Locus of Control

As a future OT practitioner, it is important to understand locus of control. Locus of control refers to one’s perception of their own control over things in their life. It falls on a continuum from an internal locus of control, where a person perceives everything in their life is within their control to an external locus of control, where a person perceives things to be out of their control. If a client has an internal locus of control, it is important to understand that they may be hard on themselves if they are not progressing as much as they would like. If a client has an external locus of control, they may have a harder time taking an active role in their therapy since they will have a tendency to wait for someone to “fix” them.

            While there can be some downsides to someone having a strong internal locus of control, such as being less likely to admit when there is a problem or wanting to be quick in and out with their therapy, in general we as therapist do want to encourage our clients to have a more internal locus of control. For clients who have a more external locus of control, it is important to guide them to feel like they have more control over their treatment and make sure they understand that we can provide them with some of the tools for success, but at the end of the day they are the ones who have to put in the work. It is important that we can recognize these personality traits early on with our clients so we know the kind of support they may need in order to play an active role in their treatment.