TherapyEd’s National Occupational Therapist Certification Exam Review & Study Guide
by Rita P. Fleming-Castaldy
TherapyEd’s National Occupational Therapist Certification Exam Review & Study Guide is fully up-to-date for the NBCOT®‘s OTR® exam. Authored by Rita Fleming-Castaldy and other distinguished educators, the Guide is the one book you need to prepare for the exam efficiently and effectively. In full color with extensive illustrations, the guide prepares you for the exam with a comprehensive content review, three complete practice exams– including 9 Clinical Simulation Test items – and information on Critical Reasoning for the exam. The text includes study hints, test-taking strategies, access to TherapyEd’s Learning Portal, and insightful score reports to guide your studying.
The NBCOT®‘s OTR® exam is a high stakes exam and TherapyEd’s National Occupational Therapist Certification Exam Review & Study Guide is the ONLY book which combines comprehensive content review with challenging practice questions to help you pass the exam.
The content review helps you know what to study and the practice exams give you feedback to understand how you did, what your strengths and weaknesses are, and how to better prepare for the exam.
The Review & Study Guide contains comprehensive, easy to read chapters covering:
- Certification Exam Information
- Study and Test Taking Strategies
- State Regulatory Board information
- Certification of the Occupational Therapist
- Principles of Effective Exam Preparation
- The Process of Occupational Therapy
- Professional Responsibilities and Ethics
- Human Development and Aging
- Musculoskeletal System Disorders
- Neurological System Disorders
- Cardiovascular and Pulmonary System Disorders
- Gastrointestinal, Renal-Genitourinary, Endocrine, Immunological and Integumentary Systems Disorders
- Psychiatric and Cognitive Disorders
- Biomechanical Approaches
- Neurological Approaches
- Cognitive Perceptual Approaches
- Psychosocial Approaches
- Evaluation and Intervention for Performance in Areas of Occupation
- Mastery of the Environment: Evaluation and Intervention
- Critical Reasoning rationales for all practice exam questions
- Practice Exam Answers with full content rationales
Author Rita P. Fleming-Castaldy PhD, OTL, FAOTA

Dr. Fleming-Castaldy is an Instructor and Director of Occupational Therapy Education at TherapyEd, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Scranton. She is the Chairperson for the History Preservation Project of the Occupational Therapy Leaders and Legacies Society. Dr. Fleming-Castaldy previously served as Program Director at Dominican College and on the faculty at New York University. She received her Doctor of Philosophy, post-professional M.A., and undergraduate degrees in Occupational Therapy from New York University. In addition to the best-selling “National Occupational Therapy Certification Exam Review & Study Guide”, Dr. Fleming-Castaldy is the editor of several texts and the author of numerous journal articles. She has presented nationally and internationally on a diversity of professional issues. Dr. Fleming-Castaldy serves on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Therapy in Mental Health. Her areas of expertise include occupational therapy history, professional development and career mobility, mental health practice, community participation, and disability rights and advocacy. In 2002, she was honored by being named a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association, and in 2017 she was given the Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Occupational Therapy by the AOTA in appreciation for her extraordinary contributions to the advancement of occupational therapy.
Purchase the Guide
The National Occupational Therapist Certification Exam Review & Study Guide is included with the price of the Occupational Therapy Certification Preparation Course, or you can purchase it separately for $90.00, plus shipping and handling.
To order by phone, call us at 1-888-369-0743
Or, Order by mail by sending a check or money order, along with a shipping address, to:
TherapyEd
500 Davis Street
Suite 512
Evanston, IL 60201
Fax: (847)-328-5049
Outside the US: (847) 328-5361
Email: info@therapyed.com
Thank you Toni Thompson! Thank you therapyEd! Thank you Ben, my husband, best friend and best encourager! Thank you God for gifting me with a brain to process all this information again.
At age 52, while raising three absolutely amazing kids, and working as an occupational therapist wearing “a different kind of hat” while engaged in community development for 20 years through a faith-based organization working in rural poverty, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined myself sitting for the NBCOT board exam again.
I was blessed by the day in which an occupational therapy department head shared with me the existence of “TherapyEd”. I had been preparing on my own, with the resources that I had found through my research. But I know I could not have survived the 6 months marathon culminating with my exam now in October, had it not been for the personal and focused help that came in to the process on August 10th when I attended the TherapyEd training in Austin with Toni Thompson. It was the best investment for me! It helped me put order in my studying and calmness in my preparation process. I needed all of that to re-engage and re-awaken this knowledge. 🙂
Toni, Thank you for all your support. Thank you for responding to all my frantic texts, detailed emails and phone calls. The most important one was the shortest email you sent me the night before the exam 🙂 “No more studying. Relax tonight. Relax.” I would have reviewed for 2 more hours ?. Instead I was alert and rested on testing day. I would not have made it without your guidance and support. I needed everyone of those strategies! The content study and personal test taking analysis while taking a practice test. I put ALL of them in practice. Your presence and availability made my experience bearable when I was about to give up, focused and with direction when feeling lost, and ready and equipped to tackle the next step ahead. Thank you!!!
What even blows my mind is that my score was higher than the one I got when I sat for the NBCOT in 1991!
Thank you so much!
Blessings!
Leonora Newell, OTR again (after I accomplish my PDU units 🙂