[O’Morrow] To understand the profession and to understand where we're going you've definitely got to look at the past. [Carter] It’s critical for all of us to appreciate. And that and at the same time validate why it is what we do and how we have achieved the level of accomplishment and recognition and need for our services. By studying the history, we actually can identify how we have evolved as a profession and we're better able to interpret and articulate and advocate with other individuals the significance of what we do. [James] But there are some characters in our history and it's fun to get in there and find out who started all this. [Austin] Hi, I'm Professor David Austin. Welcome to this video on precursors of therapeutic recreation. To understand where the therapeutic recreation profession is now and where it may be going. It helps us to know where it has been. Understandings of the historical evolution of therapeutic recreation are gained, not from the recitation of dates and events, but from understanding the history of the development of the profession. Within this video, the evolution of therapeutic recreation will be reviewed in order to trace where therapeutic recreation has been as a profession. Naturally arising from the sketch of historical development of therapeutic recreation or understandings that can assist us to know where the profession is today and where it may be headed in the future. The story of the therapeutic use of Recreation began thousands of years prior to the first development of therapeutic recreation as an organized profession. For instance, precursors, the therapeutic recreation had been found among the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. Priest in ancient Egypt employed a form of milieu therapy, which included the performance of songs and dances to create a positive atmosphere in which persons could overcome mood disorders. The ancient Greeks established health temples. These Greek health temples offered instruction, bathing, exercise and entertainment, and a restful, relaxing atmosphere. History has in fact revealed that almost all ancient cultures contains some aspect of recreation within their healing practices, at least until the time of the Middle Ages. And a period that lasted from the middle ages until the late 18th century, there was a deterioration and medical care brought about by an emphasis upon the spiritual aspects of human beings at the cost of concern for physical and mental health. It was not until the later part of the 18th century that there is evidence of a renewal of interest in the potentialities of recreational activities as aids in helping those suffering from illnesses, disorders. The greatest reformer the day was probably Florence Nightingale, who's mid 19th century crusades in England led not only to the founding of nursing as a profession, but to establishing the need for recreation as an aspect in the treatment of soldiers in the military hospitals of her day. Therapeutic recreation historian, Dr. Ann James has described Florence Nightingale's contribution. [James]Florence Nightingale was a dynamic leader who was one of the first people to really put forth, the philosophy of therapeutic recreation in hospital treatment before her, they went to surgery back on the cot. No rehabilitation. She said Let this dingy hospital is negatively affecting their recovery. Let's get some art, some music, some humor into this situation. And she was a believer and she got it started. [Austin] Another reformer was Pinel, who in the late 1700s, unchained psychiatric patients. Pinel’s moral therapy used activities to focus on the healthy part of the patient's personality. Despite the efforts of Nightingale, Pinel and other reformers, the idea of recreation as a part of a therapeutic enterprise would not emerge in the United States until the 20th century. Three major events helped lead to the development of therapeutic recreation in the United States early in the 20th century. The first was the employment of recreation as an instrument for social change. Recreation was used as a vehicle for social reform to improve conditions brought about within inhospitable cities during the time of large immigrations of Europeans to America. Boston, Joseph Lee began the play and recreation movement, which spread throughout America in the late 19th century and early 20th century. To Lee, recreation was a means to self-improvement. Neva Boyd joined least play and recreation movement, ultimately arriving a Jane Addams Hull House in Chicago. At this noted Settlement House, Boyd used recreation as a medium through which the help children of recent immigrants to adjust within what had been a hostile environment and to develop themselves as individuals. Hull house eventually became the site of a training program that Boyd initiated for group workers, a program she later moved to Northwestern University. Boyd has been credited as being the originator of theory and techniques that offered a foundation. The practice of Red Cross Hospital recreation workers employed in military hospitals during World War 1. Again, listen to TR historian Ann James on Neva Boyd. [James] I wish I could have met. I loved reading about her. She was a diminutive little person, but evidently she had the enthusiasm of a giant. And she would get into modalities, whether it be dance or art