6 Personality Traits of Highly Effective OTAs

1. Patience
People don’t go to occupational therapy for fun. If you’re an OTA working with a patient, it’s because they need you to help them improve function so they can participate in their activities of daily living again after an injury or illness. Many of your patients will be frustrated or even angry that they need to rely on someone else to help them regain the skills they used to be able to handle intuitively. Being patient with the people you are working with is, therefore, critical.

2. Compassion
This dovetails cleanly with the above trait: As an OTA, you must understand what people are going through. Realize that sometimes sympathy and kindness are just as crucial to your patients’ mental health and recovery as exercises are to their physical health and recovery.

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