Mental and emotional well-being shapes how people get through everyday life. When it’s out of balance, even simple tasks feel overwhelming.
That’s where occupational therapy (OT) makes a measurable difference. It offers practical strategies for managing daily life, whether that means getting out of bed, returning to work, or reconnecting with family and community when emotional challenges make things harder.At University of Western States, the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program teaches students to follow a function-first, whole-person care approach. Mental and emotional wellness are woven into clinical reasoning across all settings and populations.
Michele Tilstra, Ph.D., founding program director of the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program at University of Western States, emphasizes OT’s unique role in helping people attend to their mental and emotional needs with doable, day-to-day routines.
Here are six ways occupational therapy professionals support mental and emotional wellness.
1. How Occupational Therapists Build Daily Routines to Support Mental Health Stability
When mental health feels fragile, routines unravel. Sleep schedules begin to drift, meals become inconsistent, and responsibilities seem to pile up.
Why Daily Routines Matter in Mental Health Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapists help people rebuild those daily structures in ways that feel realistic and manageable. This work involves practical adjustments, such as creating concrete routines that reduce anxiety or breaking daily tasks into more feasible steps.
Ultimately, the goal is to create consistency. Over time, these routines provide a sense of predictability, grounding people in their own lives.
Occupational therapy tools might include:
- Visual schedules and checklists
- Timers and reminders
- “Micro-routines”
- Energy planning
Dr. Tilstra notes that in many settings, your routines become major barriers.
“A lot of times it’s not the actual physical act of doing the task that is difficult. The challenge is incorporating it into a consistent routine, because people may forget or get easily distracted.” Dr. Tilstra says, “so we use visual schedules and timers, depending on the client.”
By relying on these practical, personalized methods, occupational therapists rebuild routines step by step.
2. How Occupational Therapists Collaborate in Mental Health Care Teams
Occupational therapists frequently collaborate with psychologists, counselors, physicians, and social workers. Their unique perspective focuses on how mental health shows up in daily life, bridging the gap between emotional experience and functional ability.
By working with interdisciplinary care teams, occupational therapists are prepared to manage patient symptoms and support individualized interventions.
OTs and Counselors Work Together in Mental Health Care
Dr. Tilstra emphasizes that this collaboration works best when the roles are clear and complementary. For example, in her clinic, more than half of the clients attend both occupational therapy and counseling. “We try not to step on each other’s toes, but we’re very collaborative,” she says.
In this dynamic, counselors focus on processing trauma and emotional experiences, while occupational therapists focus on how those experiences affect daily life.
With these kinds of interdisciplinary teams, OTs contribute insight that bolsters more holistic and coordinated care, reflecting a growing understanding that mental health care works best when providers address the whole person.
3. How Occupational Therapy Supports Patients Through Life Transitions and Trauma
Life transitions destabilize even the strongest routines. Major changes like a new diagnosis or losing a loved one deeply impact coping skills, directly affecting mental health in ways that feel uncontrollable.
OTs Support Patients During Life Transitions
Occupational therapists help people adjust to new routines and responsibilities to align with their new reality following a life transition. They create environments that allow patients to redefine roles and reconnect with what is most important to them during difficult life stages.
Dr. Tilstra describes how routine work shows up across many scenarios.
“The rebuilding of routines happens with clients that have had some kind of catastrophic injury or debility,” she notes.
Similarly, when grief changes the structure of an entire household, occupational therapy restores structure and direction and highlights a clear path forward.
“In OT, we’re acknowledging that deep grieving process, but we’re also looking at how this person’s entire life has changed,” says Dr. Tilstra. “That’s when an OT could say: Let’s take this piece by piece and really look at everything that needs to be accomplished in the day.”
Dr. Tilstra says that as routines stabilize, patients feel the effects of this immediately. They begin caring for themselves, managing the household, or reengaging with community in ways that fit their new reality.
4. How Occupational Therapists Teach Coping Strategies for Anxiety and Depression
Anxiety and depression create barriers to participating in daily activities. Many people can describe what anxiety feels like, but they struggle to manage where it shows up most: workplaces, social events, medical appointments, or even simply stepping outside.
