An occupation is, most simply put, any activity we participate in that engages (occupies) our attention, interests, and/or expectations, at any point throughout the life course. This book offers an emerging and innovative perspective on occupation, based in the work of American philosopher John Dewey and other pragmatists, that challenges accepted ideas. Each chapter presents a lively and multifaceted dialogue on transactional perspectives on occupation. Scholars from Europe, North America, and Australasia have written a diverse set of arguments and case studies about occupation, covering theoretical, methodological and applied issues relevant to the topic. In addition, contributors make connections with significant authors from various disciplines that make clearer the roles of occupation and occupational science across many cultures and contexts. The transactional perspectives articulated in this book both implicitly and explicitly suggest that occupations are forms of activity that create and re-create a multitude of our relationships with the world. Often taken for granted by some academic disciplines, occupation is a core element of human life. This book is a provocative and critical analysis of the focal concept for occupational therapy and science.

For people with severe/profound and multiple disabilities, managing the basic necessities of daily life often poses myriad challenges. Despite great odds, advances in assistive technology are making a difference in these individuals' lives. Advances in microswitches, voice outcome communication aids, and computer-based systems are creating new opportunities for living independently, improving basic life skills, and reducing problem behaviors among individuals with combined motor, sensory, and intellectual disabilities.

This unique volume examines how education and rehabilitation can improve the lives of even those individuals most affected by severe/profound and multiple disabilities. Interventions currently in use and in experimental stages are surveyed in terms of how they work and their applicability to clients with various needs. In addition, it examines the characteristics of developmentally disabled populations and offers guidelines for choosing suitable technologies. It presents empirical evidence on the advances in improving interaction with caregivers, control of the home environment, handling self-care tasks, and other core skills.

"Assistive Technology" examines interventions that are innovative, respectful of the dignity of clients, and practical for ongoing use, including:

Microswitches in habilitation programs.
Speech-generating devices for communication and social development.
Instructional technology for promoting academic, work, and leisure skills.
Assistive technology for promoting ambulation.
Orientation systems for promoting movement indoors.
Assistive technology for reducing problem behaviors.

A state-of-the-art guide to a growing field, "Assistive Technology" is an invaluable resource for researchers, clinicians, graduate students as well as clinicians and allied professionals in developmental psychology, rehabilitation and rehabilitative medicine, learning and instruction, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, and educational technology."

Beneath the surface we are all connected . . . 'An authentically soothing, powerful, thought-provoker.' MATT HAIG 'On Connection is medicine for these wounded times.' MAX PORTER 'On Connection came to me when I needed it most, and reminded me that the links we have to places, people, words, ourselves, are what keep us alive.' CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS This is a book about connection. About how immersing ourselves in creativity can help us cultivate greater self-awareness and bring us closer to each other. Drawing on two decades of experience as a writer and performer, Kae Tempest champions the role of creativity - in whatever form we choose to practice it - as an act of love, helping us establish a deeper relationship to our true selves, and to others and the world we live in. Honest, hopeful and written with piercing clarity, On Connection is an inspiring personal meditation that will transform the way you see the world. 'Persuasive and profound.' OBSERVER 'Tempest's prose is crisp and thoughtful.' NEW STATESMAN

This comprehensive overview of the many types of animal-assisted therapy provides the perfect reference for students, general readers, pet owners, animal care specialists, psychologists, occupational and physical therapists, and mental health professionals. The use of animals for therapy is a burgeoning form of treatment for individuals with physical, emotional, or psychological illnesses. Written for students and general readers, Animal-Assisted Therapy offers a historical overview of the practice, detailing its growth and the many ways it is practiced today. Filled with illustrative examples, such as successful programs where children with reading problems read aloud to canine companions, the book illuminates the expansive nature and effectiveness of this therapy as it is practiced both generally and among special populations, including children, the elderly, autistic individuals, and the incarcerated. The book also provides specific information that will be of interest to pet owners who want to get involved in these programs and includes information on U.S. government requirements allowing guide dogs in public and private facilities. A list of government regulations about the rights of service dogs in public accommodations A glossary of major terms, such as animal-assisted therapy, animal-assisted activities, equine therapy, and many others The most comprehensive annotated bibliography yet developed on the subject, including books, journal articles, videos, and websites

