The occupational therapy profession is grounded in mental health and has evolved to play a vital role in acute medical healthcare. The therapeutic relationship is vital to providing quality healthcare in mental healthcare and acute medical settings. The intentional relationship model (IRM) is a model and framework that guides how occupational therapists (OT) build and sustain therapeutic relationships with clients. Occupational therapists accumulate a wealth of expertise throughout their careers in applying a therapeutic approach to build and sustain therapeutic relationships. This capstone uses a qualitative pilot study and a constructivist grounded theory design to capture the expertise of OTs who build therapeutic relationships with patients of mental healthcare within acute medical settings. A dynamic process for applying a therapeutic approach is described in four main conceptual themes that overlap at the point of skilled actions and real-world interactions, which make up the therapeutic relationship between patient and OT. This capstone project includes a literature of evidence gaps, implications for occupational therapy, the project implementation methods, qualitative findings and interpretation according to current evidence, and personal reflection on the process of learning to design and implement a qualitative pilot study using grounded theory. The findings from this study will be compiled in a toolkit for occupational therapy students and clinicians to reference as they build and adjust therapeutic relationships with patients. The qualitative pilot study is presented as an executive summary and will be submitted for publication in academic journals following the primary investigator’s completion of the doctorate degree.
