Occupational Therapists' Psychotherapy Competence: A Scoping Review of Secondary Data

Background. Occupational therapists have been writing about and practicing psychotherapy for almost a century. However, questions about competence and tensions regarding psychotherapy in occupational therapy persist both within and outside the profession. Purpose. To explore the scope of the existing literature on psychotherapy competence written by occupational therapists and/or pertaining to occupational therapy research or practice. Method. A secondary analysis of the 207 articles included in the scoping review by Marshall and colleagues was conducted. Using inductive and deductive approaches, data from 207 articles were screened, extracted, and analyzed to identify themes related to competence in psychotherapy. Findings. The 104 articles included spanned from 1927 to 2020; 50% were non-empirical. The narrative synthesis had one overall theme, Professional Identity, and three subthemes: Competence, Attaining and Maintaining Competence, and The Great Debate. There was no consistent pathway outlined for occupational therapists to attain psychotherapy competence, which may contribute to role confusion and dissonance. Conclusion. This review revealed the reciprocal relationship between professional identity and psychotherapy competence in occupational therapists. Future research should explore how the use of psychotherapy competence pathways impacts professional identity and contributes to practice competence.