About POTAC
The POTAC Mission Statement
The Mission of POTAC is to support the practice of psychiatric occupational therapy through education, information, and advocacy for consumers, health care providers and the community.
POTAC History: Then and Now
The Psychiatric Occupational Therapy Action Coalition (POTAC) had its roots in an original group of San Francisco OTs working in mental health, the OT Psych. Forum, organized by the Sr. Occupational Therapist at San Francisco General Hospital, Judith Levins Leiber, MPH, OTR in the early 1980’s. The group was developed for the purpose of continuing education, networking, and promotion of mental health OT practice. The group, always well attended, met monthly on Friday afternoons at the SFGH.
By 1995 it was becoming obvious that OT jobs were disappearing and that there were many fewer OTs who were working in mental health settings. Two members of the OT Psych. Forum, Ruth Ramsey, MS, OTR/L and Eileen Auerbach, MS, OTR/L called together a group of psych. OTs to discuss beginning a more activist effort to reinvigorate the practice of psychiatric OT. They called this group the Psychiatric Occupational Therapy Action Coalition. As POTAC developed, its mission statement was “to revitalize the practice of psychiatric occupational therapy through education, information, and advocacy for consumers, health care providers and the community.”
POTAC is currently headed by a steering committee. It meets during open planning and support meetings on a semi-monthly basis, usually on Saturday mornings in members’ homes.
Current Activities
POTAC’s current activities include:
- Dissemination of information to mental health OTs via a quarterly newsletter, an e-mail network, the POTAC Web site, and publication of POTAC presentations, trainings and symposia in state OT publications.
- Sharing information about employment opportunities via the POTAC Newsletter and e-list.
- Sponsoring trainings, lectures, roundtable discussions, and research outcomes through Friday Forums and annual symposia.
- Collaboration with OTAC and AOTA on educational projects, conference presentations, and publications such as OT in Mental Health, the Mental Health Special Interest Section Quarterly, and OT Practice.
- Encouragement of members’ active participation in OTAC through involvement with the Practice Committee and the AOTA Mental Health Special Interest Section.
- Developing partnerships with other professional groups such as the local chapter of the NAMI; USPRA; and CCMH.
- Collaborating with local universities to encourage students to consider mental health careers, and to encourage OTR to participate in continuing and graduate education, as well as to work as mentors and fieldwork supervisors.
- Encouraging more OT research, and the dissemination of research outcomes through publication in OT and non-OT journals and speaking in professional and community settings.
- Encouragement of participation in the political process to advocate for consumers and provision of mental health services.
- The development of the Kim Aspelund Scholarship to assist OT students who are involved in internships in mental health settings.
Current membership is $15 a year, which includes the POTAC Newsletter.