Non-Occupational Therapy Books That Empowered Me as An Occupational Therapist
- Maria Anya Paola P. Sanchez
- Jul 23
- 6 min read
It’s been more than a month since I resigned from UP Manila, yet I still have much on my plate — hence the hiatus from this blog! To strive for as much balance as I can, I’ve been reading fiction once again and this got me reflecting: what were the non-occupational therapy books that influenced my thinking as a therapist?
Healthcare workers (HCWs) deal with complexities because humans are complicated. Every health professional is trained according to theoretical frameworks that are aligned with our disciplines. While these frames of reference sharpen our focus to increase our effectiveness, each patient cannot be simply boxed into neat categories of problems that must always be addressed by the same rigid protocols. Because of this, HCWs must be open to ideas from various disciplines to understand the people we work with while resisting the urge to engage in scope creep.
Reading good books — especially the classics — is an excellent way for us to discover worlds and ways of thinking that are not typically part of the health sciences curricula but will be helpful for us in dealing with people whose backgrounds are unlike ours. Here are some great works of literature that expanded my horizons as an occupational therapist because they delved into questions about man’s purpose for living and the virtues that we must espouse:
BOOK THAT DEMONSTRATES MAN’S ULTIMATE HOPE FOR REDEMPTION - The Scarlet Letter. Set in a Puritan colony in Boston, Massachusetts, this misunderstood novel is about a woman caught in adultery. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic remains relevant to the times because we live in an age wherein we write off guilty feelings as self-esteem problems or as the demands of a scrupulous conscience that has been oppressed by religious or patriarchal institutions. However, The Scarlet Letter shows us that although a legalistic culture amplifies guilt and self-hatred, unconfessed sin tortures both the soul and the body, and that only repentance can set us free from the condemnation that we earned because of our trespasses. (Also, this is my favorite novel of all time. I deeply resonate with its themes, and the high point of the story never fails to make me cry.)
BOOK ABOUT THE ROMANCE OF PURITY - Pride and Prejudice. A good love story thrills and stands the test of time not by how much smut or by how many sappy lines it has, but by the tension it creates as both the male and female characters discover how one needs the other to become a better person. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice hits all the traditional beats of a classic love story. No wonder its plot serves as a template for a lot of contemporary fictional books, not to mention movies, that use the enemies-turned-lovers formula.
BOOK THAT DEPICTS LIFE AS SPIRITUAL WARFARE - The Pilgrim’s Progress. Unconsciously, we all strive in life because we want to live comfortably. But this John Bunyan allegory tells the story of a man who has chosen a life of struggle because the quest for a Heavenly Kingdom is an adventure that is greater than anything that the present world can offer.
BOOK THAT ARGUES FOR THE IMPORTANCE OF ART - The Screwtape Letters. During my high school and college years, the arts were denigrated as hordes of teenagers majored in the health sciences, which were supposed to be their ticket to greener pastures abroad. While I understand the practicality of such decisions, we older millennials ended up devaluing the humanities because we couldn’t see how it could pay off the bills. In The Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis argues that experiencing beauty through the arts can point us back to our Creator, which is foundational to living a full life.
BOOK THAT GAVE ME THE LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE AUTHORITARIANISM - 1984. At a loss for words about how suffocating the world has become if you have unconventional views? Can’t shake off the feeling that the real tyrant is no longer outside but has crawled its way into your brain, policing your head for “thought crime”? In this dystopian novel, George Orwell creates a terrifying alternate universe where people have turned against themselves and against each other to survive Big Brother. (Disclaimer: I’m not a big fan of this novel’s plot but it’s still a great work of art because of the truths about society that it conveys.)
BOOK THAT DEPICTS COMFORT AS THE CAUSE OF DYSTOPIA - Brave New World. The word “dystopia” typically brings images of poverty, suffering, and death in mind. But according to Aldous Huxley, true hell on earth is not being bludgeoned to death in the arena, like the Hunger Games. Rather, society becomes dystopian when people have become numbed by pleasure and stability to the point that we no longer yearn to live by higher ideals.
BOOK THAT SHOWS THAT YOUR LIFE IS YOUR GREATEST SERMON TO YOUR CHILDREN - To Kill a Mockingbird. How do you teach a child to have a sense of justice? By living a life of integrity! Harper Lee’s novel is a touching story about how a parent models what it means to be just both in his profession and his private life.
BOOK THAT REVOLUTIONIZED MY VIEW OF THE FILIPINO IDENTITY - Culture and History. Finally, a book from the Philippines! Because of this collection of essays by National Artist Nick Joaquin, I discovered that a lot of what we were taught in our history classes is propaganda that clouded our judgment about our country’s true maladies.
BOOK THAT REALISTICALLY PORTRAYS CLASS AND PRIVILEGE - A Question of Heroes. Someone once asked me how I came to know about certain influential families that dominate the Philippines. Well, this book by Nick Joaquin is an excellent starting point! What I love about this book is that it depicts our local heroes, who were mostly scions of wealthy clans, not as caricatures that were either purely good or purely evil but as complex human beings. These men were deeply flawed but at least they served the country during the darkest periods of our history. Will you do the same?
BOOK ABOUT TURNING SETBACKS INTO VICTORIES - David and Goliath. Malcolm Gladwell may not always be correct in his analyses, but he absolutely nails it here, both in terms of his narration and understanding of human interest stories. Read this book for inspiration if you want to do something great despite the obstacles.
BOOK THAT PORTRAYS STRICT PARENTS AS COOL AND FUN - Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Author Amy Chua drew flak for allegedly being critical of parents for allowing their kids to have choices. She was even accused of child abuse! Her detractors were wrong, of course. Her autobiography simply shows that parents must strike a balance between requiring obedience and respecting a child’s individuality. Besides, parents who enforce healthy boundaries while lavishing their kids with love are far cooler than those who cloak their laziness and cowardice with pseudoscience nonsense.
BOOK THAT TEACHES THE BASICS OF GOOD LEADERSHIP - The Infinite Game. According to Simon Sinek, businesses must aim for positive societal impact that lasts for generations, not just for the bottom line. This can be accomplished first and foremost by looking after the welfare of their employees, something that leaders must always remind themselves to do.
BOOK THAT CHALLENGES POPULAR NOTIONS OF MENTAL HEALTH - People of the Lie. While I do not agree with everything that M. Scott Peck says, he made this keen observation: not everyone who passes off as “psychologically healthy” actually has a sound mind. That individual may just have normalized his wrongdoings to the point of callousness. According to Dr. Peck, the man who faces up to his sins and feels distress over them is in a better position than the one who has become hardened — because self-awareness is the starting point of true recovery.
Books truly help us construct mental images of the lives of other people that we may grasp how it's like to be in their shoes even if their experiences are different from ours. Understanding them is a skill that is crucial for every healthcare worker to have. For the next article, I’ll be talking about the Christian books that have deeply impacted both my personal and professional life. In the meantime, I’d like to thank Ms. Liza Libes of Pens and Poison for inspiring me to write this post. She writes about great books, so check out her website and YouTube channel!
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