Occupational Therapy in the Recovery Setting: Stephanie McElhaney’s Doctoral Capstone Experience at Dove House
Stephanie McElhaney recently completed her Doctoral Capstone Experience (DCE) at Dove House as one of the final steps to earning her occupational therapy degree from the University of Indianapolis this May. During her time here, Stephanie implemented a program specific to the needs of our residents, and while she learned a lot and earned credit for her coursework, Dove House was fortunate to benefit from her important work.
“Dove House has taught me so much about substance use disorder and the recovery process,” said Stephanie. “It’s been interesting, and really wonderful, to see so many of these women change, even within the short time that I’ve been here. It’s also been exciting to see the impact occupational therapy can have on those in recovery.”
Occupational therapy (OT) is a healthcare profession that focuses on empowering and enabling individuals with illness or injury to participate in the daily activities that they want and need to do. OT takes a holistic approach to patient care to get people back to doing what they enjoy, which is why it’s perfect for the field of addiction treatment and recovery.
“Occupational therapy’s role in substance use disorder treatment is definitely an emerging area of practice, specifically in community settings,” Stephanie shared. “Substance abuse has a significant impact on an individual’s performance in daily life and that’s a huge reason that OT is beneficial. As practitioners skilled in working with a variety of diagnoses, we are able to help those in recovery develop skills to get back to doing what they need or want to do through developing coping strategies, healthy habits, providing information about wellness, and supporting long-term goals.”
In the healthcare world, the term “occupation” defines any activity that someone does to occupy their time—thus, “occupational therapy.” This is why Stephanie’s primary focus has been attempting to replace the “occupation” of addiction by introducing new activities to fill Dove House residents’ time.
“Research has shown boredom is a contributing factor to relapse. Each week, I covered a new topic in an effort to let the women explore new hobbies and activities. For example, we covered mindfulness, gardening, cooking/baking, drawing and painting, health/wellness, and sleep/rest,” added Stephanie.
Stephanie selected these topics based on the results of an interest survey she handed out to the women at the beginning of her project. Her ultimate goal with OT is to teach women more about themselves through self-discovery and mindfulness.
In addition to her upcoming degree in occupational therapy, Stephanie also holds a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Ball State University. When she isn’t doing school-related activities, Stephanie loves to run long distances, read books, hang out with her two cats and boulder at the local climbing gym. After graduating next month, Stephanie hopes to become a practitioner in an inpatient care unit, and eventually in a recovery-focused community setting where she can put everything she learned at Dove House to excellent use.