or drama. And she would teach the modalities as well as the theory and philosophy, recreational therapy. In her era, it was called group work. It was just forming in the field of social work. But the philosophies that she espoused in terms of using group activities to develop people's character, develop, and change behavior where it's more effective for them. She was a recreational therapist and many of her students became leaders in recreational therapy movement. Neva Boyd set up our own school in Chicago for two years. She used Hull house by Jane Addams as an internship. Every one of our students had to go through an internship. She took her students from college programs or at least two-year college program. So when they finished with Neva Boyd, they had four years at least. And her program was adapted by Northwestern University. [Austin] The second major development that helped advancement toward a therapeutic recreation profession was the use of recreation and military hospitals during World War One. Social programs, games, gardening, music, dance and drama, and community outings were among activities led by Red Cross Hospital recreation workers for hospitalized military personnel. Third development was the emergence of recreation used in therapy in settings outside Military and Veterans Administration Hospitals. Following World War One, the Veterans Administration or VA, took control of many military hospitals. And in 1931 hired 49 Red Cross Hospital recreation workers to establish its own recreation services within the VA. Around this time, state psychiatric hospitals and state schools for persons who were mentally retarded. We're also beginning to use recreation as therapy. These activities set the stage for events surrounding World War II. As we have seen, the roots of therapeutic recreation may be traced back as far as the ancient Egyptian and Greek civilizations. With the coming of reformers such as Florence Nightingale in the 18th century, there came a re-emergence of recreation in hospitals. The therapeutic use of recreational once again arose during World War 1 in military hospitals and within the VA system. While the Great Acceleration and therapeutic recreation would await World War II. Early in the 20th century, the professional therapeutic recreation had begun to establish itself. Hi, I'm Professor David Austin. Within this video, we'll discuss the first revolution of therapeutic recreation and the beginnings of professionalization of therapeutic recreation. With World War Two in America came the Great Acceleration in the use of recreation and military hospitals. Which later expanded into VA hospitals, as well as into most state psychiatric hospitals and state institutions for persons with mental retardation. This rapid growth marked the first revolution in therapeutic recreation, or what has been termed the boom by TR historian Gerald S O’Morrow, [O’Morrow] the forties I, from my perspective was the boom that got us started in the sense of the, the Second World War, the development of recreation services in the military hospitals by the American Red Cross, although we need to recognize the American Red Cross provided through recreation services even during the First World War. But the thing that really started I think us as US meaning recreation workers or hospital recreation workers, was the development and establishment of the hospital recreation division within the Veterans Administration, which at that time, good, bad, or indifferent. Recreation was more of a diversion will factor as opposed to a treatment factor that we think of about today. [Austin] After World War Two, hospital recreation was continued by the red crosses, a regular service within military hospitals. Likewise, medically approved recreation programs were established within all VA hospitals following the war. As the war ended and physicians returned to civilian practice, the demand for recreation therapy programs grew across the country and all types of hospitals and rehabilitation centers. The importance of the Red Cross recreation workers as a foundation for later recreation therapy services has been described by Dr. George Patrick. [Patrick] Red Cross workers were like below nurses in terms of salary and everything like that. But those people were so committed. And those are our roots. Though Red Cross workers working in hospitals, bringing people a deck of cards, a flower to brighten up their bedside or whatever. And then, and from right there, when they saw the patients were doing better when they started playing cards and doing other things. That's where our field came from. And and if you can imagine what it would be like to be in a hospital and be the Red Cross lady or the, you know, and they were all ladies at the time. And those are the people who really gave birth to therapeutic recreation. And they became, some of them became therapeutic, recreators and served right alongside of us and and and provided the models. And that doesn't get erased. It doesn't get erased in a generation, doesn't get erased in two generations, maybe four or five if we, if we, if we really get away from it. But we're not going to be so clinical that we would give up what the Red Cross people gave to us in their commitment and service. So that, that's, that's a sense of history that probably we really need to have an understanding