When learning about careers that focus  and contribute to an individual’s well-being and improved quality of life, two areas are discussed: occupational psychology and occupational therapy. While both fields aim to enhance and improve an individual’s performance in life, they have distinct differences. Let us explore these differences and gain a better understanding.

What is occupational therapy?

Singapore Association of Occupational Therapists (n.d..) explains that occupational therapy is a profession in the healthcare sector focused on helping individuals of all ages strengthen their abilities, build confidence, and overcome challenges in daily activities.

In occupational therapy, the word “occupation” represents various meaningful events that occur in daily life, which include taking care of oneself, play, work, and school-related tasks.

 According to the American Occupational Therapy Association (2021), occupation therapy centers on recognizing performance based cognitive impairments like difficulties with thinking, earning, remembering and making decisions. It is important to identify cognitive impairments that hinders an individual’s capability to do everyday tasks including cooking, taking medication, promoting healthy lifestyle activities and engaging in social interactions.

Role of an Occupational Therapist

Occupational therapy (OT) is commonly used for individuals living with chronic musculoskeletal conditions. The objectives are to work on and enhance their capacity to perform their day-to-day activities within the home space and workplace, support effective adjustments and modifications when life challenges arise, reduce the loss of function, and nurture or enhance their mental well-being. (Alison Hammond,2004).

What conditions or issues does occupational therapy address?

  • Individuals with learning difficulties and disabilities
  • people with mental health problems
  • people who are physically challenged
  • individuals recovering from an illness
  • older people (NHS,2023)

Who might need occupational therapy?

  • birth injuries or birth defects
  • sensory processing disorders
  • traumatic injuries to the brain or spinal cord
  • learning problems
  • autism
  • juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
  • mental health or behavioral problems
  • broken bones or other orthopedic bones
  • developmental delays
  • post-surgical conditions
  • burns
  • spina bifida
  • traumatic amputations
  • cancer
  • severe hand injuries
  • multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and other chronic illness(Nemours,2020)

Where do Occupational Therapists Work?

  • community health centres
  • schools
  • hospitals
  • private practices
  • rehabilitation centres
  • aged care facilities

government organizations (Health direct Australia, n.d.)

What is occupational psychology?

Occupation psychology is also addressed as work psychology and Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Several definitions are discussed when defining occupational psychology ,for example ,”The application of psychological principles, theory and research to the work setting,” Landy and Conte,2004,p.6) and “work psychology is about people’s behavior, thoughts, and emotions related to their work. It can be used to improve our understanding and management of people.”(Arnold et al,2004.p.10).

Role of an occupational psychologist

       An individual’s workplace is a stressful setting. Psychology at the workplace helps employees cope with the stress. Studies have shown that using psychology at work aids employees in crisis and tackling issues while improving performance at the workplace setting.(Psychology at Workplace,Thanavathi.C).An effective workplace stand in need of two main characteristics namely efficient performance and employee satisfaction. To maintain financial stability, your business must ensure sufficient production, while also fostering a workplace environment that supports employee retention. By applying psychological principles from industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology and positive psychology, you can cultivate a productive and welcoming organizational culture.(Broudy,M.S,2019).

Where can occupational psychology be applied?

Occupational Psychology helps solve problems in the workplace such as 

  • Spotting training and developmental needs
  • Maximizing the quality of work life
  • Providing coaching to organization leaders and employees
  • Designing ,implementing and assessing the effectiveness of training programs
  • Creating performance evaluation criteria for individuals and organizations
  • Evaluating consumer preference, customer satisfaction and market strategies. (American Psychological Association,2013).

Where do occupational psychologists work?

  • Business sector
  • civil service
  • employers such as Department for Work, and Pensions and the Home Office
  • lecturers in universities
  • In research (University of Southampton,n.d)

In conclusion, occupational therapy and occupational psychology plays a vital role in an individual’s life. They are closely related fields that work on enhancing an individual’s functioning and efficiency in order to improve quality of life. Occupational therapy primarily focuses on physical, mental, cognitive, emotional challenges that limit an individual to perform everyday tasks allowing them to be independent and to thrive in life. IN contrast, occupational psychology explores the relationships in a workplace setting and aims to optimize performance, satisfaction and mental state of individuals at work. Together, occupational therapy and occupational psychology contribute significantly to an individual’s performance and efficiency, both personally and within organizations, enabling people to live fulfilling lives with an improved quality of life.

REFERENCES

Alison Hammond (2004). What is the role of the occupational therapist?. , 18(4), 491–505. doi:10.1016/j.berh.2004.04.001 

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2021). Role of occupational therapy in assessing functional cognition. American Occupational Therapy Association. https://www.aota.org/practice/practice-essentials/payment-policy/medicare1/medicare—role-of-ot-in-assessing-functional-cognition

American Psychological Association.2013.Organization Psychology.APA.https://www.apa.org/education-career/guide/subfields/organizationalv

Arnold,J.,Silvester,J.,Patterson,F.,Robertson,I.T.,Cooper,C.L & Burnes.B (2004).Work Psychology .4th ed .Harlow,UK:Pearson Education

Broudy,M.S.(2019).Using Psychology in Workplace.Online Psychology Degrees.https://www.online-psychology-degrees.org/study/workplace-psychology/

Healthdirect Australia. (n.d.). Occupational therapy. Healthdirect. Retrieved March 12, 2025, from https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/occupational-therapy 

Landy,F.J.,& Conte,J.M.(2004).Work in the 21st century:An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology ,New York,McGraw-Hill.

Nemours(2020).Occupation Therapy.KidsHealth.https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/occupational-therapy.html

NHS(2023).OccupationalTherapy.NHS.https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/occupational-therapy

Singapore Association of Occupational Therapists. (n.d.). What is occupational therapy? SAOT. https://saot.org.sg/about-ot/what-is-occupational-therapy/

Thanavathi C.(2021).Psychology in Action.IQAC.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362889352_Psychology_at_Workplace

University of Southampton(n.d).Occupational Psychology. University of Southampton.https://www.southampton.ac.uk/psychleavers/careers/psychology_careers/occupational_psychology.page