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Recreational Therapist resume example

A resume for a Recreational Therapist needs to show the work itself: plan, direct, or coordinate medically-approved recreation programs for patients in hospitals, nursing homes, or other institutions. Day to day that means work like this: instruct patient in activities and techniques, such as sports, dance, music, art, or relaxation techniques, designed to meet their specific physical or psychological needs; conduct therapy sessions to improve patients' mental and physical well-being. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

  • CTRS
  • Recreation Therapist
  • Rehabilitation Therapist
  • Activities Coordinator
  • General Activities Therapist
  • Recreational Therapy Program Coordinator
  • Therapeutic Recreation Specialist
  • Therapeutic Specialist
  • Therapist
  • Activities Therapist
  • Activity Therapist
  • Adventure Therapist
  • Certified Recreational Therapist
  • Creative Arts Therapist
  • Dance Therapist
  • Drama Therapist
  • Ecotherapist
  • Horticultural Therapist

O*NET records 22 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

  • Instruct patient in activities and techniques, such as sports, dance, music, art, or relaxation techniques, designed to meet their specific physical or psychological needs.
  • Conduct therapy sessions to improve patients' mental and physical well-being.
  • Plan, organize, direct, and participate in treatment programs and activities to facilitate patients' rehabilitation, help them integrate into the community, and prevent further medical problems.
  • Observe, analyze, and record patients' participation, reactions, and progress during treatment sessions, modifying treatment programs as needed.
  • Develop treatment plan to meet needs of patient, based on needs assessment, patient interests, and objectives of therapy.
  • Obtain information from medical records, medical staff, family members and the patients, themselves, to assess patients' capabilities, needs and interests.
  • Confer with members of treatment team to plan and evaluate therapy programs.
  • Counsel and encourage patients to develop leisure activities.
  • Encourage clients with special needs and circumstances to acquire new skills and get involved in health-promoting leisure activities, such as sports, games, arts and crafts, and gardening.
  • Prepare and submit reports and charts to treatment team to reflect patients' reactions and evidence of progress or regression.
  • Develop discharge plans for patients.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

  • Instruct patient in activities and techniques, such as sports, dance, music, art, or relaxation techniques, designed to meet their specific physical or psychological needs, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Conduct therapy sessions to improve patients' mental and physical well-being, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Plan, organize, direct, and participate in treatment programs and activities to facilitate patients' rehabilitation, help them integrate into the community, and prevent further medical problems, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Observe, analyze, and record patients' participation, reactions, and progress during treatment sessions, modifying treatment programs as needed, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

  • Avid Technology Sibelius
  • Email software
  • Hyperscore
  • MakeMusic Finale
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Word
  • Musical instrument digital interface MIDI software
  • Patient electronic medical record EMR software
  • Speech recognition software
  • Steinberg Cubase Pro
  • Web browser software

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

  • 35 millimeter cameras
  • Acoustic guitars
  • Archery bows
  • Audio tape recorders
  • Baseball bats
  • Baseballs
  • Basketballs
  • Bicycles
  • Bowling balls
  • Canoes
  • Compact disk CD players
  • Croquet sets

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

  • Avid Technology Sibelius
  • Hyperscore

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

  1. 01Service Orientation
  2. 02Active Listening
  3. 03Coordination
  4. 04Social Perceptiveness
  5. 05Speaking
  6. 06Critical Thinking
  7. 07Instructing
  8. 08Reading Comprehension
  9. 09Writing
  10. 10Complex Problem Solving

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

  • Psychology
  • Therapy and Counseling
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Education and Training
  • English Language
  • Sociology and Anthropology
  • Administration and Management
  • Medicine and Dentistry

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

  • 92%Bachelor's Degree
  • 5%Post-Baccalaureate Certificate, awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.
  • 3%Master's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a Recreational Therapist do?
Plan, direct, or coordinate medically-approved recreation programs for patients in hospitals, nursing homes, or other institutions. Day to day that includes work like instruct patient in activities and techniques, such as sports, dance, music, art, or relaxation techniques, designed to meet their specific physical or psychological needs and Conduct therapy sessions to improve patients' mental and physical well-being.
What skills should a Recreational Therapist put on a resume?
O*NET rates Service Orientation, Active Listening, Coordination, Social Perceptiveness, and Speaking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Recreational Therapist list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Avid Technology Sibelius, Email software, Hyperscore, MakeMusic Finale, and Microsoft Excel. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Recreational Therapist work?
O*NET records 22 titles for this occupation, including CTRS, Recreation Therapist, Rehabilitation Therapist, and Activities Coordinator. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Recreational Therapist need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 92% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Recreational Therapist role?
No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

  • No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
  • This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
  • Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.