Therapist vs recreation therapist

The differences between therapists and recreation therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a recreation therapist has an average salary of $55,992, which is higher than the $55,943 average annual salary of a therapist.

The top three skills for a therapist include social work, patients and group therapy sessions. The most important skills for a recreation therapist are patients, CTRS, and mental health.

Therapist vs recreation therapist overview

	Therapist	Recreation Therapist
Yearly salary	$55,943	$55,992
Hourly rate	$26.90	$26.92
Growth rate	17%	4%
Number of jobs	159,770	54,263
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age	41	43
Years of experience	-	12

What does a therapist do?

A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.

What does a recreation therapist do?

A recreation therapist is responsible for supporting the patients' physical and mental wellness by organizing therapeutic programs and activities, depending on the patients' condition and existing treatment plans. Recreation therapists work with other medical health professionals for advice and medication needs. They also track the patients' progress, maintain a medical chart, and report any updates to the physicians and patients' family members. A recreation therapist manages the resources and materials for the activities and ensures the safety and security of the participants.

Therapist vs recreation therapist salary

Therapists and recreation therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Therapist	Recreation Therapist
Average salary	$55,943	$55,992
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $80,000	Between $36,000 And $85,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Childhelp	Cottage Health
Best paying industry	Government	Education

Differences between therapist and recreation therapist education

There are a few differences between a therapist and a recreation therapist in terms of educational background:

	Therapist	Recreation Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common major	Psychology	Rehabilitation Science
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	California State University - Long Beach

Therapist vs recreation therapist demographics

Here are the differences between therapists' and recreation therapists' demographics:

	Therapist	Recreation Therapist
Average age	41	43
Gender ratio	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%	Male, 27.5% Female, 72.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 3.3% White, 74.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	12%	9%

Differences between therapist and recreation therapist duties and responsibilities

Therapist example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator and BiPAP's and create or update care plans per patient needs.
Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Provide on-call crisis intervention as well as standard treatment, rehabilitation and support services with some interventions requiring specialize therapy services.
Develop and implement an effective curriculum of DBT inform group and art therapy classes specifically tailor for chemically dependent patients.
Provide trauma-inform individual psychotherapy, TREM group treatment protocol, and EMDR.
Utilize current brain base therapeutic techniques to teach clients adaptive skills to utilize in daily lives.

Recreation therapist example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator care, intubation, arterial line placement, mechanical ventilation, BIPAP, and CPAP.
Evaluate assigned patients to assess and document the need for therapeutic recreational interventions in order to attain rehabilitation goals.
Obtain ABG samples when need, EKG analysis, and oxygen therapy to patients.
Support the CTRS in planning and implementation of in- house events and community outings.
Organize and facilitate programs for TBI survivors and their families.
Use patient prefer music to apply NMT protocols into sessions.

Therapist vs recreation therapist skills

Common therapist skills

Social Work, 23%
Patients, 12%
Group Therapy Sessions, 8%
Crisis Intervention, 7%
Mental Health, 4%
Patient Care, 3%

Common recreation therapist skills

Patients, 27%
CTRS, 11%
Mental Health, 7%
Rehabilitation, 7%
Patient Care, 6%
CPR, 4%

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Therapist vs Recreation Therapist

Updated January 8, 2025

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