* This is the first book that discusses the medically ill baby's embodied experience, manifest in the child's behaviors and the family dynamics from the perspective of nonverbal interactional and relational experiences * Dr. Suzi Tortora is a Laban nonverbal movement analyst and dance/movement therapist who has pioneered dance/movement therapy with infants, young children and families, and Dr. Miri Keren, a clinical assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry, Tel-Aviv University Sackler Medical School, is one of the co-authors of the newly revised DC- 0 - 5 (TM): Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood * This book fills this gap in the literature bringing a variety of fields together including infant mental health; infant and child psychiatry; nonverbal movement analysis; and the creative arts therapies

Draws from feminist Earth-based and Indigenous worldviews supported by healing and transformational, and arts and place-based methods. Authors have been honing these methods for more than 30 years. Offers practices that can be adapted for numerous community-based settings.

This book explores applied theatre practice for children in environments of illness and cure and how it can powerfully normalise children's hospitalisation experience. It is an essential tool for making meaning of children's illness, putting it into a fictional context and developing better control of their clinical experiences. It can be central to raising the standards of care and quality of life during illness. Taken from the author's research and participatory bedside theatre practice in hospitals before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, this book demonstrates new learning about aesthetics, ethics, emotions, stories, puppetry, digital arts and research methodologies about children's health and wellbeing. It provides a selection of ten unique stories told by children inspired by applied theatre practice in paediatrics, cardiac, oncology, neurosurgery, burns units and complex and intensive care wards. Stories aid in understanding the language of children's pain for a better assessment and management of pain by healthcare professionals through the arts. It analyses synergistic theatre performance in 'stitched lands' between challenging realities and safe fictionalities. This book enables artists to develop new ways of thinking and contributes to further improvements in the provision of education and reflective learning in the field. It also addresses the emotional labour of the artist in healthcare and makes recommendations for balanced training to prevent emotional exhaustion. Designed for artists, healthcare professionals, therapists, play specialists and teachers who work with children in healthcare, this text aims to help many people find creative ways of making a positive difference in sick children's lives. It is a book for those who love and care for children.

Captures the importance of belonging and the need for social connectedness- a key driver for positive adjustment post-injury. Highlights the issues around how people with brain injuries are 'managed' in a residential home environment that is predominantly intended for elderly and frail individuals. Covers a decades-long timespan of a survivor of brain injury. Provides much needed support for patients and family members adjusting to life after brain injury.

* The book will include high quality contributions from practitioners and researchers that consider the ethics and aesthetics of the work, investigating the role of sound in community building, wellbeing, education, and social or environmental justice. * Would be recommended reading in leading applied and socially engaged theatre courses, in sound studies and sonic art courses and in media and communication courses. * The closest competitors are more a broad survey of sound art while this book looks to the future, building possibilities, and imagining what might be through the creative acts of inquiry and sound. Contribution from Brandon LaBelle (key theorist in sound studies) First book to address community engaged arts through a sound studies lens An area of community engaged arts that has exploded recently since the COVID-19 pandemic

Written by experts and founders in the world of equine assisted services (EAS), Integrating Horses into Healing: A Comprehensive Guide to Equine Assisted Services is an all-inclusive, hands-on guide for any practitioner, researcher, or student interested in EAS. The book provides a wealth of knowledge, including perspectives from therapy and coaching practitioners, equine professionals, veterinarians, researchers, clients, board members, and founders of the EAS industry. These diverse perspectives offer a depth and insight that make this a go-to guide for EAS practitioners and researchers. The focus of the book is on the ethical incorporation of equines into different therapy modalities. The well-being of the equine as well as the practitioner team is addressed, as well as sustainability and health within a for-profit and non-profit structure.