of why we're like we are. [Austin] Yes. It should be clear that the therapeutic recreation profession owes a debt of gratitude to the early Red Cross recreational workers. It's a women did much to advance TR in the 1940s into the 1950s. TR historian Gerald S. O’Morrow has described the period of the 1950s. [O’Morrow] The 1950s as most of us in the field recognized was the bringing together of the development of three different organizations in the professional movement of recreation or hospital recreation as it was called that time. There was also during that period of time, during the fifties, began to see support for us by medical authorities. Dr. Paul Han and a few others that gave us the support that we needed to really become initially developed in established and recognized as a valuable tool in the rehabilitation process. Also, naturally the the expansion of recreation services into more and more agencies across the countryside. The, I think also in the 50s, was it from my perspective, the first philosophy, if you like, that was developed by the hospital recreation section, which was called the basic concepts of hospital recreation, which in essence indicated how we function, what our role was, what our purpose was. And as I just said, I think that was probably one of the major major starts from a philosophical standpoint for our particular profession. [Austin] As Dr. O’Morrow has commented, During the early developmental years, physicians were often enthusiastic advocates for therapeutic recreation. TR historian and James has commented on the support of the medical doctors and the Menninger family in advocating for recreation. A tool for treatment. [James] The Menninger family was a group of three men particularly active in mental health. And they were, they were all renaissance men. Recreation was very important and their own hobbies were very important to them. And so they were ready advocates in mental health for therapeutic recreation or recreational therapy, as they called it then. And they felt that recreational therapy could provide a laboratory in which patients could try out new skills, try out new ways of coping and reacting and practice and develop these skills as well as a treatment team and could assess how people were doing by seeing them functioning in this form. William Menninger went on World War II, he was appointed the head of Neuropsychiatry. And he went from hospital to hospital all around the world. Military hospitals advocating recreational therapy in the treatment of mental health clients [Austin] As therapeutic recreation grew, two streams of thought formed. One stream was the recreation for all this perspective, believe that the right to recreation was something that all should enjoy, including those who were institutionalized, ill, or disabled. They believed that organized recreation participation was beneficial and that recreation during times of illness or disability would help and the general recovery of the patient or client by providing a healthy daily activity. Provision of a satisfying and enjoyable recreation experience was the central goal under this approach. This was the view of those in the recreation movement represented by the old hospital recreation section of the American Recreation Society, founded in the late 1940s. The second stream of thought was the use of recreation as therapy. Recreation was seen to be more than a wholesome activity. It was a tool or modality to treat illness and to rehabilitate clients. The primary aim of those who termed themselves recreational therapist was not the provision of recreation as an experience, but the use of activities to ameliorate pathology and ultimately to rehabilitate the individual. This was the view of the old National Association of recreational therapist, NART, that formed early in the 1950s. Most of the founding members of NART, were practicing recreational therapist at state psychiatric hospitals and state school serving persons with mental retardation. The hospital recreation section of the American Recreation Society, ARS and the National Association of recreational therapist NART attempted to resolve philosophical differences along with the recreation therapy section of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, they form the Council for the advancement of hospital recreation. While the Council produced a national registration program, it mostly produced disagreement. TR historians, Dr. Gerald O’Morrow was a member of the council. He had these observations on the Council's work. [O’Morrow] Those three organizations had some problems communicating with each other. And as a result, they set up the Council for the advancement of hospital recreation, which tried to resolve some of the philosophical differences of the three organizations. They weren't too successful from that standpoint. The last meeting in attempt to resolve philosophical differences, I was the representative of the hospital recreation section at that last meeting. And that was absolutely chaos. Nobody could agree. We sort of cussed at each other. We sort of yelled at each other, we sort of slammed our hands on the table, that each other was not cooperating or or that we did not have open mind to what we were attempting. And as a result, a people stormed out of the room and that ended any furthermore anymore communication between none of us. That's for a couple of years until the merger started to come about. [Austin] The hospital recreation section of the American Recreation Society, ARS and the National Association of recreational therapist NART continue to champion their respective positions. ARS, the recreation for all position NART, the therapy position. Until 1966. In 1966, the two societies merged into a branch of the National Recreation and Park Association, the national Therapeutic Recreation Society, our NTRS. At the time, therapeutic recreation was adopted as an umbrella term to encompass both positions. Beatrice Hill has been credited as the principal early advocate of the new concept of therapeutic recreation. TR, historian Gerald S O’Morrow has stated, [O’Morrow] one of the things that Beatrice was certainly should be given credit for was the advancement of the concept or the terminology therapeutic recreation. She was concerned with not only recreation within the institutional setting, but her major emphasis or focus of attention was on recreation services or therapeutic recreation services. And the value of recreation serves for those individuals that were non-institutionalized. And in fact, the Especially liked her from the standpoint of given the early attention to the homebound [Austin] later in TR, during the 1970s was Gary Robb. Robb had this to say about how activities in the 1960s would affect what was to occur during the seventies and eighties. [Robb] Okay. I wasn't really involved until the latter part of the sixties relative to therapeutic recreation recreation therapy. My perception was that that was a really important decade for what was to come later. Because it marked the beginning of the national Therapeutic Recreation Society and the National Recreation as a branch of the National Recreation and Park Association. And that meant that there were the two organizations which dealt with people with disabilities, the hospital recreation section of the American Recreation Society and the National Association of recreation therapists actually merged into the branch of the National Recreation and Park Association. And I think that was very significant in terms of what was to happen to the profession. Through the seventies and eighties. [Austin] The first revolution and therapeutic recreation was marked by a vast expansion of therapeutic recreation and the beginnings of professionalization reflected by the establishment of the first TR, societies. These professional societies began in the late 40s and early 50s and culminated in the 1960s with the forming of the national Therapeutic Recreation Society and TRS. By the end of the first revolution, there was in existence, a full-time occupation of therapeutic recreation in numerous health care facilities throughout America. And this occupational group had organized within a single professional society, bearing the then new term therapeutic recreation and this title, therapeutic recreation was in a position to emerge as a profession. [Music] Hi, I'm Professor David Austin. Welcome to this video on the second revolution in therapeutic recreation. The hallmark of the second revolution was the professionalization of therapeutic recreation. Professionalization As a process by which occupational group seeks to achieve the characteristics or attributes of a profession. And therefore attempts to evidence to the general public and other professions that it is competent and able to regulate itself. For almost 20 years, the national Therapeutic Recreation Society and TRS singly lead the cause of professionalization of therapeutic recreation in the United States. During these years, a number of advances were made toward professionalization. For example, the therapeutic recreation Journal began publication 1966. Guidelines were published for community-based programs for special populations in 1978, as well as for clinical standards of practice in 1979. Other indicators of a growing field were also evident during this period. University curricula and TR, we're expanding and accreditation standards were established. Increasing numbers of TR textbooks and other type of TR literature appear. Regional TR symposia were begun across the United States. Finally in 1981 the National Council on therapeutic recreation certification was instituted. Such accomplishments rather quickly bore fruit. As a profession entered into the 1980s, a scholarly study by Navarre had already assessed the professionalization of therapeutic recreation and found that therapeutic recreation had developed into an emerging profession. Colleagues Youngkhill Lee and Brian McCormick of Indiana University have highlighted several of the events that took place during the 1960s and 70s. [McCormick] Well, actually the 1960s, I would say it was a fairly important decade in terms of therapeutic recreation. I mean, obviously one of the, one of the more important was the formation of the national Therapeutic Recreation Society, which really was the coming together of the National Association recreation therapists NART, and hospital recreation section of the American recreation society to form NTRS. In addition, during the 1960s, the Therapeutic Recreation Journal is first published and it's probably the longest running journal. It is the longest running journal in therapeutic recreation at this point. In 