To Start Recreational Therapy:
1. Sign up for membership (which includes automatic enrollment in the Lifestyle Foundation Program).
Medical Health Conditions We Treat
(Diagnosed)
Wellness Conditions We Treat
(No Diagnosis)
"First, wellness is different than health. Whereas the term health focuses on illness status and the individual’s relationship to that status, wellness transcends the absence of disease. [...][W]ellness as an evolving process toward achieving one’s full potential; it is positive/affirming and holistic, and encompasses lifestyle, spiritual, and environment wellbeing domains. Wellness also accounts for the physical, mental, and social domains implied in health, and thus health is dependent on sufficient wellness[.]"
- Bart R, Ishak WW, Ganjian S, Jaffer KY, Abdelmesseh M, Hanna S, Gohar Y, Azar G, Vanle B, Dang J, Danovitch I. The Assessment and Measurement of Wellness in the Clinical Medical Setting: A Systematic Review. Innov Clin Neurosci. 2018 Oct 1;15(9-10):14-23. PMID: 30588362; PMCID: PMC6292717.
FAQ: Medical Health Conditions We Treat
"Recreation Therapists construct appropriate and evidence-based recreation therapy interventions for treating patients with complex medical or mental health issues such as Polytrauma, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI); Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); Spinal Cord Injury (SCI); Substance Use Disorder/ Addictions; Serious Mental Illness (SMI); and Hospice/Palliative Care"
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs"
View Educational Video about Recreation and RT for
treating Autism from Children's Specialized Hospital (largest pediatric rehabilitation hospital in the USA):
Examples of Chronic Disability, Disease & Developmental Disorders we treat include:
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Dementia (Alzheimer’s Disease, Lewy body dementia)
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Teens (ADHD in Adults)
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Oncology Recreational Therapy for Cancer Rehabilitation - "The optimal cancer rehabilitation team includes physiatry, nursing, physical and occupational therapy, speech and language pathology, recreational therapy, nutritionists, social workers, psychologists, orthotists, and prosthetists, among others."
- Chronic Pain
- Cerebral Palsy
- Chronic Kidney Disease
- Chronic Lung Disease
- Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) - "Functional restoration [...] "[R]ecreational therapy effectively combats kinesiophobia and promotes increased movement."
- Developmental Delay
- Diabetes
- Down Syndrome
- Headaches (Non-Pharmacological Treatment)
- Hearing Impairment
- Intellectual Disability
- Learning Disorders
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Parkinson's Disease
- Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)
- Sleep Disorders (Hypersomnia, Insomnia, Narcolepsy, Restless Legs Syndrome, and Sleep Apnea)
"[W]hen therapeutic recreation was included as part of a social learning program, therapeutic recreation was found to increase appropriate behaviors over time for residents with severe and persistent schizophrenia (Pestle, Card & Menditto, 1998)" - American Psychological Association, Recovery to Practice (Page 231)
View Educational Video about how Recreational Therapy Treats Mental Health
from CHI Health (regional health care network in the USA in IL, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and North Dakota):
Examples of Psychosocial Conditions include:
- Anxiety Disorders (including Generalized Anxiety Disorders)
- Bipolar disorder
- Depression
- Post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD)
- Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD, also known as Social Phobia)
"Recreational therapy – A type of therapy involving recreational or leisure activities that help restore, remediate, or rehabilitate a person's level of functioning and independence, promotes health and wellness, and reduces or eliminates the limitations on activities that are associated with traumatic brain injury, traumatic spinal cord injury or both."
- Texas Health and Human Services"
View Educational Video about Recreational Therapy for Physical Rehabilitation from Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals (USA):
Examples of Physical Conditions we treat include:
- Post injury, illness or surgery : "[R]ecreational therapy can promote mild activity, thereby increasing flexibility and range of motion."
- Accidents
- Cardiovascular disease
- Orthopedic and Spine Surgery (Orthopedic Recreational Therapy)
- Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
- Stroke
- Neurorehabilitation of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
SELF-KNOWLEDGE TEST CENTER:
Learn More About Yourself!
Explore Your Authentic Happiness at The University of Pennsylvania
"Authentic Happiness website, a University of Pennsylvania website developed by the Positive Psychology Center. Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman is the Director of the Center, and a Professor of Psychology at Penn."
Explore Your Attitudes about Health at Project Implicit Health Mental and Physical
"Project Implicit Health (formerly Project Implicit Mental Health) launched in 2011 and is led by Dr. Bethany Teachman (University of Virginia) and Dr. Matt Nock (Harvard University). Psychologists understand that people may not say what's on their minds either because they are unwilling or because they are unable to do so."
Explore Your Attitudes About Other People at Project Implicit at Harvard University
"Project Implicit was founded in 1998 by three scientists – Dr. Tony Greenwald (University of Washington), Dr. Mahzarin Banaji (Harvard University), and Dr. Brian Nosek (University of Virginia).
The mission of Project Implicit is to educate the public about bias and to provide a “virtual laboratory” for collecting data on the internet. "
Explore Your Myers-Briggs Personality Types at Ball State University
"This test uses scientifically-based insights to categorize personalities into 16 possible types and identify common behaviors. The end result means that you'll understand yourself a little better so you can make a career choice that best fits your personality."
Explore Your 27 Narrow Personality Traits and 5 Broad Personality Traits at The University of Oregon
"Synthetic Aperture Personality Assessment[...]The purpose of this study is to examine the correlational structure of items used in many personality inventories. In addition, by allowing the public to participate in this web-based data collection project we hope to increase public knowledge about science-based models of personality. "
Explore Your Career Assessment Tools at Yale University
"The assessments we have reviewed and listed below are free. On the web, assessment tools run the gamut from personality tests to inventories of your skills and values. Each can provide useful insight about careers and alert you to possibilities you may not have considered at Yale."
