Essay about Philosophy and Therapeutic Recreation

When we observe the demographics of today¡¦s society, we notice that there is quite a change in the average age, as well as life expectancy. In 1993, the average life expectancy rose to an amazing 75.5 years, with women living an average of 79 years and men living an average of 72 years (Hawkins, 1996, p. 4). With this gradual rise in age, the idea of therapeutic recreation for the aging population has taken on a significant role. Therapeutic recreation uses recreation and leisure activities to meet the needs of people in order to improve their quality of life. These needs include social, physical, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual. The experience of engaging in recreation is perceived to have therapeutic benefits. Engaging in

Throughout history, philosophers have debated what constitutes the “good life.” From ancient texts, such as “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and Lucretius’s The Nature of Things, to modern works, the purpose or “end” of human existence has remained a crucial topic of discussion. In “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” the titular character’s journey reveals many characteristics of one view of a good life. Although Gilgamesh initially sought after immortality, fame, and glory, the end of his journey coincides with his realization that one’s limited time should be spent enjoying life and improving the world. Plato and Aristotle continued to think about what the good life looks like; although Plato believed humans should aim to be just and Aristotle argued for happiness, they both agreed on the importance of education to improve one’s life. Furthermore, Lucretius discusses the good life in The Nature of Things, and he asserts that people should strive to be happy and should aim to lead simple lives. Virgil also addresses the issue of the good life via Aeneas’ journey to found Rome. Aeneas’s perils reflect the Roman importance of duty, or pietas, which was widely used as a definition of the good life. Despite the many definitions of the good life, these philosophers reach very similar conclusions that the good life should include enjoying life and being responsible to the state.

The next topic to consider, then, is what kind of rational activities fulfill the purpose of a human being. Aristotle feels that as a human, one should actualize the capacities of the soul through activity. Here one encounters the debate of activity versus productivity. In current society, productivity is the measure of success, and activity for its own sake is rarely considered worthwhile. Aristotle does not believe in the importance of productivity relative to one's happiness. Instead, he feels that one should engage in activity for no external end or result whatsoever. Those activities that are chosen simply because of a desire to experience the activity are often the ones that bring the most happiness. Activities that have no product create a sense of existence for the one engaging in the activity. This, however, is not a product. Instead it is merely a way of defining or referring to the activity. An example of this kind of activity is conversation. If conversation occurs in

Recreation is something that not only gives us pleasure, but also helps to renew or recreate the mind and body.

Dieser, R. (2013). Special issues: Global therapeutic recreation: Should the United States therapeutic recreation profession and the United States National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC) be replicated in other nations. World Leisure Journal, 55(4), 307-319

Therapeutic recreation is a treatment service designed to restore, remediate and rehabilitate a person’s level of functioning and independence in life.

To understand stereotypes about of a recreational therapist, one must learn what therapeutic recreation does and how it benefits patients. Recreational therapists are people that plan, direct, recreational – based treatment people for people with illnesses and disabilities. There are myths about recreational therapists that come from a society not understanding the term “recreational therapy”. Recreational therapists play an active role in helping people young or old learn to carry daily activities to aid them in their daily lives.

Humans are inherently hedonistic, with a need for more than the bare minimum. Paul Kurtz, American professor argues that “happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning and enrichment, emotion and cognition.” This is a more enriched and full view of human existence that Singer offers, seeing as humans thrive off of more than just the bare minimum. Similarly, Aristotle claims that “every instance of pleasure must be good to some extent,” and thus, the notion that one should sacrifice self-happiness in order to create a world that resembles a utopia is false. Aristotle’s argument is a counter to Singer’s claim, seeing as Singer advocates for choosing a career that would make more money in order to donate it to charity rather than doing it for selfish yet personally fulfilling reasons (“Aristotle’s Ethics,” Kraut).

The past two days, I have been truly privileged to attend the 2017 Newfoundland & Labrador Therapeutic Recreation Association Conference. The conference consisted of sessions delivered by those in the field of Therapeutic Recreation and related areas in Newfoundland and Labrador. I was able to attend many sessions involving topics like inclusion, mental health and empowerment, and through which, attained many new skills and perspectives for my future in therapeutic recreation. Before this conference, I did not have a solid idea as to what therapeutic recreation truly looked like in Newfoundland. However, through involvement in sessions, and interaction with other delegates and therapeutic recreation professionals, I was able to broaden my

Therapeutic Recreation is the provision of Treatment Services and the provision of Recreation Services to people with illnesses or disabling conditions. The primary purposes of treatment services which are often referred to as Recreational Therapy, are to restore, remediate or rehabilitate in order to improve functioning and independence as well as reduce or eliminate the effects of illness or disability. The primary purposes of Recreational Services are to

It provides the reader with the assumptions on the education, what it is like to become this type of therapist, and the job setting that one would be placed in. This reading was in particular for those that have an interest in learning or who are interested in being a Recreational Therapist. The writer mentions some of the basis for the academic accreditation and how the option of independent accreditation has recently been formed. This program is being compared to the recreation and parks program. The main focus is to understand that the Recreational Therapy program need to be followed as an independent accreditation, rather than that of an academic accreditation. The logic, labor, and academic certification for both these programs are separate from one another. The statues of educational for recreational therapy practice has been an issue for decades ( “Childhood Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Efforts to Cope After Hurricane

The second speaker who had a significant impact on my thought process was a Maureen Coats. She is a professional on Therapeutic Recreation(TR). She talked about life of the therapeutic recreations and what we students need to go through in order to become a therapeutic recreation. She said that TR is one of the fastest growing felid in Health Care. Under the TR open many other different field such as Activity Therapy, Adjunct Therapies, Program Specialist (art, music, drama, dance, and outdoor recreation), Senior Citizen Programmer, Therapeutic Recreation Specialist Supervisor, Clinical Specialist, Health care Consultant, and Senior Therapist. The TR setting could in hospitals, schools, nursing homes, correctional facilities, wilderness programs,

We are a pleasure driven society always waiting to be amused. Self indulgence is a very natural aspect of human life. Does pleasure affect our lives? Will it make us happy at the end? Well, Aristotle will let us know what it means to be happy and have a good life in the Nicomachean Ethics. In the process, he reveals his own account of pleasure as well as other philosophers opposing views on the subject. The author highlights the key them by telling us that pleasure is not the chief good. However, it is an end in itself, which makes it good. In addition, pleasure is also not a process because it doesn’t involve any movement from incompleteness to completeness. According to Aristotle, happiness is

It is important that activities are suitable to the level of ability of the person with dementia. People with dementia should be encouraged to participate as independently as possible and be given the choice to participate or to watch others.

Aristotle is one of the most studied philosophers of all time and his works are widely utilized by academics and non-academics when discussing the common theme, “what is a good life?” Within many of his works Aristotle has addressed the concept of “eudaimonia.” Simply defined, eudaimonia is, “happiness or flourishing.” However, Aristotle defined eudaimonia a little bit differently, he claimed that eudaimonia was reaching one 's ultimate human good by living well and completing one’s ultimate goals (flourishing).