Occupational therapists work with coping strategies that fit within everyday life.
OTs Manage Anxiety and Depression
OTs support coping strategies by:
- Identifying triggers that affect daily functioning
- Practicing grounding techniques in real-world scenarios
- Building step-by-step plans for stressful situations
- Using tools like breathing exercises and sensory supports
- Use planners or digital tools to build social activities into routines
Before stepping into stressful situations, mental health occupational therapy sessions involve planning routes and practicing coping strategies along the way. This attention to detail is a key differentiating factor in occupational therapy, providing a unique path forward for those struggling to cope with anxiety and depression.
This approach allows individuals to build confidence through their own personal experiences, even when symptoms feel difficult to manage.
5. How Occupational Therapy Promotes Social Participation and Community Reintegration
Mental wellness is closely tied to a sense of social connection. Occupational therapists work with clients to rebuild active social participation when anxiety or life changes make relationships feel difficult to maintain.
Occupational Therapy Supports Work, Community, and Social Reintegration
The OT approach varies, tailored to the client’s individual experiences and needs. Whether it means returning to work or engaging with the community, occupational therapists meet patients where they are as they overcome these changes.
This work involves teaching clients to identify their own barriers to connection and working collaboratively to create pathways back to healthy interactions.
“What do you need to be able to do to take care of yourself when you get out of here?” Dr. Tilstra asks clients. “But also, what are safe social activities versus harmful social activities?”
Occupational therapists support social participation by helping clients:
- Practice conversational and social skills
- Build routines that support connection
- Identify safe spaces and supportive relationships
- Use stress management tools before or during social interactions
This work supports healthy social participation that fits the client’s life.
6. How Occupational Therapists Use Mindfulness and Sensory Tools to Reduce Stress
Mindfulness and sensory-based approaches are central to occupational therapy care, especially for clients who feel overwhelmed by their environment. With these tools, clients recognize of their internal experiences and respond with greater self-compassion and awareness.
Starting With Foundational Needs: Regulation and Emotional Safety
Dr. Tilstra emphasizes starting with basic needs and context to ensure patients feel safe and supported.
“The first thing I’m going to ask is, have they eaten? Do they need to go to the bathroom? Are they tired?” she says.
Understanding what the body needs reveals why stress or agitation is escalating. Through mindfulness practices, individuals notice stress responses before they escalate, offering a way to pause and reset. For many clients, these approaches make emotional regulation feel more accessible.
Sensory-Based Interventions for Emotional Regulation in Occupational Therapy
Sensory tools allow clients to feel safer and more grounded by aligning the sensory input to what their nervous system needs in that moment. Dr. Tilstra notes that sensory rooms and sensory-based supports are effective across age groups.
Occupational therapists use sensory tools and strategies, including:
- Movement-based tools
- Tactile supports
- Deep pressure or compression
- Environmental supports
- Comfort items
Dr. Tilstra described the use of sensory rooms across age groups, from children to older adults. These spaces include calming environments or tactile supports that reduce agitation. In assisted living settings, modifying the environment changes behavior by lowering sensory demands.
“In pediatric settings, we have entire sensory room spaces,” Dr. Tilstra says. “There are swings, climbing things, balance boards, but there’s also bubble tubes and different soft things.”
Using these sensory tools intentionally, occupational therapists work with clients to reduce overwhelming feelings, building stronger emotional awareness and self-regulation.
Advance Whole-Person Mental Health Care With a Doctor of Occupational Therapy Degree at University of Western States
At University of Western States, mental and emotional wellness are woven into future occupational therapy professionals’ training. Our programs prepare students to help people move from simply coping to actively participating again. Whether that means rebuilding routines or collaborating with interdisciplinary care teams, occupational therapy professionals offer practical support.
As mental health needs continue to grow, so does the need for providers who understand the connection between emotional well-being and everyday living. The best OT programs recognize that occupational therapy plays an essential role in grounding individuals in their own lives.
For those drawn to integrative, patient-focused care, the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program at University of Western States offers a pathway to meaningful, purpose-driven practice.
Discover our occupational therapy program today. Fill out the brief form below for more information.