1970s, I can recall Peterson & Gunn’s textbook that made a very important contribution to therapy recreation profession. Within that book, we were able to see the scope of the practice. Of course, that the practice model they laid out very strong foundation of the therapy recreation back then. I learned therapy recreation from that textbook and learned different kinds of aspects of TR in terms of documentation and all that kind of important information. Another important events happen after that was emergence of a standard practice in clinical setting and also a community setting. They.. Those guidelines clearly provide the guideline for the practitioners in how they practice in TR setting. [Austin] In the 1970s, therapeutic recreation was experiencing positive Chaos according to TR historian Gerald S. O’Morrow, who said: [O’Morrow] And I sometimes think of the 1970s as a positive chaos. Only from the standpoint that there were so many articles being published at that time questioning what we were doing and how we were going about doing it. [Austin] During this time of positive chaos of the 1970s described by Dr. O’Morrow, the national Therapeutic Recreation Society and TRS, found itself in a philosophical dilemma because it attempted to represent the broadest spectrum of practice by including the recreation as therapy position of NART, which viewed recreation as a tool of treatment. And the recreation for all position of the hospital recreation section, which emphasized that persons with disabilities should have access to recreation services, whether in a community or a hospital setting. The dual representation of therapist and special recreators seemed to present some ideological as well as practical difficulties for NTRS. At the same time, NTRS was attempting to serve therapeutic recreation within the structures of the National Recreation and Park Association. NTRS existed as a branch with little control or power within NRPA. Gary Robb has talked about his experiences NTRS board member and NTRS president during the 1970s. [Robb] I was on the board of directors of the National therapeutic recreation society throughout most of the seventies and had the opportunity to be the president during 77 and 1978. And at that time, I was very convinced that we really in order for our profession, the field of therapeutic recreation, to really ever become an accepted bonafide discipline or profession, if you will. We really had to, to make some changes in how our national organization conducted its business. And it was a very difficult period because realized that the, we were just a branch of a larger organization and really had no authority to make decisions. We had no budget. And we really, everything that we did was dependent upon the larger organization. The larger organization always felt the National Recreation and Park Association, I always felt that we had to sell that first and then sell our society. But where we were coming from, our members by and large really related to therapeutic recreation. And one of my big goals during that time was to try to get the association to realize that if we could get our members to buy into our therapeutic recreation branch, then they would automatically then buy into To the larger organization. And that was where we were really started having some difficulties, in my opinion, with the national organization. When I became President. As a result of my experience on the board of directors, I felt it was critical that we have a very focused approach. One of the things that we had always done in my opinion was try to be everything to all people. And I thought that because you're a small organization, we really need to focus our efforts on some critical issues. So when I became president, I formed what we called the Presidential Commission on assessment of critical issues. Both myself and the president elect, who is Dr. Lee Meyer, committed to a two-year run of really trying to work on these issues. Those issues, we're credentialing issues. They were developing practice, standards, standards of practice. They dealt with branch governance, how our branch was going to be governed, and how what we could do about that. And we looked at what is really the philosophical statement of therapeutic recreation. Those were the major issues and we really, I think, had a very productive year and not necessarily resolving all those issues and problems. But we brought them to the forefront of our field, of our organization and of the park and recreation field as a whole and certainly the organization. I think that while I wouldn't say that we resolved any of those issues during those two years. I believe that the outcomes of our activities in our work during those two years really resulted in some significant changes in the field in the 1980s. [Austin] Further, Gary Rob is spoken about two significant happenings during the 1980s. These were the development of the National Certification Program and the birth of the American Therapeutic Recreation Association, or ATRA. [Robb] I think there were two major things. First, credentialing and the National Council on therapeutic recreation certification was formed. And I believe that that what it really was a result of the work that we did in the late 1970s relative to our presidential commission on assessment of critical issues committee. And so I