Meaningful and Purposeful - OTcoach

I attended the first Positive Psychology Conference in Auckland on the 9th and 10th September 2011. About half way through the first morning I started to pinch myself and ask if what I was hearing was for real – truly. I was in disbelief and finally had to ask someone if what I was hearing/grasping was indeed correct. I ask someone next to me “I am hearing that meaningful and purposeful lives is a new profession in Psychology and it has only really been discovered kind of now?” “Um – pretty much, this is a new arm to Psychology, a selection/choice of interest.”

So now science has caught up with what we have known all along. I still cannot believe this as I write. Bottom line, Psychologists have empirical evidence, in fact lots and lots of research and figures to back up what we do, ie. creating meaningful, purposeful lives based on values and particularly strengths. Now as an OTcoach I have used the coaching approach to remind the client what is working when obviously at times there is so much evidence of what is not working. I often work on values and interests/hobbies first to engage a client, to assist with motivation etc to then rehab. There is of course no order or prescription but basically this is my OTcoach approach.


Hedonia and Eudaimonia were part of nearly every presentation. Hedonia = emotional wellbeing, gaining pleasure immediately basically, if feeling sad, make it better and in an instant make yourself feel good. Eudaimonia = psychological wellbeing and social wellbeing. So now they recognise that emotional wellbeing is not enough and not sustainable and that in fact we need both psychological and social wellbeing. Is this familiar??

Todd Kadshan is a prominent psychologist in USA and we were lucky to have him on Skype. He was fantastic and apologised to Psychologists in general for saying that Psychologists can assess the clients but, if it is not in context, then it means nothing. OT is totally about context, values etc, etc. Can you imagine what it was like to sit there? I did have moments of basking in the knowledge that we get this and knew this and there is a whole Profession out there that does this.

Positive Psychology really promotes and I am 100% behind them in this, is the fact of our own Wellbeing. They liken it to brushing teeth every day and now find it incredible that we do not nurture our own Wellbeing, we do not need to become unwell before we start to look after ourselves. Of course, being Psychologists they have researched this and have evidence that it affects everything and it should be a priority in our lives.    The Wellbeing is of course balance – work, rest, play, mindfulness, dealing with all emotions.


So I still believe that everything I do is informed by Occupational Therapy, even more so now. As much as I was somewhat frustrated that we are not recognised, in the bigger picture I am delighted that finally the concept exists on a much wider scale and in the medical field. It now can impact on so many people that we could not possibly have reached before. I believe to be honest, that my coaching is occupational therapy of the ’well.’ It seems that Positive Psychology is about that too. Of course most Psychologists are working in mental health.


It feels as if we could benefit from their results and use it to remind DHB’s, Government why it matters and that our approach can lead to sustaining health and ultimately could reduce revolving door syndrome and repeated visits to hospitals/GPs.
My dream is that as a whole we as humans can bring wellbeing into our lives, just as we need to brush our teeth and share these concepts with our clients, so they take away tools that assist them for the rest of their lives. The strategies are so simple and yet we find it so hard to give ourselves permission.


So I challenge you to just look at your own life/practice and notice how much you look after your ‘wellbeing’. Please ask yourself what are you getting right and what is working and then celebrate.


Interesting times ahead