American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) is a membership organization made up of recreational therapists. It’s a group of leaders, advocates, and movers in the profession. This association represents the members and promotes recreational therapy as a treatment modality. It focuses on research, education, and advocates for our services. I’m glad to say that I am a member of this amazing association.
Kansas City, Missouri was the birthplace of ATRA. Twenty-five years ago (in 1984) a group of 50 dedicated recreational therapists had put down their own money to start this association. Many people smoked cigarettes in the 80s. There is a common story of the smoked-filled room at a hotel in Kansas City where the organization started. By the end of the first year the association had grown from 50 to 350.
Of course, I was only 4-years-old in ’84. Today, I’m 29-years-old. The association is only 25-years-old. I’m a professional recreational therapist and I’m very fortunate for the founding fathers and “mothers” of ATRA. I’m very pleased that they got together to start this association.
Kansas City, Missouri was the birthplace of ATRA. Twenty-five years ago (in 1984) a group of 50 dedicated recreational therapists had put down their own money to start this association. Many people smoked cigarettes in the 80s. There is a common story of the smoked-filled room at a hotel in Kansas City where the organization started. By the end of the first year the association had grown from 50 to 350.
Of course, I was only 4-years-old in ’84. Today, I’m 29-years-old. The association is only 25-years-old. I’m a professional recreational therapist and I’m very fortunate for the founding fathers and “mothers” of ATRA. I’m very pleased that they got together to start this association.
ATRA probably doesn’t have more than 2,000 professional members in the association. I’m very discouraged by this number. The last I heard, there were about 16,000 recreational therapists who held the Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) credential. We’re a very small profession compared to other occupations. In example, there are nearly 2.5 million nurses working in the United States.
I’m not an official spokesperson or representative for ATRA. I’m just a member and I love the association. I encourage other recreational therapists to join. It’s an organization that is funded by, us, recreational therapists. If you’ve not done so already, I invite you to join ATRA. I think it would be just cost of just one cup of coffee a day.
Go to this link to join:
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