think that was obviously from a professional standpoint, a tremendous advancement for our field. I believe the other thing that obviously was most significant was the formation of the American Therapeutic Recreation Association as a separate organization from the National Recreation and Park Association and national Therapeutic Recreation Society. I think that was significant because during the 1970s and early 80s, we really had difficulty defining ourselves and internally among the membership and the leadership of the national Therapeutic Recreation Society. We had major struggles and devoted many, many hours to meetings to try and to come to agreement as to, as to what it is that we should be doing. And I think that really enlarge part the American the American Therapeutic Recreation Association was a result of those struggles and the perceived need out in the field that we really needed an independent organization that met the clinical needs of those people who were the largest part of our, of our organizational membership. [Austin] NTRS leaders were experiencing difficulties. One of the key leaders was Dr. Glen Van Andel. Dr. Van Andel is commented on these times and how eventually the American Therapeutic Recreation Association, or ATRA was born. [Van Andel] I think the roots of ATRA go back to the, probably the early seventies when the I served on the board of directors of NTRS and as I recall, we were struggling at that time with NRPA. And our relationship with NRPA was rocky. We had a certain mission and certain goals as a therapeutic recreation society. And NRPA had a slightly different mission actually than what we did. And these missions were at cross-purposes in many ways when we would, as a board, would decide that we would have to have close contacts with the joint commission accreditation hospitals and for CARF and some of these organizations that we needed to have stronger relationships with. And we would ask for funding to support those kinds of efforts. They did not happen to be on the high priority within RPA. And as a result, we would end up having individuals volunteer to do that on a catch as catch can basis. And frequently, we weren't at the table in these situations. And as a result, a number of us realized that our profession was falling farther and farther behind some of the other allied health professions. And so we didn't have the clout and we didn't have the control to. Tell them what.. Even though we had an agenda that we thought was important, it wasn't as important to them. We became more and more frustrated with the relationship that we had. And so coming into the early 80s then through this period of time, a number of people began to look at alternatives and realized that we were not going to change NRPA, NRPA was a significant organization and was a very important organization. And what they were doing was very effective in for the country and for other professionals and other laypeople. But it was not the horse that we were going to be able to ride to successfully achieve the professional goals that we had and needed to achieve. And so a number of us began to consider an alternative. And it's that history then it wasn't a philosophical difference, as many people would suggest, I think today, that NTRS and ATRA have these different philosophies. But originally, it came out of much more of a resource needs situation and a different sense of mission and purpose within these two organizations. And so it was during this time of the early 80s that a number of people began talking and saying, Look, we're not going to change NRPA, we're going to simply have to develop our own autonomy in our own organization. [Austin]In 1984 the American Therapeutic Recreation Association ATRA was founded by a grassroots movement led by clinicians who believe that a new professional organization was needed in order to more precisely define an advanced therapeutic recreation as an area of clinical practice and to provide the autonomy needed by the therapeutic recreation profession. ATRA Executive Director Ann Huston has commented on the formation of ATRA: [Huston] So I think that ATRA really formed as a result in the need for an organization that solely represented the interests of the recreational therapy profession. [Austin] Anne Huston has also described the meeting in Kansas City that led to the organization of ATRA. It must have been some occasion to hear her describe it. [Huston] In October of 1983 in Kansas City, Missouri, in a hotel room. Not very big. We're about 50, maybe 60 professionals in the therapeutic recreation profession that we're meeting at the call of David Park. David Park, who has been a longstanding advocate and professional in our field, was concerned about the future of our profession. And he, by word of mouth, and a simple invitation, invited about 60 professionals to come to his hotel room and meet to discuss the future and the need for an independent recreational therapy profession. I'll never forget the room because it was hot, it was sweaty, and in those days, people still smoked. So we go back in our history. We say in a small, small smoke-filled room in Kansas City ATRA was formed. [Austin] Two early ATRA leaders were Glen Van Andel, and Ray West. Each has reflected on the beginnings of ATRA. [Van Andel] I guess it was six people who were involved in the first