Vocational Therapy

At the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, our target group for vocational therapy is primarily patients who are looking to reintegrate into working life or who are planning to participate in a vocational rehabilitation program.

Vocational therapy – a section of occupational therapy

Vocational therapy is a subfield of occupational therapy, where work is used as a means of therapy under conditions that are close to reality. The patient changes from the role of the treated person to that of the agent (definition DVE).

Our aim is to provide concrete support for the return to the workplace and to open up realistic career prospects. For this purpose, work therapy can determine an individual's work abilities, recognizing and dealing with any vocational problems at an early stage. In terms of content and skills, skills and abilities are trained using behavioral techniques. It also facilitates the timely initiation of further measures for participation in working life.

Promotion of:

• Mental skills such as cognition, attention, concentration and work planning

• Social and communicative skills such as assertiveness and adaptability, interpersonal skills, being critical, teamwork and leadership

• Job-related key qualifications such as self-initiative, persistence, control of criticalness, frustration tolerance, orderliness, punctuality, independence, diligence and sense of responsibility

• Personality-related abilities such as self-esteem, self-awareness and self-confidence

Implementation of vocational therapy

According to recommendations of respective ward physician, vocational therapy begins with an interview about the occupation and work history and a workplace analysis. An individual therapy plan is developed in consultation with the patient together with the implementation of treatment-oriented diagnostics. This plan is reassessed during the course of the therapy and adapted as required.

Diagnostics and Training

Vocational therapy works closely with the psychosocial advisors and always participates in the ward visits in close collaboration with the treating physicians of the wards and day clinics.