Jennifer Creek & Anne Lawson-Porter 
Contemporary Issues in Occupational Therapy 
Reasoning and Reflection

This book is a collection of essays on occupational therapy theory
and its application in practice. They represent the reflections, on
aspects of occupational therapy, of experts in their own fields who
are at the cutting edge of theory development. At the beginning of
the twenty-first century, occupational therapists are beginning to
conceptualise occupational therapy as a complex intervention. This
book provides the level of detail to support such an
understanding.

Two chapters discuss the profession of occupational therapy: how it
has developed and what is involved in being an occupational
therapist. Other chapters explore the idea of occupation from
different perspectives, providing detailed analyses of the concept
that is central to the profession of occupational therapy. The
third type of chapter describes how theory is used in occupational
therapy practice, for example, in making decisions or implementing
research findings.

Table of Content

About the editors.

Contributors.

Foreword by Elizabeth White.

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

Introduction (Jennifer Creek and Anne Lawson-Porter).

1. The thinking therapist (Jennifer Creek).

2. The romance of occupational therapy (Clare
Hocking).

3. Occupation for occupational therapists: how far will
we go? (Clare Hocking and Ellen Nicholson).

4. A psychoanalytic discourse in occupational
therapy (Lindsey Nicholls).

5. What’s going on? Finding an explanation for what
we do (Rosemary Caulton and Rayna Dickson).

6. When service users’ views vary from those of
their carers (Elizabeth White).

7. Engaging the reluctant client (Jennifer Creek).

8. Exploring the facets of clinical reasoning (Kit
Sinclair).

9. Knowing more than we can say (Priscilla Harries).

10. Making sense of research utilisation (Katrina
Bannigan).

Index.

About the author

Jennifer Creek has been an occupational therapist since
1970, when she qualified from the London School of Occupational
Therapy. She has worked in the fi elds of adult mental health,
adult learning disabilities, mental health promotion and
occupational therapy education. She is the editor of a textbook
Occupational Therapy and Mental Health, which is about to go
into its fourth edition. This is her second edited collection of
essays. She is currently working with the European Network of
Occupational Therapists in Higher Education terminology project
group to produce a conceptual framework for occupational therapy in
Europe.

Anne Lawson-Porter qualifi ed as an occupational
therapist in 1974 and worked in the fi eld of physical dysfunction
for the fi rst ten years of her career in both health and social
care settings. Her next move was into occupational therapy
education; she has taught occupational therapists at both
undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Her passion for
occupational therapy was renewed in the move to her current post as
Head of Education for the College of Occupational Therapists where
she continues to work hard to infl uence and develop learning
opportunities for all members of the profession.