RT - Recreational Therapy

This course focuses on the concept of leisure and its impact on health and wellness for individuals and groups. Fundamental principles, philosophies, and theories of leisure, health, and wellness are emphasized. Leisure’s relationships with physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and spiritual growth, human satisfaction, and quality of life are explored. Leisure’s influence on challenges to wellness experienced by diverse populations (e.g., individuals with disabilities, older adults, racial and ethnic groups, individuals identifying as LGBTQIA+) is examined. Strategies for protecting and promoting health through leisure are integrated throughout the course.

This course is designed to be an introduction to the historical and conceptual roots of recreational therapy. Content includes recreational therapy service delivery models, legislation, professional organizations, places of practice, ethical conduct, and credentialing procedures.

This course is designed to facilitate personal exploration and professional preparation for careers in recreational therapy. Topics include professional ethics, professional involvement, professional behaviors & responsibilities, and career preparation. On-site observation of recreational therapists in practice settings is required.

This course is designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge required to successfully acquire an internship placement in recreational therapy. Emphasis will be placed on resume and cover letters, internship search strategies, interviewing skills, and internship documentation requirements. Students are required to become familiar with all documentation requirements in the Recreational Therapy Internship Manual, and successfully secure an internship for the following semester.

This course requires a 200-hour junior internship experience at an approved health and human service agency in which students are involved with ongoing recreational therapy programs. Students are expected to observe and assist recreational therapy staff during this field experience. Students must be supervised by a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) working for the agency.

This course is designed to introduce students to a wide variety of Recreational Therapy interventions. Students will explore physical, cognitive, and psychosocial interventions. Facilitation techniques, activity modification, and group facilitation will be explored. Students will connect diagnostic groups to specific Recreational Therapy interventions. Students will facilitate group recreational therapy interventions during lab.

This course will provide students with a detailed examination of assessment, documentation, and evaluation procedures used in the recreation therapy treatment process. Course focus includes the assessment and documentation process, including instrument design, selection, and implementation, and the reporting and use of data for treatment planning and program evaluation.

This course is designed to introduce students to a variety of disabilities, illnesses, and health conditions recreational therapists may encounter in practice. The prevalence, etiology, diagnostic criteria, pathology, symptomatology, and prognosis of various conditions is presented, and the bio-psycho-social impact of the illness/disability on the individual and family is discussed. Emphasis is placed on the delivery of recreational therapy services for individuals with illnesses/disabilities and related populations.

This course explores the basic principles of organizing and managing quality recreational therapy services. Content includes supervisory and administrative responsibilities, budgeting, managing personnel including student interns and volunteers, developing a clinical supervision program, marketing recreational therapy services, and developing a recreational therapy department based on professional standards of practice and recreational therapy models of service delivery.

This capstone course requires a 560-hour and 14-week senior internship experience at an approved health and human service agency practicing recreational therapy. Students will apply academic learning and will demonstrate competencies associated with entry-level practice in recreational therapy. The student’s academic and agency direct supervisors must be Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialists.

This skill-based course is designed to further students’ practical understanding of client-centered recreational therapy program design and implementation using evidence-based strategies, techniques, and interventions. Emphasis is placed on the purpose, roles, and outcomes of recreational therapy service delivery in healthcare and community settings. Topics include assessment, recreational therapy practice models, specific program planning, task analysis, facilitation techniques, implementation of evidence-based interventions, documentation, and evaluation of services as well as interprofessional practice. Field-based application of course concepts is required.

This course provides an overview of evidence-based practice and related disciplinary writing in recreational therapy contexts. Through exploration of current trends and issues in the field of therapeutic recreation and a writing intensive approach, students develop skills in evaluating and interpreting research and applying applicable findings through evidence-based practice, service to the field, and professional advocacy. This is a writing intensive course.

Individualized instruction to include research, specialized studies, or other scholarly writing.

Supervised research on a specific problem in recreational therapy. Regular meetings with faculty and a written/oral report are required.