OT Was Never Just About the Body

Occupational Therapy was born in the early 1900s out of the mental health movement. It wasn’t about checking off developmental boxes—it was about using meaningful activity to heal the whole person. OT was based on the idea that when people engage in purposeful routines, creative expression, social connection, and physical movement, their mental, emotional, and physical health improves.

It was never about compliance. It was about connection.

It was never about correcting behavior. It was about understanding the human behind the behavior.

It was about dignity, participation, and healing through everyday life.

Fast forward to today, and much of our system has moved in the opposite direction.

We’ve sliced development into categories, referred “problems” out to separate specialists, and reduced therapy into problem-based applications. When we practice this way, we lose the person in the process.

Holistic OT

Thankfully, we are seeing a new wave—a return to our roots. The holistic OT movement is bringing the profession back to what it was always meant to be: a full-body, full-soul approach to health and healing. It’s about integrating the mind, body, and spirit, honoring the nervous system, the environment, the emotional life, and the spiritual needs of the person.

And this is where my heart lives.

When I look at our children with Down Syndrome, I know this is the optimal approach. There are so many wonderful complimentary approaches that combine beautifully with traditional Occupational Therapy paradigms to create truly impactful and epigenetic changes for our children, ourselves, and our families.

Our kids are not defined by their diagnosis, but they do experience challenges that go far deeper than what traditional models are built to address.

They may need intervention to improve regulation, sensory integration, and movement, but also with stress, inflammation, environmental overwhelm, overexpressed genes, relationships, and frustration by systems that seek to fix their “behavior” rather than support their biology.

A holistic OT approach says:

• Let’s start with the nervous system—is your child safe, regulated, and connected?

• Let’s understand their sensory world—how do they process incoming sensory information?

• Let’s look at the environment—What can we add to create regulating and integrating routines?

• Let’s be mindful of emotions, energy, and needs of the whole family.

• Let’s understand that the child’s spirit is intact, even if the path to expression is blocked.

This is a holistic approach to health, development, and learning. Instead of worrying about time-based milestone achievement, a holistic approach focuses on creating conditions for development. We don’t separate body, brain, and spirit—we know they are one.

Happy OT Month. May we continue to return to the work that heals—mind, body, and spirit.

— Geralyn