I’m preparing to accept interns in Recreational Therapy at
my facility.
I decided to attend Debora Hutchins and Colleen Cooke’s “Clinical
Internship Supervision” at the American Therapeutic Recreation Association’s
mid-year conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Sunday, March 10, 2013.
 |
| Debora Hutchins and Colleen Cook (above) |
 |
| People who attended Debora Hutchins and Colleen Cooke’s “Clinical Internship Supervision” |
Debora Hutchins and Colleen Cooke are professors at Slippery
Rock University in Pennsylvania. They have around 150 students in their degree
program at the time.
Three ducks need to be in a row for internship supervision.
These include:
a.)
An approved college program
b.)
An approved on-site supervisor
c.)
An approved internship site
Here is a brief overview of these three areas:
a.) An approved college program
Slippery Rock University is one of four programs in the
nation that are accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of Recreational
Therapy Education (CARTE). The other three programs that are currently
accredited include: Temple University, East Carolina University, and West
Carolina University.
Accreditation for schools is very important. This is a very
good trend for Recreational Therapy degree programs. An individual would want
to go to a school that is accredited because it assures better academic
quality. A person would not want to attend a below average Recreational Therapy
degree program and not learn the skills needed in order to become a competent
practitioner.
Example of importance: Our allied-professionals in
counseling won’t be eligible to become a licensed professional if they graduate
from a counseling degree program that isn’t accredited by the Council for
Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACRP). According
to the CACRP site, “Research shows CACREP graduates perform
better on the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and
Certification (NCE).” I would assume that CARTE graduates would do better on
the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC) exam. A
student would not want to spend a large amount of money to earn a degree and
not learn the knowledge needed to pass the certification exam or not be
eligible for licensure because they didn’t graduate from an accredited program.
b.) An approved on-site supervisor
Students have the opportunity to
learn knowledge for practice during their education program. The internship is
designed to allow the student to develop their skills as a practitioner (based
on the knowledge they’ve learned).
The National Council for Therapeutic Recreation
Certification (NCTRC) requires the Recreational Therapist to have at least one
year of practice as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) in order
to supervise the 15-week internship. Slippery Rock University also requires the
Recreational Therapist to have been at their facility for at least one-year and
with two years of experience.
Students will need to make certain that their supervisor
meets legal requirements for licensure in states that require the Recreational
Therapist to have a license. These states include: Utah, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, and New Hampshire. It is illegal for an individual to practice as a
Recreational Therapist in these states without a license.
My suggestion: students may want to consider seeking out an
internship supervisor who also has a graduate degree in the field. The
internship is the student’s learning opportunity.
Some responsibilities of the internship site supervisor
includes: collaborating with the academic supervisor, communication with the
intern and academic supervisor, monitor to assure that internship outcomes are
met, provide feedback to the intern, and initiate action to resolve any
conflicts or concerns. The on-site supervisor will need to be responsible for
assuring accurate documentation of student’s hours, meetings, and evaluations.
The site-supervisor should have these two American
Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) resources:
·
Standards for the Practice of Therapeutic
Recreation and Self-Assessment Guide
·
Guidelines for Internships in Therapeutic
Recreation
I have these two documents. They’re both available at the
ATRA bookstore: http://www.atra-online.com/storeindex.cfm
c.) An approved internship site
Learning is
pre-planned. The internship site should have a Recreational Therapy Internship
Manual. This doesn’t need to be a large document. It does need several of the
following things:
·
Screening
process for interns. The site does not have to accept anyone who needs an
internship. There should be some type of process to assure the individual can
be an intern at the facility. There should be a deadline for applications and
an interview process. Does the intern have immunizations, training on
confidentiality.
o
Legal requirements:
For example, at my facility, a background check would need completed in order
to work with children. There may be other requirements varying on a site (or facility).
·
A
Recreational Therapy Intern job description
·
Policies
and procedures for the RT intern. These should be in alignment with the
facility. For example, RT staff at my facility are not permitted to be using
cell phone during group sessions or to use internet for personal use. Interns
should also follow the same dress code and other facility/ site policies that
are applicable.
·
An outline
of the 15-week internship program with goals and objectives.
·
Special
Project: Students should complete a special project during their internship. An
example: the intern could do research on an evidenced-based practice/
intervention and prepare a program or present on the benefits.
The site should be
based on the Therapeutic Recreation process and core Therapeutic Recreation
competencies as outlined by the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation
Certification. Naturally, people should keep updated on these documents as
things do change.
NOTE: Students may
want to see if the site/ facility that offers any amenities such as free
parking, meals, in-house training and workshops, etc.
An interesting quote
that one of the two presenters said was: What you need to know today will not be
what you need to know tomorrow. We evolve. Things change.
Additional Resources:
Slipper Rock University’s Therapeutic Recreation Program: http://www.sru.edu/academics/colleges/ches/pree/tr/Pages/index.aspx
Committee on Accreditation of Recreational Therapy
Education:
Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational
Programs:
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