board. It was a transition board. Peg Connolly was the president. I was vice president. And then we had a treasurer, Dick Beckley. And I think I also was Ray West was a member at large and Melinda Conway was also a member at large. [West] There most definitely was a need for another professional association, one that could focus more on the aspect of therapeutic recreation that related to clinical practice, recreational therapy. So again, the leadership of Dave Park pulled together a group of us to get ATRA off the ground and we came together in. The first meeting was held it at UNC hospitals and Glen and Melinda, Conway Callahan, and Dick Beckley and Dave Park and myself. We sat there. And Peg Connolly, of course, when we sat there and wrote the bylaws in the kitchen and the recreational therapy department. [Austin] The comments of ATRA leader Sharon Nichols summed up the feelings of many at the time of the founding of ATRA. Here's what Sharon Nichols had to say. [Nichols] And I liked the idea of ATRA as an organization in terms of the grassroots elements of the organization and having some autonomy in our destiny as a profession, as professionals. [Austin] During the 1980s. While practitioners who are giving their attention to forming ATRA, TR educators strive to develop university professional preparation programs. Professor Don Rogers, describes the Postdoctoral institutes that brought together TR educators to discuss curricular concerns. [Rogers] In the, again, in the early eighties, 80 to 85 for the postdoctoral Institute sponsored first by Indiana University through a federal grant there, Dr. Grant, DOC dash TR, which was held at Bradford Woods at the time. Then after the after the first three years there, It was held for two years. Oglesby Park in West Virginia and again sponsored by federal grant but through the University of Maryland. And the entire, the entire five years was really dedicated to bringing together folks with doctoral degrees who were teaching in therapeutic recreation around the country to examine what was going on in the areas of education, practice, professional development, those kinds of things. And to kind of get a sense about where we were, where we need to be going. [Austin] Another significant event of the 1980s was beginning the National Certification Program for therapeutic recreation. Dr. Marcia Jeanne Carter was involved heavily in moving the professions registration program to a certification program. Dr. Carter has described the evolution of today's certification program. [Carter] The current program today evolved out of a registration program that we have had in place since 1956. And the people that we're serving as their registration board, the National Registration board, where the individuals that worked with other leaders to form the council. And the actual first discussions occurred in 1975. Was there a need to create a council for certification that was autonomous and independent and follow the guidelines of the national commission of health certifying agencies. So major discussions occurred in the late seventies. And major meetings were held in the late seventies, and it was decided that it was important to move toward administratively independent counsel that did meet the criteria. National Commission on certifying agencies. [Austin] Dr. Carter has further described the evolution of the certification program and how Peg Connolly became the first Executive Director of the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification. [Carter] The first significant date of the actual existence of the council National Council for therapeutic recreation certification would probably be May 22nd, 1981 when we received approval from the National Recreation and Park Association to move from registration board to a certification board and be administered for a short period of time by the past Presidents of NTRS. While we developed and finalized our financial plan our constitution, our bylaws. Our first meeting as a council occurred in Minneapolis, October 29th, 1981. And it was at that point where also the registration became certification and the two-level plan was official and people in October, henceforth were certified instead of registered. And three or four individuals that were asked to consider the executive director’s position. Peg was selected in early 1986 as a first Executive Director. [Connolly] Marsha Carter was instrumental with the voluntary registration program of the national Therapeutic Recreation Society. And I think it's important to mention here, NC TRC is what we think of today. But the field of therapeutic recreation had credentialing as far back as 1953. So historically, we were familiar with the importance of a credentialed professional. It was what others thought of the importance and value of the credential that became paramount at the founding of NC TRC, not just our commitment to it. So Marsha Carter and a number of individuals were really the key leaders in the voluntary registration plan that the national Therapeutic Recreation Society had done. So there were a great number of people, I think the biggest group of people behind this, we're therapeutic recreation professionals who said, I want something stronger so that when I work alongside occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, my credential mean something. The