My commitment to the profession

For the Professional Development class, we had to read the article: The Heart, Mind and Soul of Professionalism in Occupational Therapy (Wood, 2004). It was interesting to learn what the author meant for heart, mind and soul of professionalism in our profession. Here a short summary:

Heart of professionalism- belief that what we do is important for the good of individuals and our society, having a value so special, that money alone can not measure it. This makes doing our job pleasurable and good for ourselves in addition to good for others. In other words, the heart of professionalism is the conviction that our "Good Job" fills our lives with meaning at the same time helping the world.

Mind of professionalism- the application of a body of specialized knowledge unique to the profession. The author states that without the direct experience of how the mind of professionalism nourishes the pleasure and pride for the job, the evidence based practice would be seen as a demand without meaning. The occupational therapists that are less likely to get sick of the heart of professionalism are the ones that have experienced the mind of professionalism as a source of empowerment and professional inspiration.

Soul of professionalism- the authentic connections between the people expressed in the every day particularities. In the job, the soul is expressed through an environment that feels alive and evokes creativity and compromise. It is also seen when the members of the same profession work together to ensure that they are meeting the highest standards of excellence.
 

After reading the article, the professor asked us to make our own commitment to the profession. Here goes mine: 

I want to be the best Occupational Therapist I can, practice the professional behaviors learned and give always the best of me. So I commit to be a consumer of research and never loose the conviction in the effectiveness of my job. I promise to be willing to work together with other professionals and  provide the best interventions within my possibilities to my clients. 

I hope that some day I can go back to this post and feel proud that I have met this commitment.

Wood, W. (2004).  The Heart, Mind and Soul of Professionalism in Occupational Therapy. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy 58 (3), 249-257.

Lesson# 5: The world is sensational!

July 14, 2012.

Learning about the diferrent ways in wich people process the sensory information they recieve every day changed my way of seeing others. I spent a while classifying everyone into "seekers", "bystanders", "avoiders" or "sensory sensitive". Although there are different theories about sensory processing, the thing that surprised me the most is the big difference that can exist between the reactions of two individuals upon receiving the same stimulus. Some can enjoy the feeling of  sand in their feet, of a very colorful room, or strong smells and flavors; while others might not even bear them.

Learning about this helped me understand better the people around me and myself. Although I scored "normal" in the sensory profile I discovered that for a lot of things I am an "avoider" and for others a "bystander". (If you have no idea of what I'm taking about, I recommend the book by Winnie Dunn: "Living Sensationally" in which she explains this in a way that anyone can understand). This topic is very broad and it goes from cell biology and neuroscience, to individualized sensory diets. However, I think the most important thing I have learned until now about the topic is that sensations and how we process them have a lot to do with our behavior and that we have to learn to have respect for those who process them differently. They are not picky or capricious, they just feel the world in a different way!

Lesson #4: Occupation = Meaning

June 18, 2012. 

Occupations have the meaning that the individual and the culture give to them. What for me can be an insignificant thing, for someone else can have a lot of value. I think this can better understood through this story a professor told us:

There was a mother that every single day had to bathe her daughter since, because of her condition, she couldn't do it herself. The OT was looking for alternatives so the girl could bathe independently and in that way alleviate the mother of one more responsibility.  But, the mother didn't want to stop bathing her daughter since for her that was the only moment of  special bonding and tranquility that they could spend together.

Since I started to understand this, I began to value more the activities that for me seem insignificant, but for others may mean their moment of peace, happiness,  release of stress or even give them life meaning. You can't be an Occupational Therapist if you don't value occupations! But, the best thing about it is that it doesn't only help you understand better you clients, it helps you understand better everyone around you :).

Lesson #3: Accepting your mistakes in public helps you grow

June 6, 2012.

At the beginning of this blog, I wanted to write the lessons in the same order I had learned them. But the truth is that it is a little difficult. I have a notebook with the titles of the lessons I want to write about in order, but sometimes (like right now) I feel more inspired to write about something more recent. Here it goes:

It is very difficult for me to accept my own mistakes. Not so much to myself as to others. Probably because of pride, fear of feeling humiliated and inferior or simply because of shame.  A lot of times we fear being judged or criticized for our mistakes. But, with time I have learned that accepting my mistakes in public is liberating. There will always be who will want to humiliate you and who will be glad that you made a mistake, but today I am convinced that accepting that I'm wrong doesn't make me inferior to others, it only shows, that as a person, I know how to grow.