In Transformational Journaling for Coaches, Therapists, and Clients: A Complete Guide to the Benefits of Personal Writing, more than 50 coaches, therapists, and journaling experts from around the world share their best practices and explain in detail how they use journaling to improve their work with clients. This edited collection brings together the leading voices of the journaling world into one ground-breaking volume, providing practical techniques and tools to use with clients. Applicable and accessible, over 50 journaling luminaries share their experiences and insights across eight sections, including the logic of journaling, techniques and applications, using journaling with clients, journaling in groups, journaling for mental health and wellness, growth and healing, spirituality, creativity, and more. Through theoretical and practical applications, it illustrates the transformational process of journaling in helping clients grow, heal, and achieve their goals. This book is essential reading for coaches, therapists, and other mental health professionals, as well as those interested in using personal writing for growth and self-awareness.

Routledge International Handbook of Play, Therapeutic Play and Play Therapy is the first book of its kind to provide an overview of key aspects of play and play therapy, considering play on a continuum from generic aspects through to more specific applied and therapeutic techniques and as a stand-alone discipline. Presented in four parts, the book provides a unique overview of, and ascribes equal value to, the fields of play, therapeutic play, play in therapy and play therapy. Chapters by academics, play practitioners, counsellors, arts therapists and play therapists from countries as diverse as Japan, Cameroon, India, the Czech Republic, Israel, USA, Ireland, Turkey, Greece and the UK explore areas of each topic, drawing links and alliances between each. The book includes complex case studies with children, adolescents and adults in therapy with arts and play therapists, research with children on play, work in schools, outdoor play and play therapy, animal-assisted play therapy, work with street children and play in therapeutic communities around the world. Routledge International Handbook of Play, Therapeutic Play and Play Therapy demonstrates the centrality of play in human development, reminds us of the creative power of play and offers new and innovative applications of research and practical technique. It will be of great interest to academics and students of play, play therapy, child development, education and the therapeutic arts. It will also be a key text for play and creative arts therapists, both in practice and in training, play practitioners, social workers, teachers and anyone working with children.

Therapeutic Songwriting provides a comprehensive examination of contemporary methods and models of songwriting as used for therapeutic purposes. It describes the environmental, sociocultural, individual, and group factors shaping practice, and how songwriting is understood and practiced within different psychological and wellbeing orientations.

Provides a broad a bottom-up set of multiple international examples of projects initiated by social practitioners and by artists - and by collaboration between the two - in varied settings and domains. Provides a set of examples, methods, and ideas for including social workers, community workers, social change advocates, art therapists, psychologists, human geographers, and town and urban planners, but also social artists, cultural policy makers, and those interested in using social arts in participatory research. Will be of interest to community workers, social change advocates, art therapists, psychologists, human geographers, and town and urban planners and will inspire and guide all of the above groups on the theoretical, academic, training, and practice levels of using social arts.

Creativity in Counseling Children and Adolescents shows counselors and other mental health professionals how to use a wide variety of creative and experiential activities that emphasize strengths and skills-focused work. The first section addresses the basic tenets of experiential learning, guiding readers through ways to build a creative and interactive environment for counseling. Later chapters lay out methods for choosing activities and finding the right match between diverse interests, skills, abilities, and cultural considerations. Once an activity is identified and implemented, the book shows counselors how to help children make meaning and capitalize on the benefits of the activity through processing and transferring skills.

* Offers accessible and effective methods to supplement elementary education using strengths children already possess: imagination, physical energy and a need for personal expression, which cumulate into the idea of dynamic play * Chapters provide music, art, and dance material in addition to activities, games, and creative physical activities * Research about the correlation of movement to brain activity is included to support the thesis that creative movement as an effective adjunct to learning

Dramatherapy with Elders and People with Dementia illuminates how targeted sessions of dramatherapy can improve the quality of life of elderly people with dementia. The book takes the reader through the dramatherapy experience of a group of people who display a 'feeling intelligence'; a quality that softens distress at vanishing words and clouded memories. Unique in its approach, not only to dramatherapy with elders and people with dementia, it presents an essential validation of older people's life stage development. Rather than being different or 'other', Jaaniste paints word pictures to show human qualities such people have in common with their dementia-free contemporaries. Readers will glean insights into the arts therapies, especially creative drama, meeting examples of elder wisdom, wit and resilience in dealing with life, but especially grief, loss, and deep questions that come with ageing. Enriched with vignettes and anecdotes based on rigorous research and measurement, the book will be suitable for adaptation by arts therapists and other allied health professionals who are interested in using person-centred, strengths-based approaches.

