NORTHAMPTON — For over 25 years, Tina Champagne has been a pioneer of change and research in the occupational therapy sphere. Now, she has been awarded the highest honor the profession has to offer.

“It’s my passion,” she said. “If it takes even more than a 40-hour work week, it happens and it gets done.”

Champagne, the CEO of over six years for Cutchins Programs for Children and Families in Northampton, has received the Award of Merit from the American Occupational Therapy Association for her leadership and research in the field. The award, established in 1950, recognizes “an occupational therapist who has demonstrated extensive leadership through sustained and significant contributions to the profession,” and is given yearly to a professional leader nominated by peers for the significance of their work.

From young children to seniors, Champagne has worked with a vast array of clients, and has been a champion for the recognition of occupational therapists as valued mental health service providers.

Occupational therapy is a field concerned with helping patients gain or regain independence and empowerment in their daily lives and overcoming physical, sensory, or cognitive problems. Much of Champagne’s work explores the use of occupational therapy practices in helping patients regulate emotions and overcome mental health challenges in pursuit of that same empowerment.

Champagne has written a litany of peer-reviewed articles, several book chapters, and even two of her own books, while still being an occupational therapist rather than an academic by trade. She also travels the globe for her therapy consultation business, delivering professional presentations and training sessions that offer those in the profession new methods for approaching their work, with an emphasis on restraint and seclusion reduction.

Restraint and seclusion of patients are used in mental health care when significant safety concerns are presented. These practices are typically not preferred by care providers, but the need for them can arise when a patient poses a safety risk to themselves or those around them. They are most often used in the management of violent or self-destructive behavior, according to the National Institutes of Health.

“Restraint should only be used as a last resort,” Champagne said. “The whole goal is making people feel more safe in the context of the therapeutic environment.”

Champagne played a large part in restraint and seclusion reduction efforts nearly 20 years ago, collaborating with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors to develop the Six Core Strategies of trauma-informed care and restraint and seclusion reduction. Through her work, Champagne has continued to explore the roles of sensory modulation and trauma-informed therapy in limiting the need for these practices.

The trauma-informed therapeutic approach that Champagne advocates for involves getting to know each client’s individual goals and needs, as well as their histories, to create the best and most tailored treatment process possible. She also has extensively researched sensory modulation, which can entail a range of practices such as aromatherapy, sensory rooms, weighted blankets, pet therapy, and more.

Champagne emphasizes that these are highly individualized practices, and that there is no “one-size-fits-all” definition of either.

“Not only was it helpful to the clients, which was my goal, but administratively we started seeing less need for things like restraint,” she said of these practices.

While her most recent award comes with an abundance of prestige, Champagne’s work has made her no stranger to accolades. In 2017, Champagne was presented with an American Occupational Therapy Roster of Fellows Award for her leadership in the field.

She also has served as an executive board member with both the state and national occupational therapy associations, and chaired the Massachusetts Association for Occupational Therapy’s Mental Health Special Interest Group for seven years. As part of her continued advocacy work, Champagne often offers her expertise in legislative testimonies for State House and Senate hearings.

Now, she is continuing her research and work leading Cutchins Programs for Children and Families.

Cutchins Programs envelops several areas of operations. The Northampton Center for Children and Families is a residential program that offers adolescents individualized treatment plans and counseling. Three Rivers offers a Clinically Intensive Residential Treatment Program where children under 13 can experience relationship-based learning and are encouraged to recognize their strengths. New Directions School is a therapeutic educational program that offers behavioral, clinical, and educational services to student between 8 and 21.

Cutchins Programs also has an outpatient clinic, The Children’s Clinic, for children and families facing emotional and behavioral difficulties, as well as flexible support services offered to children and teens throughout western Massachusetts.

Champagne also is continuing to advocate for mental health to become a more integrated aspect of occupational therapy.

“It’s really important work,” Champagne said. “Trauma is held in all cells of the body, not just in the mind.”

Alexa Lewis can be reached at alewis@gazettenet.com.