What does a therapeutic recreation specialist do?
A Therapeutic Recreation Specialist treats people who are suffering from chronic disabilities, injuries, or illnesses. They often work in medical centers, hospitals, and private rehabilitation facilities.
Therapeutic recreation specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real therapeutic recreation specialist resumes:
- Manage the maintenance of post MWR relate administrative records and submit program status reports in accordance with establish contractual requirements.
- Participate in weekly community outings to assist patients in building independence in community mobility/coping & adjustment/leisure education.
- Complete daily scheduling for other CTRS in the department and support staff.
- Modify initial assessments to specifically meet MDS qualifications.
- Supervise CTRS interns in program implementation, documentation and special projects.
- Provide innovative recreation programs on a progressive sub-acute short-term rehabilitation unit.
- Draft MDS assessment forms for individual clients and perform community reintegration treatment.
- Collaborate with staff to secure and utilize adaptive equipment during programming and transportation.
- Prepare and provide specialized activity programs for residents with Alzheimer and other similar cognitive impairments.
- Provide teaching and education to children and families on adaptive recreation to encourage full recreation participation.
- Develop activity and leisure programming for specific special needs populations including advance dementia and Alzheimer's populations.
- Perform initial evaluation of patients to determine specific goals for individuals with traumatic brain or spinal cord injury.
- Specialize in sports relate therapeutic rehabilitation
- Specialize in sports relate therapeutic rehabilitation
Therapeutic recreation specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 25% of Therapeutic Recreation Specialists are proficient in Patients, CTRS, and Interdisciplinary. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Listening skills, and Speaking skills.
We break down the percentage of Therapeutic Recreation Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 25%
Performed initial evaluation of patients to determine specific goals for individuals with traumatic brain or spinal cord injury.
- CTRS, 10%
Attend meetings including CTRS meetings, Treatment Planning, Hospital Trainings, etc.
- Interdisciplinary, 9%
Participated in interdisciplinary meetings that reviewed resident care plans and created necessary documentation for follow-up and future review.
- Rehabilitation, 8%
Specialized in sports related therapeutic rehabilitation
- Recreation Therapy, 8%
Created core recreation therapy programs & personal physical fitness plans for chemically dependent adolescents & adults.
- Mental Health, 6%
Work in a rehab module mental health and substance abuse clinic with economically and socially disadvantage population.
Common skills that a therapeutic recreation specialist uses to do their job include "patients," "ctrs," and "interdisciplinary." You can find details on the most important therapeutic recreation specialist responsibilities below.
Compassion. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a therapeutic recreation specialist to have is compassion. Their role and responsibilities require that "recreational therapists may deal with people who are in pain, so they should be empathetic when providing support to patients and their families." Therapeutic recreation specialists often use compassion in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "gained understanding of the importance of customer service and compassion while working with youth and seniors. "
Listening skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling therapeutic recreation specialist duties is listening skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "recreational therapists must pay attention to patients’ concerns in order to determine an appropriate course of treatment." According to a therapeutic recreation specialist resume, here's how therapeutic recreation specialists can utilize listening skills in their job responsibilities: "document receiving and processing: clearly and accurately communicated the philosophy, goals, and purpose of recreation therapy. "
Leadership skills. For certain therapeutic recreation specialist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "leadership skills." The day-to-day duties of a therapeutic recreation specialist rely on this skill, as "recreational therapists must be engaging and able to motivate patients to participate in a variety of therapeutic activities." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what therapeutic recreation specialists do: "assume leadership responsibilities within the shift to streamline workflow and patient care. "
Communication skills. Another common skill required for therapeutic recreation specialist responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of therapeutic recreation specialists all the time, as "recreational therapists need to give clear instructions during activities or for healthy coping techniques." An excerpt from a real therapeutic recreation specialist resume shows how this skill is central to what a therapeutic recreation specialist does: "maintain ongoing communication as it relates to ongoing wellness, rehabilitation, and referrals to ensure successful community reintergration. "
See the full list of therapeutic recreation specialist skills
The three companies that hire the most therapeutic recreation specialists are:
- Universal Health Services6 therapeutic recreation specialists jobs
- Res-Care Premier6 therapeutic recreation specialists jobs
- Haven Behavioral Healthcare4 therapeutic recreation specialists jobs
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Compare different therapeutic recreation specialists
Therapeutic recreation specialist vs. Treatment coordinator
A Treatment Coordinator is responsible for assisting the doctors and other medical professionals in performing treatment procedures and administering medications for the patients. Treatment Coordinators manage administrative duties, such as scheduling medical appointments, discussing the treatment plans to the patients, updating medical information on the database, and processing payments for the medical procedures. They also coordinate with the insurance agencies to verify the patients' eligibility and information and file documents as necessary. A Treatment Coordinator must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in maintaining databases and ensuring that all medical forms are organized and safely stored.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a therapeutic recreation specialist are more likely to require skills like "ctrs," "interdisciplinary," "rehabilitation," and "recreation therapy." On the other hand, a job as a treatment coordinator requires skills like "customer service," "financial arrangements," "treatment options," and "social work." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Treatment coordinators tend to make the most money working in the non profits industry, where they earn an average salary of $42,993. In contrast, therapeutic recreation specialists make the biggest average salary, $53,233, in the manufacturing industry.On average, treatment coordinators reach higher levels of education than therapeutic recreation specialists. Treatment coordinators are 7.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Therapeutic recreation specialist vs. General activities therapist
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that therapeutic recreation specialist responsibilities requires skills like "patients," "ctrs," "rehabilitation," and "recreation therapy." But a general activities therapist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "instructional capacity," "community programs," "physical therapy," and "general recreational."
In general, general activities therapists achieve higher levels of education than therapeutic recreation specialists. They're 5.6% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Therapeutic recreation specialist vs. Rehabilitation therapist
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from therapeutic recreation specialist resumes include skills like "ctrs," "interdisciplinary," "recreation therapy," and "leisure education," whereas a rehabilitation therapist is more likely to list skills in "social work," "patient care," "physical therapy," and "art therapy. "
Rehabilitation therapists earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $58,523. Therapeutic recreation specialists earn the highest pay from the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $53,233.Most rehabilitation therapists achieve a higher degree level compared to therapeutic recreation specialists. For example, they're 13.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Therapeutic recreation specialist vs. Adventure therapist
Types of therapeutic recreation specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
