Therapeutic Recreation (Certificate)

Therapeutic recreation (TR), also known as recreation therapy (RT), is the use of recreation, leisure, and play to improve or maintain physical, cognitive, social, and emotional functioning to assist individuals in experiencing independent lifestyles and satisfying leisure experiences. The certificate in therapeutic recreation provides students in majors other than therapeutic recreation with skills and knowledge in assessing, developing, and implementing individualized intervention programs, and utilizing facilitation techniques in a range of modalities for clients with medical and disabling conditions, disorders, and impairments. These abilities support learning in other health science majors and prepare students for work in a variety of human service professions. 

This certificate program alone is not designed to lead to professional licensure in New York State (NYS), nor does it prepare students to practice a restricted scope in any profession licensed by NYS. Students who wish to pursue the National Council on Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC) will be required to take additional coursework, specifically TRC 469 Internship and Examination Prep and TRC 470 Internship in Therapeutic Recreation, in order to be eligible for national certification through NCTRC. Information on specific paths to certification, and the requirements placed on students by various states, should be discussed with the TR program chair and can be also be found on the NCTRC website. 

Learning Objectives

• develop competence to individually screen, assess, and systematically collect client data, develop individualized intervention plans, and utilize relevant documentation to track client progress toward attaining goals.
• develop competence in planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating evidence-based therapeutic recreation intervention programs that identify functional outcome goals, modalities, and facilitation techniques used to restore, remediate, or rehabilitate client functioning and lead to the utilization and enhancement of an independent leisure lifestyle.
• acquire specific skills with and knowledge of facilitation techniques in a range of modalities used as interventions for clients with medical and disabling conditions, disorders, and impairments affecting their physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and leisure functioning across the lifespan.

Admissions Requirements