relate to delivering occupational therapy? For me people are stories in progress, and each one fascinates me. As people share the details of their lives I am drawn in and filled with a stubborn desire to see them achieve their goals.
In future years I will come to my clients eager to hear their tales and to support them in adventures--even just a solo trip to the bathroom--they would choose if only they could. It is not for me to write their stories, but to place within their reach the tools, understanding, strategies, and skills that will help them write their own.
