Recreation Therapist

Quick Facts

• Role: Recreation Therapist (GS-07 to GS-11; full performance level GS-11)

• Setting: Rehabilitation Care Services (RCS), VA Puget Sound Healthcare System

Description

As a Recreation Therapist, you will work as part of a multidisciplinary treatment team to assess and deliver complex therapeutic recreation interventions for Veterans with severe and multiple disabilities. You will interpret physicians’ consults/orders, develop individualized treatment plans, and provide recreation/creative arts and adaptive skills training aligned to patient goals such as community reintegration and stress reduction. You will also coordinate with interdisciplinary services and document care in the electronic medical record.

Responsibilities

• Interpret and administer physicians’ recreation therapy consults/orders; schedule patients and integrate recreation/creative arts interventions with other treatments

• Develop treatment plans and deliver therapeutic recreation interventions (e.g., sensory integration, ambulation, diminishing emotional stress, community re-entry, reality orientation)

• Teach independent living, social interaction, adjustment and coping, and pre-vocational/work adjustment skills

• Provide community training for mobility devices and safety (power wheelchair, manual wheelchair, adaptive equipment), including aquatic therapy techniques and adaptive sports

• Interview Veterans with severe/multiple diagnoses using unconventional approaches; assess mental, emotional, social, and physical capabilities

• Assess need for and ability to use adaptive equipment and assistive technology in the community setting

• Administer, score, or interpret creative, leisure, and motor skills assessments; guide recreation therapy assistants

• Develop therapeutic programs across a wide range of diagnoses (e.g., psychiatric diagnoses, dementia, neuromuscular disorders, orthopedic conditions, amputation, paralysis, spinal cord injury, head injury, respiratory disorders, chronic cardiovascular disease, visual impairment, and multiple diagnoses)

• Coordinate interventions with other services; discuss progress and adjust interventions as needed using clinical reasoning

• Select, adapt, and independently modify recreation modalities to meet rehabilitation goals

• Lead one or more programs (e.g., Physical Fitness Reactivation, Community Reintegration, Leisure Education and Skill Development, Student Education Programs, Sports Athletic Program, Whole Health/Wellness, Quality Management)

• Participate in ward rounds and explain theoretical and practical recreation therapy techniques to medical center groups

• Document patient care (initial, progress, and discharge notes) and perform regular leisure diagnostic evaluations

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship

• Selective Service registration required for males born after 12/31/1959

• Proficiency in written and spoken English

• Subject to background/security investigation

• Complete online onboarding and pre-employment requirements with acceptable identification

• Pass a pre-employment physical examination

• Seasonal influenza vaccination participation is required

• Valid driver’s license and safe driving record

• Successful completion of a required 1–2-year trial period

Qualifications (Education/Certification)

• Bachelor’s degree or higher (therapeutic recreation/recreation-leisure with therapeutic recreation option/emphasis, approved by NCTRC) or bachelor’s degree in any field plus CTRS certification (degree approved by NCTRC)

• Certified as a Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) by the NCTRC (temporary appointment may be allowed under specific conditions)

• Maintain required NCTRC registration/certification to remain in the occupation

Benefits

Eligible candidates receive a comprehensive federal employee benefits package. Benefits eligibility depends on the type of position and employment status.