It is completely natural to feel overwhelmed with the seemingly endless information about wellness these days. Wading through the research and recommendations can leave you feeling as if you know less than before you started.
When we are feeling lost on our wellness journey, it is common practice to seek out the guidance of trained health care professionals such as counselors and dieticians. But have you thought about seeking the services of a recreational therapist?
According to the American Therapeutic Recreation Association, recreation therapy or therapeutic recreation is a systematic process that utilizes recreation, leisure, and other activities as interventions. This is done to address the assessed needs of individuals with illnesses and/or disabling conditions, as a means to health, recovery, and well-being.
The recreational therapist’s goal is to restore, remediate and enhance a person’s functioning while fostering independence in life activities. Having fun while simultaneously reaching better health outcomes? Yes, please! If you are interested in learning more, keep reading 5 Ways Recreational Therapist Can Improve Your Life.
1. Physical Health
The ability of all body systems to function efficiently and effectively during work and play.
How your physical body feels and functions has a huge impact on your overall well-being. A recreation therapist can help you figure out what physical activities you enjoy, can benefit from, and can afford.
Some common physical health-related outcomes include:
- Increased mobility
- Improved strength
- Increased endurance
- Restored function
- Enhanced Immune system
- Improved blood pressure
- Tension reduction
- More restful sleep
- Higher energy levels
Here are a few examples of how a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist can help you improve your physical health.
- Locating physical activity resources of interest such as community walking groups, accessible gyms, recreation centers, etc.
- Accompanying you in the community to sample new physical activities.
- Assisting you while completing applications for physical activity financial support programs (i.e. JumpStart, YMCA, etc.).
2. Emotional Health
The ability to deal comfortably and appropriately with emotion.
It’s 2019 and the self-care movement is strong. Emotional health has become a central topic of conversation as we work tirelessly to stamp out the stigma of mental illness. A recreational therapist can help you improve your emotional health while simultaneously increasing positive emotions.
Some common emotional health-related outcomes include:
- Increased emotion regulation
- Feelings of autonomy
- A sense of meaning
- Improved self-determination
- Increased optimism
Here are a few examples of how a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist can help you improve your emotional health.
- Process with you while learning how to appropriately deal with feelings of frustration during activities like recreational sports.
- Facilitate activities that provide you with feelings of success, autonomy, and intrinsic motivation such as pottery, adaptive kayaking, etc.
- Educate you on the benefits of the flow state and help you navigate activities that are likely to create feelings of flow.
3. Cognitive Health
The ability to learn and function intellectually.
Cognitive health may be a lesser-known health domain, but it is extremely important for our overall health and wellness. Through the use of systematically chosen interventions, a recreation therapist can help improve and/or maintain cognitive abilities.
Some common cognitive health-related outcomes include:
- Increased ability to attend
- Improved memory
- Better concentration
- Developed goal-setting skills
- Ability to follow directions
- Enhanced problem-solving
Here are a few examples of how a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist can help you improve your cognitive health.
- Working with you to restore/maintain cognitive functioning through the use of interactive video games (i.e. Wii, X-Box Connect).
- Help you engage in activities of interests that stimulate your cognitive abilities such as chess, building model cars, trivia, Suduko, creative writing, etc.
For further reading check out Harvard Health Publishing’s Six Steps to Cognitive Health
4. Social Health
The ability to adapt comfortably to different social situations.
Feelings of isolation, disconnection and loneliness in the world today are increasing as spend more time online than face-to-face. Our social health is the ability to enjoy meaningful relationships with other people in one’s environment.
Some common social health outcomes include:
- Improved communication skills
- Developed interpersonal skills
- Ability to demonstrate reciprocal relationship skills
- Increased social confidence
How can a recreation therapist help you improve your social health?
- Help you find a volunteer opportunity that allows to give back while also making supporting and lifegiving relationships.
- Process through your feelings of self-identity in relation to recreation and leisure activities.
- Working with you to develop the necessary social skills to interact appropriately and make new friends.
5. Spiritual Health
The ability to find purpose in life.
So often we connect spiritual health to religion and prayer. Although these are two big players in the game of spiritual well-being, they are by no means all-encompassing.
Spiritual health is having strong, coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of life. Individuals with developed spiritual health are more resilient when dealing with life circumstances.
Some common spiritual outcomes include:
- Increased feelings of balance and stability.
- Improved ability to be Introspective.
- Decreased feelings of isolation and loneliness.
- Ability to identify purpose and meaning in life.
How can a recreation therapist help you improve your spiritual health?
- Help you define what spirituality means to you (i.e. religion, mindfulness, connection to nature and the greater world around us, etc.).
- Through activities such as yoga, meditation, and mindfulness, help you identify emotions when they arise and put space between feelings and actions.
- Facilitate engagement in activities of purpose such as volunteering with organizational efforts that are meaningful to you.
Check out this article on the benefits of an active spiritual life.
Bottom Line
We all could use a little help on our wellness journey. This is especially true when life circumstances such as injury, different abilities, illness or disease make the road to wellness more challenging. A recreational therapist could be the piece of the health puzzle you are searching for.
Joy is not the absence of pain and health is not the absence of disease. It is what we do and who we are with that makes us truly happy.
