Tenets of TR Practice

The tenet that I find most valuable is number nine, which states that "the goal of therapeutic recreation (i.e. health) is achieved through purposeful intervention using the TR process (i.e., assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation)." According to Austin and Crawford, "therapeutic recreation involves the knowledge of leisure and recreation as these phenomena relate to achieving optimal health and quality of life." The whole goal of TR is to help people through the TR process, that way this intervention can be documented and carefully evaluated to know if this method is working for that individual. This is a method that I try to use in my job, even though I am not a therapuetic recreation specialist. I feel that it is good to know and understand the people that I work with (assessment), have a plan for how I am going to meet their goals (planning), implement those plans into actions, and finally evaluate if those plans and actions are meeting the specific goals of the participants. Though I may never become a CTRS, I will never practice therapy, but I can use these ideals to give the most to the people that I work with to help them reach that self-actualization point.