The Role of Occupational Therapy in the Treatment of Adolescents with Eating Disorders as Perceived by Mental Health Therapists

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore occupational therapists' perceptions of how they contribute or may contribute to the treatment of adolescents with eating disorders. A naturalistic type inquiry with a phenomenological design was used to complete the study. Three occupational therapists (OTs) participated in the study. The findings of the study indicated that OTs saw their role in the treatment of adolescents with eating disorders as consisting of functioning in a multidisciplinary team setting, addressing co-morbid problems associated with eating disorders, using occupational therapy (OT) interventions to enable clients to cope with and manage symptoms, and using therapeutic relationships in their interventions.