How To Become A Therapeutic Recreation Leader: What It Is and Career Path

What is a therapeutic recreation leader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average therapeutic recreation leader salary is $32,910. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an psychology major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become a therapeutic recreation leader. Therapeutic recreation leaders with a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 28,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreTherapeutic Recreation LeaderUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $32,910

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.1

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.67%

Asian 5.10%

Black or African American 12.61%

Hispanic or Latino 15.31%

Unknown 5.58%

White 60.74%

Gender

female 71.62%

male 28.38%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

9.1

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a therapeutic recreation leader

Explore therapeutic recreation leader education requirements

Most common therapeutic recreation leader degrees

Bachelor's

69.7 %

Associate

13.5 %

Master's

8.4 %

Start to develop specific therapeutic recreation leader skills

Skills	Percentages
Role Model	31.46%
Incident Reports	15.78%
MDS	14.99%
Therapeutic Recreation Programs	13.69%
Vital Signs	7.33%

Complete relevant therapeutic recreation leader training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New therapeutic recreation leaders learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a therapeutic recreation leader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real therapeutic recreation leader resumes.

Research therapeutic recreation leader duties and responsibilities

Perform diagnostics, lead audits, kaizen events, value stream mapping, PDCA teams and employee involvement.
Perform with line-of-sight supervision by an LRT or LRTA, tasks including assisting patients during participation in treatment interventions and therapeutic activities
Facilitate activities including reading, basketball, and kickball

Get therapeutic recreation leader experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a therapeutic recreation leader. The most common roles before becoming a therapeutic recreation leader include volunteer, internship team lead and direct care supervisor.

Apply for therapeutic recreation leader jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a therapeutic recreation leader job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do therapeutic recreation leaders rate their job?

-/5

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Therapeutic recreation leader reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019

Pros

Interacting with my Residents hearing their stories .

Cons

I love what I do to be able provided and encourage my resident to engage in activities ,spare there life experiences and stories its amazing They have become my other family.