Recreational Therapists

Plan, direct, or coordinate medically-approved recreation programs for patients in hospitals, nursing homes, or other institutions. Activities include sports, trips, dramatics, social activities, and crafts. May assess a patient condition and recommend appropriate recreational activity.

Most important skills

Service Orientation
Active Listening
Speaking
Social Perceptiveness
Coordination
Reading Comprehension
Writing
Critical Thinking

Key knowledge

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

What the work involves

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.
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.
Counsel and encourage patients to develop leisure activities.
Confer with members of treatment team to plan and evaluate therapy programs.
Conduct therapy sessions to improve patients' mental and physical well-being.
Instruct patient in activities and techniques, such as sports, dance, music, art, or relaxation techniques, designed to meet their specific physical or psychological needs.
Obtain information from medical records, medical staff, family members and the patients, themselves, to assess patients' capabilities, needs and interests.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Investigative, Realistic.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Bachelor's Degree (91.9% of respondents)
Related experience: Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (34.2%)
On-the-job training: Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (29%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Recreational Therapists is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	Very high	Higher on contact with others than 86% of occupations compared	84% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	High	Higher on dealing with the public than 71% of occupations compared	37% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Teamwork	Very high	Higher on teamwork than 85% of occupations compared	68% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Freedom to make decisions	High	Higher on freedom to make decisions than 63% of occupations compared	47% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom”
Time pressure	Low	Lower on time pressure than 65% of occupations compared	34% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Conflict situations	Very high	Higher on conflict situations than 84% of occupations compared	45% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	Very high	Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 83% of occupations compared	43% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Consequence of error	Low	Lower on consequence of error than 75% of occupations compared	29% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: low
Conflict situations: very high
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
Consequence of error: low

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions