An OT must have faith in their patients. If they do not believe their patients can improve, how can these patients improve in the first place? For example, I am an exercise leader for a group of senior residents. When I was shadowing other exercise leaders, they lead the exercise as a yoga coach, expecting the residents to follow their lead. However, rarely do the residents follow their lead. Apparently, the exercise leaders think that it is OK that these residents do not exercise. Maybe because they believe that these residents cannot exercise. Yet, I discovered that some residents have arthritis, stroke and other conditions that prevents them from doing the exercise that these exercise leaders want them to do. Believing that the residents can exercise, I decided to find the perfect exercise that all residents can do. In the end, I find that they all can play ball. Through changing my exercise program into balloon toss, all the residents who can move their upper and/or lower extremities join my exercise.
My HONEST answer is practical because all the OTs that I witnessed are very practical. Some of them have minimal faith in their patients because their patients have very severe conditions. However, when I say this answer to one of my interviewers, she asks me to say more qualities that an OT should have. When I say say sympathetic, she likes it. It seems the interviewers are looking for a more "emotional" answer. HOwever, I will post the honest answer and see what you think. (I know I should write sympathetic to my first answer, but I do not believe in that answer: I cannot work with the patient when I have to imagine his/her pain all the time.)
An OT must be practical. Some of their patients have very stigmatizing disorders, such as substance-abuse disorder. These patients are often blamed for their condition because apparently they do not have the self-controlled to stop themselves from consuming the drugs. However, instead of blaming the patient for their disorder, an OT should maximize their independence and function, regardless of how severe their conditions are.