I graduated with my Bachelor’s of Recreation, with an emphasis in Therapeutic Recreation in early 2012. That means this spring will signify 10 years since I took the giant leap from student to professional.
And what an incredible 10 years it has been. Now let’s be clear – not every experience throughout my career and life has been fun and uplifting. There were MANY challenges along the way that left me feeling discouraged, burnout and uncertain about the career I had chosen.
But I can tell you looking back that everything I have experienced has been purposeful in shaping the empowered recreation therapist and empathetic soul I am today. I intentionally stay focused on having a growth frame of mind as I go into the next 10 years of my career. Forever a student, looking for opportunities to take challenges and discern the lessons that will help me.
Today’s post is all about the My 4 Biggest Therapeutic Recreation Career Lessons I have learned to date, as well as an incredible opportunity happening at the end of the month that I am very excited to share with you.
My 4 Biggest Therapeutic Recreation Career Lessons
1. Identify and own your worth
I can very vividly remember the first time I set foot on a hospital unit that I was working on. It felt as though I had walked onto the set of Grey’s Anatomy, and by NO MEANS was I qualified to be there. Terrified to share my opinion in team rounds and was extremely intimidated by the other interdisciplinary professionals. I continued to think, who was I to have a voice in regards to the treatment of the patients/clients I was serving at the time.
I had MASSIVE impostor syndrome. The worst part is, I choose not to share how I was feeling with anyone because I was ashamed. If only I had known at the time that this is a common experience for so many of us, and the only way to work through it is to share how you feel with others and work on identifying & owning your worth. There is a cure to Imposter Syndrome, but it requires the vulnerability of asking for support.
2. Self-care is crucial for longevity
Self-care is a term that can be applied to endless practices and routines that involve taking care of ourselves. I have learned that practicing self-care means giving myself the time and resources that I need. With the goal of staying balanced and whole. Some days that means I take an extra-long hot shower when I get home and pamper myself after a long day of work. Other days it makes accessing my workplace EAP to set up an appointment with a mental health counselor.
There will be times that you drive home in silence because your brain could not possibly take on one more piece of information. Days that you ask yourself, why you decided to enter the field that you did because of the lack of respect you receive. Moments when your heart breaks for those you work with and you wish you could make changes that are not within your control. Because these days and moments are inevitable in your career, caring for ourselves both proactively and reactively is crucial for our spirits and longevity.
3. Find ways to stay inspired
Inspiration is an incredible, but fleeting feeling. Have you ever attended a conference and felt like you could take on the world. You had big dreams of developing new evidence-based programs and partnering with community stakeholders that you just couldn’t wait to start. Then you get back into the office and BAM – you are hit with an endless inbox of email, assessments that need to get done pronto, and reports that are already a day late.
And just like that… inspiration evaporates and we are back on the daily grind. What I have learned is that it is our responsibility to stay inspired. Even when the environments we are in are overwhelming. This can be done in so many different ways. From connecting with those you admire to developing a strong WHY, to creating inspirational practices in your daily routines.
4. Build an intentional community
If you are a recreation therapist, it is likely that at some point in your career you will be the only RT on a team. It will also be likely that you feel left out, or like a minority, in the healthcare world as we are a smaller (but mighty) discipline. One of the best lessons I have learned over the past 10 years has been the importance of building an intentional community of others who lift me up when I am down and share both my struggles and joys.
The beautiful thing about 2022, is that we have many options to create community. We can find others at our smartphone fingertips. Connecting both in-person and online is a great way of building intentional relationships. Ones that validate your feelings and motivate you to do impactful work and develop meaningful connections that are important for our holistic well-being.
TR Career and Well-being Retreat 2022
I am incredibly excited to be involved with the upcoming TR Career and Well-being Retreat which is happening Feb. 24th – 25th, 2022. This 1.5-day virtual retreat will be an opportunity for you to:
- Build an intentional community of like-minded TR professionals.
- Become inspired by those who you admire.
- Practice intentional self-care, and
- KNOW YOUR WORTH!
The TR Career and Well-being Retreat also offer 10 hours of NCTRC pre-approved education sessions (1.0 CEUs). All session recordings will be available for one month after the conference for all those registered.
To learn more, head to the event page here → TR Career & Well-being Retreat
Follow the TR Career and Well-being announcements on Instagram and Facebook
I hope this article provided you with some ideas for career and wellbeing practices.
I’d love to know in the comments below your biggest TR Career Lessons to date.