Sensory Modulation and Environment: Essential Elements of Occupation

Sensory Modulation & Environment:
Essential Elements of Occupation (3rd Edition Revised)
By Tina Champagne
I volunteered to review a book. I couldn\'t help myself. It just caught my eye
and shouted. The title: \"Sensory Modulation & Environment: Essential
Elements of Occupation (3rd Edition Revised)\". The author: Tina Champagne. This ...
before an Occupational Therapist seeking to expand her knowledge of sensoryoriented
approaches to therapy for use in practice in an acute mental health unit
environment. The email sent itself.
My first response upon receiving my copy of \"Sensory Modulation & Environment: Essential Elements of
Occupation\" in the mail was to thumb through it. The initial thought was: \"There\'s a lot in here ... \", followed by
\"Looks useful. .. \", and then \"Ooh! To ols to use ... and a CD too!\" I then sat down and looked through all of the
checklists and questionnaires, the rating scales and worksheets like a child given a new toy box to explore.
Now a sensible therapist would never stop there before heading into action prior to delving further into the
text, but I hesitate to say that I would have had I not been on leave at the time. I may resound endlessly about
the need for clinical tools to be chosen carefully through sound clinical reasoning - but I am just as easily
drawn to the eye-catching parts of a publication as the next person. I may add in the case of this book- that
you will find yet more useful information and resourcing in various parts of the text. You will also find a great
deal of clarification regarding the nature and purpose of tools that have caught your eye and their uses.
I found in the handbook detailed information about Tina Champagne\'s perspective of the goals of a Sensory
Modulation Program, examples of group or individual sessions for populations according to global cognitive
functional level and discussion regarding the nature and use of sensory rooms. This was simple and delivered
with practical advice about getting started and built on the clinical rationale that she had developed clearly by
this stage of the work.
Areas that Champagne interacts with in this book range from scientific philosophy to human systems
theory, neurological information to evaluation of global cognitive functioning (using Allen\'s six cognitive
levels), trauma informed care in mental health settings, various diagnostic groupings and strategies that have
been used to successfully reduce rates of seclusion and restraint in mental health facilities. Champagne
clarifies that question that sometimes raises confusion: what exactly is the difference between sensory
modulation and sensory integration? She also goes on to discuss a range of approaches to sensory modulation
in varying degrees of depth. Some of these are familiar to Occupational Therapists, Mental Health Workers
and/or consumers, while others are newer territory e.g. therapeutic use of self, strategies for identifying and
coping with triggers, mindfulness activities, sensory modulation checklists and self-rating tools, grounding
activities, self-care activities, relaxation/calming activities, self-soothing activities. These, together with the
outlined goals, intervention ideas and review of interventions studied more closely pull together to form a
comprehensive handbook.
So in what way is this an Occupational Therapy approach to sensory modulation issues? In each instance
activities used therapeutically are purposeful. They must be meaningful to the person. They are used to
improve function through activity or modifications made to enable engagement in further activity within the
context at each level of the spirit-mind-person-world, facilitating a sense of identity and self-awareness and
ability to use self-regulating skills for de-escalation in crisis, for mood, anxiety or other symptom and life
management.
I\'m now back from leave and once more in the work place. Having read the entire book I am more able to
appreciate the tools that drew my eye in the beginning. I\'m not sure if they\'re where I\'d start with someone
now. I have some ideas about different entry points and ways that I might commence assessment now. I am
also certain that I would have stuck a post-it note in the glossary page and used it a number of times in the
more terminology-heavy sections of the manual rather than wrestling so much with the jargon had I realised
it was there before reading them. I was disappointed that circumstances have also delayed my trialling this
material in my workplace in a substantial way before the time came to write this review. I hope to be able to
do this next time now that doors are open to put theory into practice. I\'m looking forward to the journey.
Reviewed by
Jacqui Nettleton