Earlier today I led a workshop at the Southeast Therapeutic Recreation Symposium entitled “Fun Team Building Activities – Enhancing Well-Being Through Connection“.  The people who attend this type of symposium are usually members of the American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) and they work in the field of therapeutic recreation.

I offered a fun, highly interactive and fast paced workshop for recreataion therapists who work with groups.  I have a strong background in using team building games as a therapeutic tool – – I worked in a wilderness theraphy program for 2.5 years and became a lead instructor.  I loved to use team building games in this environment to teach team and leadership skills.

My friend Dr. Ed Kesgen encouraged me to speak at this event.  Ed is a professor at Western Carolina University who teaches in the field of therapeutic recreation.  Ed is a great guy with an amazing amount of insight and knowledge to share about this field of study.  My hope is that Ed will start to blog so we can all benefit from his knowledge and passion.

NEWS FLASH! Blog update!
It’s Monday November 8, 2005 and I just received a phone call from Rob Raynor of the symposium.  Turns out my workshop received the highest ratings at the symposium which means I won the “Ann James Award” which recognizes the outstanding speaker of the symposium.  The award requires excellence in session content, design, delivery, and impact.  Rob invited me to present the SAME workshop at the 2006 conference AND to deliver the closing keynote.  And ofcourse I accepted!  I hope you can come to the 2006 symposium to participate in this award winning presentation!