Responsibilities

The Recreation Therapist provides therapeutic recreational and expressive therapy services to patients. Serves as a member of the interdisciplinary treatment team and to support the facility’s treatment program and philosophy. Additionally, the Recreation Therapist;

•  Complete Activity Therapy assessments on all assigned cases; meet with each resident within timelines given, summarizing individual ability, motivation, and preference.
• Participate in Master Treatment planning and provide input towards treatment plan updates. Accurately document behaviors in the Therapeutic Progress section of each monthly Treatment Plan Update on assigned cases.
• Provide therapeutic recreation and expressive therapy groups as assigned and according to the unit schedule; group interventions directly related to Treatment Plan objectives; effectively manage group process to maximize therapeutic benefit.
• Role model group facilitation skills, conducting group activities with deliberate therapeutic purpose
• Maintain a safe and therapeutic environment; organize the activity therapy area to minimize injuries, oversee the maintenance of equipment used in experiential activities
• Support departmental goals by offering and accepting constructive feedback in all professional relationships, demonstrating healthy boundaries, modifying behavior in response to feedback
• Work with interdisciplinary team to support rules and expectations, communicating plans for activities in advance, bringing concerns or input in support of the therapeutic milieu
• Accurately document progress in Weekly Progress toward Treatment Objectives, Recreation Specialist Weekly Progress Note on all assigned cases in a timely manner.
• Demonstrates and/or explains the correct use of equipment and safety involved in various recreational or experimental activities.
• Demonstrates a thorough understanding of behavioral concepts applicable to the treatment of psychiatric patient population.
• If ropes course is used, demonstrate proper belay, knots, and Challenge by Choice techniques in facilitating ropes course; and maintain supplies and equipment necessary for the safe and effective operation of the ropes course; and act individually or in concert with another certified individual in the operation of the ropes course.
• Receive annual training to maintain State licensing requirements, maintain Wilderness First Responder certification and/or other program requirements.
• Transport patients via company vehicle when providing a community integration outing.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE: 

Bachelor’s degree in Therapeutic Recreation, Occupational Therapy, Psychology or related field. Experience in activity therapy and recreation facilitation preferred. Current national registration as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) is required.

KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS:     

• Ability to perform assignments with minimal supervision;
• Ability to work successfully under highly stressful conditions;
• Ability to make sound, independent judgments based on scientific and/or ethical principles;
• Capability of adapting to varying workloads and work assignments on a constant basis;
• Effective comprehensive reading skills, strong communication skills, written and verbal.
• Must have a working knowledge of computers.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OF THE POSITON:

• Must be willing and able to execute the patient de-escalation methods, both verbal and physical.
• Must be able to complete new hire requirements such as State of Alaska Background Check and Drug Testing.
• Must be able to demonstrate special training, knowledge and skills specific to age groups, as well as job and/or program specific competency within the first three (3) months of training.
• Must be certified in CPR and Handle with Care within the first month of training and annually thereafter.
• Must complete all mandatory in-services annually.
• Must be tested for Tuberculosis with a PPD skin test or chest x-ray upon hire; PPD skin test required annually or chest x-ray annually thereafter.
• Must be at least 21 years of age to work at a Residential Treatment Center.

GENERAL WORKING ENVIRONMENT:

Working conditions for all employees are as follows, but not limited to a psychiatric hospital setting; some risk involved in the event of aggressive patient(s); work load may include day, evening, night, weekend and/or holiday shifts. Employees occasionally exposed to blood borne pathogens, and loud noise levels.

Mental demands described herein are representative of those which must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job, but are not limited to the ability to remain calm in a stressful environment; and the emotional stability, physical stamina and agility to handle stress and respond quickly and effectively to emergency situations.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

Requirements include, but are not limited to the ability to communicate effectively with employees; the ability to effectively utilize communication equipment; the physical agility to manage patients (ambulatory, non-ambulatory and physically aggressive); the ability to read, write and spend a great deal of time of a computer.

• Must frequently utilize physical ability for standing or sitting for long periods of time.
• Must regularly utilize physical ability for speaking, hearing, and seeing with correction for close and distance vision, color discrimination, peripheral vision, depth perception and focusing ability. Speaking and hearing may be necessary for conversing with and assessing employees.
• Mental demands include but are not limited to emotional stability, physical stamina and agility to handle stress and respond quickly and effectively to emergency situations.

EQUIPMENT/MATERIALS USED:    

Telephone, computer, copier, fax machine, video player small hand tools and writing instruments.

EEO Statement

All UHS subsidiaries are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates. UHS subsidiaries are equal opportunity employers and as such, openly support and fully commit to recruitment, selection, placement, promotion and compensation of individuals without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), genetic information, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

We believe that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical to our success.

Notice

At UHS and all our subsidiaries, our Human Resources departments and recruiters are here to help prospective candidates by matching skillset and experience with the best possible career path at UHS and our subsidiaries.  We take pride in creating a highly efficient and best in class candidate experience. During the recruitment process, no recruiter or employee will request financial or personal information (Social Security Number, credit card or bank information, etc.) from you via email. The recruiters will not email you from a public webmail client like Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc. If you are suspicious of a job posting or job-related email mentioning UHS or its subsidiaries, let us know by contacting us at: https://uhs.alertline.com or 1-800-852-3449.