Treatment Principles

Once the level of creative ability has been established and treatment priorities identified, the VdTMoCA provides treatment principles, informing the therapist how to grade, structure and present activities, as well as informing the therapist how to interact with and engage the client depending upon their level of creative ability. The treatment principles also guide the therapist to select the just right therapeutic challenge and how the activity could be graded and adapted to maximise potential (Van der Reyden et al, 2019). 

The theoretical assumptions of the model is the treatment prinicples provide conditions to elicit and support creative participation and subsequently potential for maintenance or growth of creative ability. 

Table 1 gives a brief description of the treatment principles.

Table 1 - Treatment Principles 

Treatment principle Description 
Handling principles              The handling principles are essentially the therapeutic use of self. Your style of interaction, tone of voice, how to engage the patient, content of your speech, how you manage different behaviour, the type of language
Presentation prinicples                          How to describe the task, what you need to explain and how, how to present the objects and materials required for the activity, how to maximise the ability to relate to, connect with and engage with materials, objects, people and more abstract, situations.

Structuring principles 

 How the physical and social environments can be set up by the therapist. For example, the length of the session, how many patients and therapy staff are to be present, the presence and arrangement of materials and objects, the number and type of external stimuli, e.g, light, temperature.  

Activity requirements  

 The types of activities to use, the demands of the activity and steps required to complete it, the length of time required to complete the activity. 

 

It important to note that the model does not provide the therapist with specific activities to use, these must be selected according to an individuals interests and motivating factors. Whilst the model provides these guidelines it allows for much imagination and creativity on behalf of the therapist to select appropriate therapeutic interventions to meet the specific needs of individuals within their service. 

References

Van der Reyden, D, Casteleijn, D, Sherwood, W and de Witt, P. (2019) The Vona du Toit Model of Creative Ability: Origins, Constructs, Principles and Application in Occupational Therapy. Pretoria: The Marie and Vona du Toit Foundation.

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About

The Vona du Toit Model of Creative Ability (VdTMoCA) is an occupational therapy practice model originating from South Africa. The model as presented by Van der Reyden et al (2019), is founded upon the theory of creative ability developed by Vona du Toit (occupational therapist) in the 1960s and early 1970s. The term ‘creative’ does not refer to artistic flair but to one’s ability to bring into existence something that did not exist before – one’s ability to bring about change within oneself and in one’s world.

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