Provider profile
Bill Augar Girvan
Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS)
Recreation Team Leader, House of the Good Shepherd
Who might benefit from the services of a recreation therapist?
While everyone has the right to a quality leisure lifestyle, recreation therapy best helps people with mental or physical disabilities regardless of the cause of such disabilities.
What does a recreation therapist do?
A recreation therapist works with the client focusing on his/her strengths and abilities, in an effort to help the client maintain as close to a “normal” leisure lifestyle as possible. Therapists utilize a positive attitude along with the power of recreation to accomplish this goal. All in all, a recreation therapist must consistently be a great team player within his/her setting as this ultimately reflects how he/she works with the individual client.
Recreation therapists work in these five domains: Social, physical, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual. Creativity is key in working in this field.
How does that help?
Keeping a positive attitude will go a long way in building a client’s self-esteem, which is a major component in their rehabilitation. A recreation therapist must keep in mind that each client has individual needs and abilities. When a client starts to experience success and fun in recreation, it helps them to feel better about themselves, pushing them to do even better in recreation as well as other aspects of their day-to-day lives.
Recreation therapists mix this with their own brand of magic, to further assist clients in achieving success.
Is recreation therapy a short-term, long-term or permanent intervention? Does it require a prescription like physical or occupational therapy?
Recreation therapy can be used as an intervention for any length of time. The duration depends on the individual’s needs and their physical setting. Recreation therapy does not require a prescription but it is a major component in any individual’s treatment and /or rehabilitation regime. Many levels of care require the recreation therapist to be nationally certified in order to be a part of their team.
In what settings do recreation therapists work?
Recreation therapists work in a variety of settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, mental health facilities, rehabilitation centers and prisons. They can work with a variety of age groups, but are especially helpful in working with at-risk-youth. The populations they work with have experiences such as trauma, injuries, mental illness, incarceration, birth defects, war/military service, or even the natural aging process. Recreation therapists also work with family members to encourage continuity of leisure activities even after therapy is no longer required.
Are there many recreation therapists out there?
There are approximately 1,600 certified recreation therapists in New York State with many of them belonging to the NYS Therapeutic Recreation Association (NYSTRA). This field, which is dominated by females, will most certainly continue to grow as there are servicemen and women returning from the war with injuries and trauma, and also due to the fact that folks are living longer and many will end up in nursing homes at some point in their lives.
What education/training is required?
What licensing/credentialing is available or required in New York?
In order to be allowed to sit for the national certification exam, one must have a BS degree in Therapeutic Recreation. Once you have passed and become a CTRS you need to maintain that status by continually working in the field, attending NYSTRA conferences and workshops, taking college courses to earn CEUs, giving presentations and/or writing articles on therapeutic recreation. You also must apply every five years for recertification. New York State does not presently require licensure (as six other states already do) but is moving toward that goal and it should be a requirement within five years.
Why did you choose this field?
I suffered from blood poisoning, spent 100 days in the hospital and ended up with a partially disabled left hand. This caused my self-esteem to plummet to almost zero as I thought I would never be able to fish again, something I have always loved to do. I had a wonderful physical therapist (Fonze) who worked very hard to help me regain strength and movement – but also my self-esteem. Fonze went above and beyond his call of duty to help me and I have never forgot that.
After 18 years in a warehouse job, I found myself unemployed due to the company closing. A good friend, Dr. John F. Millett, encouraged me to go back to school at Utica College. With my experiences with Fonze and also years of working with children teaching them how to fish, Therapeutic Recreation seemed a natural career choice.
As Fonze did, I try my best every day to go above and beyond for the clients I work with. I love my job and do not regret one minute of my life’s experiences that got me where I am today.
|
