Michigan Occupational Therapy Association

Mental Health SIS

The Mental Health Special Interest Section (MHSIS) of the Michigan Occupational Therapy Association seeks to share information and resources, advocate for the continued presence of OT in mental health, identify gaps in the literature, and support research endeavors as well as the dissemination of such. Priorities of this SIS include promoting evidence-based practice as well as the identification / pursuit of legislative revisions to increase OT's role in mental health.

This SIS may be of interest to therapists seeking to meet the psychosocial needs of their clients, particularly those providing occupational therapy services in settings such as:

- Psychiatric Hospitals and Units
- Corrections
- Behavioral Health Clinics
- Community-Based Programs
- Clubhouses, Partial Hospitalization & Day Programs
- Group Homes
- Community Mental Health (CMH)
- Assertive Community Treatment (ACT)
- Academia

Meeting dates will be posted through the MiOTA website and social media and announced via email.

The MHSIS seeks to...
-Support therapists in this area of practice
-Promote networking / professional collaboration
-Identify barriers to MH OT and work to address / remove them
-Advocate for MH OT including but not limited to impacting relevant legislation
-Offer educational / professional development opportunities
-Disseminate and discuss EBP as well as emerging practice
-Identify gaps in the literature and support research endeavors
-Develop a resource library for MiOTA MH OT practitioners.
-Establish monthly mentorship meetings for new or recently graduated OTs in mental
health.

Next Meeting: 
TBD

Past Meeting Recordings: 
Past meeting recordings can be found in the MiOTA Continuing Education Store. 

Past Meeting Minutes:
Stay tuned for previous meeting minutes

Mental Health OT Resources:

Open Journal of Occupational Therapy (OJOT) Library:

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy (OJOT) is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal that offers articles that focus on applied research, practice, and education in the occupational therapy profession. For more information, please visit https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/ojot/

The MHSIS is dedicated to providing access to resources and evidence-based practice that support clinical decision making and continued learning. Many articles published on OJOT offer information on supporting individuals with psychosocial needs. Please see the MHSIS’s new Resource Library that contains links to articles from OJOT.


Lobbying / Legislative endeavors: 

Stay tuned for lobbying/legislative endeavors


Mental Health SIS Contact:

Please email the Mental Health SIS leader Susan Frisbie-Yu with questions

Susan Frisbie-Yu

Susan Frisbie-Yu, OTD, OTRL, received her post-professional occupational therapy doctorate at Chatham University. She joined the faculty of Western Michigan University’s Occupational Therapy program in a full-time role in 2025 after working as a part-time instructor, primarily in a clinical instruction capacity, since 2016. She has practiced with clients across the lifespan in outpatient and community-based settings. Her advocacy priorities focus on increasing mental health-based employment opportunities for OT practitioners and services for clients in the state of Michigan. Prior to her occupational therapy career, she worked in non-profit development and outreach for educational and international institutions/organizations.