Considering a Career as an Occupational Therapist in Child and Adolescent Mental Health?

What is Occupational Therapy (OT)?   Occupational therapists are comprehensively trained health professionals who enable people to lead meaningful and satisfying lives through participation in occupation or everyday activities. For further information about occupational therapy, please refer to this pamphlet - "Occupational Therapy: How can it help"?

OT in child and adolescent mental health is a challenging and rewarding area of specialism.  It allows therapists to work with children, teenagers and their families.  Especially in the areas of: vocational rehabilitation (including school re-integration); leisure and life-skills development; and therapeutic group work.  Group work is particularly exciting in this area and ranges from adventure-based sessions to psycho-educational groups (such as teaching teenagers anxiety management skills). 

In order to practice as an OT in New Zealand you will need to be registered with the Occupational Therapy Board.  Most occupational therapists also belong to their professional association, the New Zealand Association of Occupational Therapists (NZAOT).

Listen to an OT talk about his work.

You will need:
A degree in occupational therapy and this takes three years to complete.  There are two schools of OT in New Zealand:  Auckland University of Technology offers a Bachelor of Health Science (Occupational Therapy) and Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin offers a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy. 
Please refer to the above mentioned websites for course entry requirements.

The map below shows the major New Zealand tertiary providers offering occupational therapy courses.

Various child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) have regular vacancies.  To increase your confidence and gain particular knowledge about this specialised field, various universities offer post-graduate courses in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.  Some CAMHS may pay for staff's additional study or grant study time to complete these courses. These courses can be undertaken part/full-time.

To be registered to practise in New Zealand you must complete the registration process.  Refer to the Occupational Therapy Board for details.