Recreational Therapist
Recreational Therapist
Career Overview
Recreational therapists use activities such as sports, games, arts, music, and other forms of recreation as part of treatment and rehabilitation. They design programs around each person's abilities and goals to support physical, cognitive, emotional, and social well-being. They may work with people living with disabilities, injuries, illnesses, or other challenges.
Education
A bachelor’s degree is typically the entry-level education for recreational therapy. Programs may include coursework in therapeutic recreation, health science, psychology, human development, and rehabilitation. Some employers also prefer or require professional certification, depending on the role and location.
Future Outlook
Recreational therapy is expected to remain a steady part of healthcare, rehabilitation, and community-based support. Demand will be supported by an aging population, continued rehabilitation needs, and greater emphasis on helping people stay active, independent, and socially connected. Recreational therapists may also find opportunities in settings that support mental health, recovery, disability services, and long-term care.
Work Environment
Recreational therapists work in hospitals, rehabilitation centres, long-term care and residential facilities, community programs, and other healthcare or social service settings. Therapy can happen indoors or outdoors, depending on the activity and the person's treatment plan. Some therapists may also work in community recreation settings or private practice.
Recommended High School Courses
- Biology
- Psychology
- Physical Education
- English
- Health science
- Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Time Sharing - The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Collect medical information from patients, family members, or other medical professionals.
- Gather medical information from patient histories.
- Treat patients using psychological therapies.
- Develop treatment plans that use non-medical therapies.
- Monitor patient progress or responses to treatments.
- Record patient medical histories.
- Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.
- Train patients, family members, or caregivers in techniques for managing disabilities or illnesses.
- Encourage patients or clients to develop life skills.
- Inform medical professionals regarding patient conditions and care.
- Prepare reports summarizing patient diagnostic or care activities.
- Provide health and wellness advice to patients, program participants, or caregivers.
- Develop medical treatment plans.
Schools
Arizona State University
Arkansas Tech University
Brigham Young University-...
California State Universi...
California State Universi...
Clemson University
East Carolina University
East Stroudsburg Universi...
Eastern Illinois Universi...
Eastern Kentucky Universi...
Brock University
Dalhousie University
Douglas College- Coqui...
Lakehead University- O...
Memorial University
University Of Alberta
University Of Lethbrid...
University Of Regina
University Of Waterloo
Approx Salary Expectation
Low End:
$40,000.00 /yr
Avg/Med:
$60,000.00 /yr
High End:
$97,000.00 /yr
Related Careers
References
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.