Reaching Out to Diversify Our Teaching and Practice Population

I recently traveled to an intrastate occupational therapy (OT) conference as an attendee and as a presenter. My session, “T’ai Chi Chih (TCC) for Body, Mind, and Spirit,” was among a handful of sessions to close the day. Prior to my session, I participated in another; it addressed assessing one’s own regulatory state to enhance therapeutic use of self.

An OT walking into a therapy session (the setting could be a home-visit or a hospital room or an elementary school classroom) needs to possess self-regulation to effectively communicate with whatever emotional status awaits on the other side of the door. One example that the presenter provided was recognizing how a parent in dysregulation cannot help a child in dysregulation. So, how does the therapist help oneself calm when needed? The presenter mentioned Qigong as one source of relaxation.

The presentation on emotional regulation was a serendipitous precursor to my own. I was able to reflect on what I had heard earlier in the day and apply it to TCC. About two dozen people attended my session and we practiced several movements, focusing on our feet, weight shifts, and softness. Acknowledging that TCC arm movements are “along for the ride,” the OTs were invited to analyze upper extremity range of motion in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. All possible planes of movement in those joints are facilitated during a TCC practice. This is something I had not fully appreciated until preparing for the conference, but it provides another reason to incorporate TCC into a rehabilitation/healthy aging setting.

OTs working in mental health settings and nursing homes were especially interested in learning more. They appreciated that TCC seemed easier to grasp than other forms of T’ai Chi. All session participants received a printed list of TCC teachers throughout Minnesota from the Minnesota TCC website. I encouraged those OTs who seemed keenly interested to reach out to a TCC teacher living nearby to them for additional TCC learning options. I look forward to hearing from any TCC teachers receiving such a call.