Existentialism in Occupational Therapy: Implications for Practice, Research, and Education

Beyond conventional healthcare for mental health problems: Experiences of existential group conversations

BACKGROUND

Mental health problems (MHP) are a major public health challenge. Conventional healthcare has shown limitation on reducing MHP and there is a call for offering methods beyond healthcare as well as improve access to healthcare.

AIMS

To explore experiences among people having MHP of (i) taking part in existential conversations in groups beyond conventional healthcare and (ii) seeking and receiving conventional healthcare.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Four focus group interviews were conducted after finishing existential conversations in groups. Data was analyzed following thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The theme Access to a community for exploration and acceptance describes communication through impressions and expressions together with others. A reflective perspective on everyday life, describes re-evaluation through reflection. Within the theme Experiences of healthcare related encounters, referring to the second aim, participants recollected feelings of disconnectedness, difficulties verbalizing MHP and dealing with rigid, standardized measures.

CONCLUSION

Existential conversations in group may contribute to a more reflected doing in accordance with one's own values as well as improved mental health literacy. Design and measures within healthcare need to explicitly address MHP and consider individual's own preferences.

SIGNIFICANCE

This study contributes to understanding of coping with MHP in everyday life from an existential perspective.

Northern philosophies and professional neocolonialism in occupational therapy: a historical review and critique

ABSTRACT In this article, the authors conduct a historical review of recent philosophies influencing the Occupational Therapy profession in the United States (analytic philosophy and Continental varieties such as neopragmatism). Four philosophical categories are explored: epistemology, axiology, ontology, and praxis. The dominant strand of analytic philosophy is characterized by reductionist views of knowledge and reality, with little sustained attention to ethics and practical action. Competing but lesser recognized Continentally-inspired philosophies offer a critical and more phenomenological approach which values human subjectivities, narratives, and social agency. The authors argue that the dominance of analytic philosophy has created the intellectual foundations for neoliberalism to thrive and permeate the profession of Occupational Therapy in its curricula, practice models, reimbursement systems, and research agenda. As this Northern (United States) version of Occupational Therapy expands globally, the danger exists for professional neocolonialism to occur which can negatively influence or contradict more local ways of knowing and doing. The article concludes by offering strategies to unmask, disentangle, and dismantle Occupational Therapy from its Northern roots towards wider acceptance of Southern epistemologies, ethics, and collective action.