Name:
Location: Indiana, United States

I became a Professor Emeritus after serving 29 years as a recreational therapy faculty member at Indiana University. I'm a long-time Hoosier, having grown up in Hanover, Indiana. My RT practitioner work was in psych/mental health. After completing my Ph.D. at the University of Illinois, my first faculty position was at the University of North Texas. RT has been a wonderful profession for me as I have had the opportunity to serve as an author and national leader.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Position Paper Available from NCTRC

NCTRC has published a position paper entitled “NCTRC Position Paper on the Legal Regulation of the Practice of Recreation Therapy.”

The NCTRC paper advocates the legal regulation of RT practice. I certainly support this position.

Within the paper a number of terms are defined, including recreaton therapy. The definition put forth in the paper follows:

"Recreation therapy: a systematic process that utilizes recreation and other activity-based interventions based upon the assessed needs of individuals with illnesses and/or disabling conditions. The purpose of the RT process is to improve or maintain physical, cognitive, social, emotional and spiritual functioning in order to facilitate full participation in life."

Is this a good definition of RT? It seems good as far as it goes but it lacks any mention of optimal health and wellness -- or health promotion. What do you think?

You may go to the NCTRC website, http://www.nctrc.org/ to download a copy of NCTRC's position paper.

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