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a: most people are not familiar with recreation therapy but i usually say that the simplest way to describe it is, we use recreation and leisure as a form of therapy to meet individual goals. it is for anybody and everybody.
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a: working with sha, and specifically with the mental health component there, i have seen quite a lack of community support in regard to recreation therapy for a lot of individuals i have been working with. it’s something that if you ask any recreation therapist we all feel there should be more of us.
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a: it depends on individual needs. sometimes my session is leisure counselling with one-on-one conversation worksheets looking at their time use, their leisure participation and their current concerns. and sometimes it involves leisure participation. at times the actual activity can be the therapy. we could be looking at something like yoga or doing an art project. ultimately we’re typically looking at our goal for individuals is that they are able to freely and independently participate in their leisure on their own without our support.
a: i ‘m kind of looking at a broader aspect of mental health and i want to make sure that anybody experiencing any level of mental health distress can feel that they can access my services. eventually, i would like to focus on maternal mental health and individuals with eating disorders. and hope to bring on other recreation therapists in the future who can focus on other areas such as substance use disorder, anxiety or psychosis.
a: recreational therapists are evidence-based and follow a specific form of practice. the very first thing prior to doing anything with any individual we’re involved with is to go through an assessment. that could look like just sitting down and having a conversation with someone and being able to assess what they need. our focus is on what you can do and not what you can’t do. the initial appointment is the individual getting to know me, me getting to know them, allowing them to fully understand what the process is. i will determine if this is something we could kind of go over in a couple sessions or we need to set up a timeline. the initial appointment is longer just because there’s a lot more information seeking. follow-up appointments can be either 60 or 90 minutes. these can be done virtually or in person. i try to leave every session with something for people to continue to work on between meetings.
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a: one of the first things i always tell people is that i believe fully in a holistic healthcare approach. not one type of provider is able to help us with everything. a physiotherapist is going to work on the ability to walk. an occupational therapist is going to give you the tools to walk. a recreation therapist is going to give you a reason to walk. sometimes recreation therapy is the one thing that’s missing.
a: when you look at the definition of flourishing, the idea to flourish is to grow well, to thrive, to prosper, to be within the highest period of productivity and excellence. it’s that idea of survival and surviving versus thriving. as a recreation therapist, i want you to thrive not just to survive. there’s a beautiful maya angelou quote, ‘my mission in life is not merely to survive but to thrive and to survive with some passion, some compassion and some humour and some style.’ and to me, that encompasses fully what recreation therapy is. i want individuals who feel like they can’t flourish in life to realize that they can.
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owner
: crystal toth
phone:
639-637-5121
hours:
contact for appointment
email:
crystaltoth@flourishyxe.com
website:
www.flourishyxe.com
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