* This book has two main goals: to contextualize the phenomena of Holocaust artwork for the field of art therapy, and use that cannon of artwork to support the inclusion of logotherapy into art therapy theory and practice * Built on three sections of the author's doctoral work: theory, research, and practice * Themes are presented in practice in the third section can be used to guide clients in art therapy practice within the existential philosophy of logotherapy, which emphasizes meaning making to facilitate healing and personal growth

Insightful new approach to group work and creativity. Author is well-known in the field. Draws on the author's experience of hosting these sessions, both online and offline.

This book guides therapists trained in EMDR in the successful integration of the creative arts therapies to make the healing potential of EMDR safer and more accessible for patients who present with complex trauma. Contributors from the respective fields of creative and expressive arts therapies offer their best ideas on how to combine EMDR with these therapies for maximum benefit for people from diverse backgrounds, orientations, and vulnerable populations. Chapters offer detailed case studies and images, insightful theoretical approaches, and how-to instructions to creatively enhance clinical work. Additionally, the book addresses current critical issues in the field, including the importance of an integrative and open approach when addressing cultural, racial and diversity issues, and creative interventions with clients through teletherapy. Creative arts therapy practitioners such as art therapists, play therapists, and dance/movement therapists will find this a compelling introductory guide to EMDR.

- Outlines theories and models of social action art therapy, and its application within the context of working with moments and times of crisis; showing how it draws on art therapy and participatory methods of research - Provides examples of the use of social action art therapy and arts-based research to understand and to assist individuals and groups in moments of crisis. This includes experiences of asylum and refuge, domestic violence and abuse, and climate change - Details how ideas of belonging, bridging and imagination resonate with social action art therapy

* This book provides a robust and practical discussion about implementing solution-focused therapy in the outdoors * While other adventure and outdoor therapy books provide general introductions and overview of the work, this book presents an evidence-based and robust model for therapy outdoors, which is largely missing from the field. * This book brings together experiences of using this model in current outdoor practice, and contrasts with many adventure therapy books written by scholars with limited outdoor therapy experiences.

Supervision for Occupational Therapy is a practical text that guides both supervisors and supervisees to make the most out of supervision opportunities. While supervision in occupational therapy is vital as a mechanism for public and professional safety, learning how to do it successfully on-the-job can be a daunting prospect. By gathering stories from different professions, sectors, and parts of the world, this book is a hands-on guide to help occupational therapists navigate the complexities of supervision throughout their careers. This book presents, for the first time, the 3Cs for Effective Supervision (Connections, Content, and Continuing development), which offers a platform for supervisors and supervisees to frame their supervision practices. The chapters discuss common models and theories for supervision, ideas for how to structure relationships and sessions, templates and question guides for enhancing conversations, and practical strategies for dealing with common challenges. The book also considers the impact of workforce issues, diverse populations, and regional/rural/remote practice on supervision. Offering career-span advice and a process of self- and professional development to work through, this book provides a way to scaffold and support supervisors' and supervisees' learning and practice of supervision throughout working life. It is an essential guide for all occupational therapists. The eResources for this book are available at www.Routledge.com/9780367552428

Harnessing the inspiration available from the arts and the imagination brings to life sensitive and effective social work practice. Workers feel most satisfied while service users and communities are more likely to benefit when creative thinking can be applied to practice dilemmas. Drawing on contributions from Canada, England and Utrecht this book illustrates the transforming effect of creatively applied thinking to social problems. The first part of the book considers how use of the self can be enhanced by analytic reflection and application to difficulties facing individuals and communities. The second part shows psychodynamic theory to be a valuable aid when thinking about issues faced by social workers facing threats and accusations, therapeutic work with children and restorative youth justice. The third part of the book considers the implications of working with the arts in community settings - an ex-mining community in North West England, the Tate Gallery in London and the 'cultural capital' of Liverpool. Taken as a whole these chapters combine to inspire and provoke thought of how the arts and the imagination can be used creativity to help service users confronted by problems with living and the workers who attempt to get alongside them to think about these. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Social Work Practice.