Thank You!

I wanted to post a “Thank You” for several good friends of mine who had submitted a nomination or a letter of recommendation in Support of my organization, “DannyPettry, LLC” for the 2016 American Therapeutic Recreation Association’s – Organization Award!

Thank you so much to the following individuals:

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Kim Severance is a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) who works as the Veran Program Coordinator and Marine Education Coordinator at Island Dolphin Care. She had submitted the official nomination form.

 Lacy Speert is a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS), a Certified Dementia Practitioner, and Certified Laughter Leader (CLL). She had written a very nice letter of recommendation about my program, which I appreciate.

Dr. David Austin is well-known in our profession. He is a professor emeritus (Indiana University). I read his text books as an undergraduate student at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. I selected to earn my graduate degree through Indianan University’s distance education program because Dr. David Austin was a professor there. I was fortunate to have had one of the last classes he taught to students before graduating. It was a course on Social Psychology in Therapeutic Recreation. I can recall reading an article by Dr. Austin in a journal where his professor claimed that those of us in recreational therapy are applied social psychologists. David Austin was a founding member of the American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA), a past president of the association, and he has been awarded the Distinguished Fellow Award by ATRA. I feel very fortunate to have studied at Indiana University with Dr. Austin. Dr. Austin also writes a RT blog.

  Charlie Dixon, M.S. CTRS is well-known in our profession as being the operator of the Therapeutic Recreation Directory online. His site has won several awards from ATRA. Charlie has also been awarded the Distinguished Fellow Award by ATRA. I was present at the ATRA conference when Charlie received this award in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I first discovered his web-site in the late 90s when I was doing research on the profession. I was surprised to discover he was from my home state of West Virginia. I’ve often sought out his advice and information about web-site design. Charlie has been very kind in providing door prizes and email blasts about my site via his TR Directory newsletter, which I am very grateful for as well.

I want to say thanks again to Kim, Lacy, David, and Charlie for your kind words and recommendation for the ATRA organization award. 

Student questions

There was a question and answer panel with a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) at the Great Lake Recreational Therapy Student Conference.

I  was very pleased to be one of the CTRS on this panel.

I heard there were over 100 students present! What a great bunch of enthusiastic people! I validated to them that the fact that they made it to this event. Most of the people I met were from Indiana or Michigan. 

Other CTRS on the panel included: Shawn Geise, Jake Newhand, Brittany Hook, Kaitlyn Smith, Tommy Means, and Lori Schwyer. 

Those CTRS are great people. They worked in various different fields and I was so happy and pleased to be on stage with them and to hear their experiences. One woman (and I regret to say I can't recall who) provides services for people with traumatic brain injury. I told her that I am a CTRS, but I would not feel fully competent working in that position. She told me she had worked in mental health before switching. She informed the audience that we can and do get harmed by clients in mental health, which I agreed is true. 

Jared Allsop (conference co-chair) lecturer at Indiana University had called on student hands in the audience. They asked questions and the CTRS answered!

I can’t recall the exact questions asked. I wish I would have had a student to write them down.

Some questions I vaguely recall some of the questions.

Should you take an internship in an area you want to work or reach out and try something different to broaden your horizons?

I disagreed with one of the other CTRS on this one. I suggested go for the area you want to get more of a focus/ experience in an expertise area. I also suggested being open-minded to at least trying out other jobs when you’re ready to get hired. Why? I did my training mostly with elderly and seniors in skilled nursing (internship) and rehabilitation hospital (practicum), and even a nursing home (practicum). My first job offer was in mental/ behavioral health working with children and teens. I took the job and I’ve worked there since August 2002.

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What do you look for in an intern for your facility? 

My answers: passion, interest, eager to learn, well-groomed/ appropriate to work in a hospital setting, and easy-going. willing to grow and learn. I informed them that they will make mistakes (as well all have). 

·         What do you like most about your job?

Seeing kids grow and change and become successful. Of course, I let them know there are a lot of work place stressors to be prepared for that as well.

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Where do you get new updates and information?

My answer: being a member of our professional association (ATRA) and reading.

Does a Master's degree help? 

I may have been the only CTRS with a master’s degree on the panel. I’m not sure. I don’t recall any members strongly advocating for getting a master’s degree. I argued that many of our professional colleagues in social worker, physical therapy, mental health counselling, occupational therapy are the process or have already moved their entry-level as having a Master’s degree.

Based on my understanding, the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC) had created the specialty certification certificates to help increase the number of CTRS with a graduate level degree. 

How do you get a new intervention at your facility?

 My answer: if you’re working at a facility that does not offer an activity-based treatment intervention, then you could ask someone who is trained and experienced to come and give a presentation. That individual could help provide resources and connections to help your facility to open up a program.

 Feel free to Ask Danny questions and he’ll post them at his blog for others to read as well. 

Jan. Feb. 2016 NCTRC e-news

I love NCTRC!

I can recall doing volunteer work at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Huntington, West Virginia way back in (1999) when I first discovered Recreational Therapy.

My friend Marci was just completing her internship there and she told me how to get a degree in the profession.

Later, I completed a 60-hour practicum in recreational therapy with Marci and I felt so happy seeing her degree and Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) credentials on her office wall. I knew that one day I would have those too. Thanks Marci.

I also learned that my good friend Connie was the first person to work in Therapeutic Recreation at the Huntington HealthSouth Rehab.

NCTRC has publically posted their Jan/ Feb. 2016 newsletter at this link:

http://nctrc.org/januaryfebruary-2016/ 

How to become CTRS

Healthcaremanagement.com posted an article on how to become a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS), which is neat.

Of course, I recommend getting in touch with the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification ( NCTRC) for official information.

However, here is the link by Healthcaremanagement:

http://www.healthcaremanagement.com/becoming-a-certified-therapeutic-recreation-specialist/