T hink about the role recreation has played in your life.  Where does it fall on your priority list?  

Where would you like it to fall?  Perhaps recreation no longer seems like a possi-bility.  The good news is there is a type of therapy that may provide assistance in helping you to prioritize recreation while also enhancing your health.     Recreation therapy is a treatment ser-vice that aims to enhance quality of life through leisure and recreational interests while maintaining or improving all areas of health.  Recreation therapists may utilize previous leisure pursuits and in-corporate them into therapy, as well as provide assistance in maintaining pre-ferred recreational pastimes.       Recreation therapists serve a variety of populations in a variety of settings.  They may work in community-based organizations, inpatient healthcare facili-ties, outpatient settings, schools, or even in someone’s home.  Their services may be provided in both large and small group settings or with individuals one on one.  For those restricted to bed, services can be provided at a person’s bedside.     Recreation therapy involves an array of therapeutic approaches, such as aquatic therapy, music therapy, art therapy, dance or movement therapy, creative-writing therapy, laughter ther-apy, adapted sports, animal-assisted therapy, horticulture therapy, and more.  

     Recreation therapy is holis-tic.  A recreation therapist assesses a person in all domains – phys-ical, social, communicative, emotional, cog-nitive, and in some cases even spiritual.  Be-

yond this, a recreation therapist assesses past recreation and leisure pursuits and attempts to utilize these to create an individualized treatment plan.       For those with a limited leisure life-style, a recreation therapist may provide 

leisure counseling to identify a person’s interests and encourage him or her to carry out new pursuits.  Besides assist-ing with identifying interests, a recreation therapist supports individuals in commu-nity outreach by providing education and awareness of community resources.       For those facing cancer, recreation therapy can provide a variety of services 

catered to an individual and his or her particular needs and interests.  This may also include working with friends and family.  As you may already know, can-cer not only affects the individual, but it also has an influence on those involved 

in that person’s life.  A recreation thera-pist can assist in implementing friends and family programming where loved ones can participate in a project together, whether it’s pumpkin carving, storytell-ing, or legacy building.       Being involved in activities of inter-est may help survivors build endurance when attempting to regain strength during and after illness.  When you are participating in something you love, you are inclined to work harder.  For ex-ample, a person may find the strength to reach out to pet or brush a dog during animal-assisted therapy when they may 

not have been able to find that energy previously.  The simple activity of pet-ting a dog may provide temporary relief of pain, depression, and anxiety.  It may enhance feelings of comfort and connectedness and may even improve physical function.  This could also be true for someone involved in a drum circle, a laughter therapy group, or a relaxation program.     Some pursuits may be individual, may be one on one, or may involve groups.  Some may improve physical or cognitive function, while others may provide social interactions and improve communication 

skills.  Many simply enhance overall well-being.  Sometimes, a pursuit provides a multitude of benefits and enhances numerous areas of function.  The overall goal is the same.  Recre-ation therapy enhances quality of life.  

     What is it you love doing?  What are you passionate about?  Challenge your-self to think about what’s most fulfilling in your life and prioritize it.  

Editor’s Note: Gretchen Gerhardt is a certi-fied therapeutic recreation specialist at Bailey-Boushay House in Seattle, WA.

Action! If you’d like to learn more about rec-reation therapy or find a practicing recreation therapist in your area, visit the American Therapeutic Recreation Association website at atra-online.com. Chapter affiliates or state associations are located under the network-ing tab. These affiliates can put you in touch with local recreation therapists. n

What is Recreation Therapy? And how can it help someone facing cancer?

by Gretchen M. Gerhardt, ctrs/r

A recreation therapist assesses a person in all domains – physical, social, communicative, emotional, cognitive, and in some cases even spiritual.

Equine therapy is a popular form of animal-assisted recreation therapy.

Gretchen Gerhardt

30 COPING q July/August 2011 Coping® with Cancer Celebration Issue