My Philosophy

Statement of Personal Philosophy:
My philosophy on Therapeutic Recreation is that as recreation therapists we are helping others to help themselves through recreation. We use a holistic approach to strengthen the patients minds, bodies and spirits. Recreation (all forms; painting, climbing, fishing, horseback riding, any positive activity) gives people hope and confidence while learning a new skill and can be processed by the therapist to turn the activity into a abstract learning experience-through relating it to a real life problem/solution the patient may be having in life. Our goal is to improve overall happiness and quality of life and through doing so I believe that we, as therapists, improve our lives too.

• Therapy is a process! Every experience can be used to the clients benefit if processed correctly- teach them what positive lesson they can learn from the experience and how they can apply it to their lives. 

Other Philosophies of Professional Organizations:

• The URTA is established for the development of the profession of Recreation Therapy, to promote standards of practice and strengthen members through: education, advocacy, research, networking, community partnership, involvement in local, state and national issues and the enhancement of personal growth and development.

• At the City of Chandler Therapeutic Recreation Program, our mission is to enhance the quality of life for individuals with physical, mental, emotional, or social limitations.We strive to facilitate the development, maintenance and expression of an appropriate leisure lifestyle for individuals with developmental disabilities. Participants typically are part of one or more of the following areas: sheltered workshop, special education classes and one whose mental and/or physical disability limits that person from participating in regular recreation.

Therapeutic Recreation Model:

This model shows the process that a patient would go through while receiving recreational therapy. As you can see this process is flexible and can begin and end in different areas and continue to go back throughout the model (overlap) if needed- just according the the patients specific needs. 
Typically the patient starts in "treatment" where the perceived freedom is usually low and the role of the therapist is high (meaning very involved). You use recreation to teach the patient something that will help them overcome a problem they are having. 
Then you move to "leisure education" where the patient learns how to use recreation in their free time to help benefit their lives. The freedom for the patient is higher in this area and the therapist acts more as just a consoler- helping to process the lessons they are learning through recreation. 
Finally, "recreation participation" is for patients who now just need the therapists as a resource (freedom is high) and can take the skills they have already learned and go put them to good use through participating in positive recreation. 

The model journeys through improving the patient's functional behaviors-learning choice-overcoming barriers-learning new skills/resources-to creating regular recreation participants.