Department of Psychiatry welcomes new Occupational Therapy Supervisor

The Department of Psychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital is pleased to welcome Rosa Colorado, MSOT, OTR/L, to the role of Occupational Therapy Supervisor on 2 South, the hospital’s inpatient psychiatry unit.

Colorado studied English at Boston College before earning her Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy at Columbia University. Most recently, she worked as an occupational therapist on the inpatient psychiatry unit at Melrose Wakefield Hospital. Prior to that, she worked per diem here at BWFH and at Cambridge Health Alliance.

“I remembered how much I enjoyed working here,” Colorado says of her decision to come back to BWFH. “It’s a wonderful unit and a great treatment team. I thought it would be a great opportunity for me, so I jumped at it!”

In her new role, Colorado is responsible for scheduling the occupational therapy staff, which includes one part-time employee and four per diem employees. She also handles the day-to-day operations of her department and continues to see patients. “Right now, I am still in the assessment phase. I see patients, run groups and spend the rest of my time cleaning, organizing and gathering inventory,” she says. “The unit is still very familiar to me and a lot of the staff are the same since I last worked here. That part is really nice.”

One area Colorado is particularly assessing is the groups her team offers. “In psychiatric OT, we work on everything, from the basics like brushing your teeth and showering to the more complex like taking care of your home and your kids and going to school and work. But my focus is on the patients’ psychiatric symptoms. I want to know two things: what are their coping skills and what is their ability to regulate their mood/emotions/feelings,” she says. “If patients don’t cope well and they don’t regulate themselves they will not be brushing their teeth every day, they will not be taking their medications as prescribed, they will not be going to work every day, they will not leave the house, etc. That’s why a lot of the group OT programming we have focuses on coping skills and emotional regulation.”

Outside of work, Colorado tries to practice what she preaches to her patients. “I always told my patients that gardening was therapeutic, so I figured I should give it a try myself. I’m doing well, but I stick to the hearty plants like bamboo and aloe,” she says.

She also enjoys spending time with family, reading, baking and learning to cook.