An Occupational Therapy Practitioner Guide for Addressing Trauma and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Practice
By: Maddy Ertelt, OTDS
As a soon to be new grad occupational therapist, one of my goals for the future is to address mental health in all individuals regardless of which practice setting I end up in. I have always been passionate about mental health, therefore when deciding on a topic for my scholarly project I knew that I wanted to address mental health somehow and someway. I eventually decided to develop a practitioner guide for addressing trauma and PTSD in occupational therapy practice after seeing firsthand how trauma can negatively impact one’s ability to function in daily life.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) impacts an estimated 3.6% of adults and 5% of adolescents in the United States each year (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). This percentage is even higher in specific populations, such as those who have endured a traumatic brain injury (Iljazi et al., 2020). With trauma being highly prevalent in society, it is imperative that occupational therapists feel comfortable addressing it in all areas of practice.
I developed Best Practice Occupational Therapy Interventions for Addressing Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Practitioner Guide to provide occupational therapists with the knowledge to address trauma among adolescent and adult populations in practice. This guide includes sections that educate the practitioner on the occupational therapy process as it relates to trauma including evaluation, intervention, and the outcomes process (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2020). It also includes sections that address trauma-informed care, impacts of trauma, and physical and mental comorbidities of trauma.
My hope for making this guide freely available is for occupational therapists to utilize it to address trauma and PTSD within all areas of practice. By providing a broad range of education on the topic of trauma, I anticipate that occupational therapists utilizing this guide will feel more comfortable assessing for trauma and addressing it within practice.
My main takeaways after completing this guide are that:
· Trauma is highly prevalent and often comorbid with a wide range of physical and mental health conditions.
· Trauma can adversely impact physical health. It has been associated with development of dysautonomia (Schneider & Schwerdtfeger, 2020), an increased risk for developing cardiovascular diseases (Fu, 2022), and chronic low-grade inflammation within the body which can lead to additional health complications and autoimmune disorders (Peruzzolo et al., 2022).
· Trauma impacts more than just a person’s mental health. It also has the potential to negatively impact physical, cognitive, sensory, and spiritual aspects of a person’s health. Addressing all these factors can therefore have positive impacts on the person.
· Trauma negatively impacts nearly all areas of occupations.
· Trauma should be addressed within all areas of occupational therapy practice as it is likely present within all areas of practice.
About the Author
Hi! My name is Maddy Ertelt, and I am currently an occupational therapy student and soon-to-be new graduate occupational therapist. I am originally from the Fargo, ND area and plan to get a job in Fargo after graduation and boards this spring. I was first drawn to the occupational therapy field after seeing firsthand how impactful occupational therapists were in treating individuals with mental health conditions. After looking more into the field of occupational therapy, I also began to hear stories about how occupational therapists positively impacted various family members of mine. Throughout my occupational therapy education, I have gained experience treating clients in inpatient behavioral health and acute care settings through my level II fieldworks in addition to learning various skills from Shannon Pfau at mOTivate minds while completing my scholarly project. My favorite part about being an occupational therapist is how broad our field is. With this, I enjoy my ability to address all aspects of the person (e.g., mental health, cognition, sensory systems, physical health, spirituality/values) regardless of practice setting. My current passion areas are anything mental health related, treating neurological conditions (e.g., strokes, TBIs, etc.), and older adults. I am excited to soon begin my career as an occupational therapist!
References
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2020). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (4th ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(Suppl. 2), 7412410010. https://www.doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74S2001
Fu, Q. (2022). Autonomic dysfunction and cardiovascular risk in post-traumatic stress disorder. Autonomic Neuroscience: Basic and Clinical, 237, 102923. https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.autneu.2021.102923
Iljazi, A., Ashina, H., Al-Khazali, H. M., Lipton, R. B., Ashina, M., Schytz, H. W., & Ashina, S. (2020). Post-traumatic stress disorder after traumatic brain injury- A systematic review and meta-analysis. Neurological Sciences, 41(10), 2737-2746. https://www.doi.org/10.1007/s10072-020-04458-7
National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Post-traumatic stress disorder. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd
Peruzzolo, T. L., Pinto, J. V., Roza, T. H., Shintani, A. O., Anzolin, A. P., Gnielka, V., Kohmann, A. M., Marin, A. S., Lorenzon, V. R., Brunoni, A. R., Kapczinski, F., & Passos, I. C. (2022). Inflammatory and oxidative stress markers in post-traumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Molecular Psychiatry, 27(8), 3150- 3163. https://www.doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01564-0
Schneider, M., & Schwerdtfeger, A. (2020). Autonomic dysfunction in posttraumatic stress disorder indexed by heart rate variability: A meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 50, 1937–1948. https://www.doi.org/10.1017/S003329172000207X
