Aromatherapy for Self-Care and Wellness

Abstract

O ccupational therapy (OT) is not just concerned with rehabilitation; wellness is also discussed in OT literature. Recent descriptive and research literature has presented practical and occupation-based perspectives on wellness and OT practice.1–5 Much of the interest in wellness can be attributed to increased human consciousness about the significance of maintaining or developing physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being. Most occupational therapists would agree that they have a role to play in helping people stay well, and the OT Practice Framework states that health promotion and prevention are important OT intervention methods.6 There are many ways in which OT practitioners can specifically help clients meet wellness and health-promotion goals. Practitioners can promote a host of occupations and methods for empowering people to strive for health and well-being. Aromatherapy is a complementary care tool for wellness that can assume a meaningful role in OT practice. Because OT is about doing, it is important that aromatherapy, like most wellness approaches, be presented to the client as something that is done for one’s self. OT practitioners commonly teach clients health-promoting occupations, such as progressive relaxation, work simplification, joint protection, visualization, breathing techniques, time-management skills, meditation, yoga, and t’ai chi. Aromatherapy can be used much in the same manner, specifically as an occupation of self-care that clients can learn to implement to promote physiologic, spiritual, or emotional wellness. This article introduces OT practitioners to aromatherapy and some of its basic concepts, with the hope that readers will consider studying aromatherapy for the purpose of teaching clients to adopt it as part of wellness routines and occupations. It should be noted that OT practitioners are cautioned against teaching clients about aromatherapy without first obtaining competency in this area.