Occupational Therapy’s Challenge: The Caring Relationship

Abstract

Abstract Caring brings an order to our lives and relationships that frees our energy to be creative and productive and provides parameters for our daily decisions. The development of a caring relationship between therapist and patient reinforces the wholistic approach of occupational therapy treatment. The capacity to care for others is related to the ability to care for self, and this ability is shaped by all of our life experiences. Caring forms the basic element in the development of a therapeutic relationship and provides the counterbalance: the “high-touch” human response to the introduction of “high tech” in today’s health care environment.