numbers of certificates started to rise after the test went in. We didn't fall apart as predicted by making everybody take the credential. Instead we're up to 17 thousand members today from an initial start at 3 thousand members in 1981. [Austin] A significant event of the decade of the 1990s was a conference on the benefits of therapeutic recreation that was hosted by Temple University. Indiana University professors Brian McCormick and Youngkhill Lee have explained the significance of the Temple conference. [McCormick] One of the things that I think was significant in the nineties was the creation of a second journal in therapeutic recreation by the American Therapeutic Recreation Association. And so the annual in therapeutic recreation begins to be published in the 1990s. In addition, one of the most important conferences of that nineties was the benefits conference sponsored by Temple University, which brought together a number of people in the field for the first time to really begin to look at the outcomes of recreation therapy and document those outcomes in a, in a single document. 1991. [Lee] Our colleagues Kathy Coyle, Shank, John Shank and Terry Kinney. And they did the Temple Conference, which is the conference that they invited many scholars in our field and tried to find out the other input on outcomes, the TR practice. And they even published the conference results. And that gave a very solid foundation for us that why we do this and what are the outcomes that we produce? [Austin] One of the organizers of the temple benefits conference was Dr. John Shank. He had these comments on the temple conference. [Shank] The outcome of that conference then established not only was a terrific document called the benefits of therapeutic recreation, a consensus view in that there were there were chapters on each disability specific area followed by research agenda that would give direction to the discipline on what ought to be researched. Not only in terms of, of efficacy research, but also in terms of being able to carry on with ideas of best-practice, the relationship between the evidence that supports the value of therapeutic recreation, and also what might be priorities in terms of delivering services. So that that becomes very important for students as they're preparing to be professionals in this discipline that they see the relationship between theory, research, and practice. It probably stands as one of the most significant documents in our discipline. [Austin] A number of significant developments leading to the advancement of TR education occurred during the 1990s. Both ATRA and NTRS provided educational materials for the profession. Private publishers offered the field a growing number of textbooks. Indiana University carried out the recreation therapy Video Project, also known as the RTV project. Professor Don Rogers describe the RTV project this way. [Rogers] In the, in the mid-1990s, I was in the doctoral program at Indiana University and was able to be involved with a project that was directed by David Austin and Deb Getz that was producing videos. These are the recreation therapy videos that were designed to be educational tools in the classroom and also in, in practice settings as in service tools and things of that nature. And these, these videos cover a wide range of issues and topics in the field to direct practice, professionalization, and some on our history and things of that nature. So these videos are comprehensive, they are timely. They really have contributed a lot to therapeutic recreation. They've kinda preserved a little bit of who we are while at the same time providing education for for new and developing recreation therapists. In addition to that, there was a tape that was done, I think near the beginning of that project called to serve a purpose that really helps people understand what therapeutic recreation is. That was the whole idea to serve a purpose. That's what we do. We're here to serve a purpose. [Austin] During the 1990s, there was an acknowledgment of a need to increase sophistication of university TR curricula. One significant event during this period was ATRA’s curriculum conference that resulted in the publication of curricular guidelines. Professor Don Rogers, that's commented on the ATRA curriculum conference. [Rogers] In 1995 at the ATRA mid-year meeting in Minneapolis. There was a gathering of educators from around the country to review curriculum issues, curriculum content. During this time, Dave Austin was president and one of the initiators of this project. And I was fortunate enough to be involved as a facilitator for one of the groups. And it was exciting. It was, it was dynamic. Remember, I was just coming out of my, my doctoral work and seeing all of these folks that I knew of and certainly for me with their reputations in research and education in our field. They were all there and clearly it was an important meeting. You had a sense about that at the time. And Terry Kinney and Jeff Witman, they produced a document a year later in 1996 that are the guidelines for curriculum planning in therapeutic recreation in colleges and universities published by ATRA. [Austin] During this video, we have witnessed the continual growth and maturity of the therapeutic recreation profession. This is not to say that therapeutic recreation has not experienced stormy..