Recreation therapy (RT) internship (16-week requirement)
Please Note: Due to the coming move to the new hospital location, we will not be offering spring or summer 2012 internships in Recreation Therapy.
The recreation therapists provide five hours of programming, seven days a week on a daily basis on the inpatient psychiatric unit. Their scheduled hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with two evenings a month for animal-assisted therapy for inpatients. Recreation therapy is also provided five hours a day in the partial hospitalization program, Monday through Friday. Those scheduled hours are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Patients are assessed and provided treatment to improve socialization, leisure functioning and community reintegration. Based on the specific needs of the patients, the following programs are developed and implemented:
- Arts and crafts
- Physical fitness/education
- Team building
- Leisure education
- Yoga
- Relaxation group/techniques
- Problem solving – learning and use of coping skills/tools
- Animal assisted therapy – two times per month
- Nutrition/cooking
- Dance and music activities
- Family RT group – once a week in the partial hospitalization program
- Wellness groups
- Games and socialization activities
- Other programs as deemed therapeutic to meet the needs of the patients
The facilities that are available for recreation therapy to assist in creating a therapeutic learning environment are:
- A rooftop garden with play area
- Two extensive art/activity rooms
- A room for sensory stimulation, yoga and free time
- A kitchen
- A multi-purpose room
- The Brown Family Life Center, primarily used by children in the partial hospitalization program who have earned the privilege of attending the shows and special activities
- A large off-unit, multi-purpose activity room utilized mainly for pet therapy in the partial hospitalization program