ATRA ANNOUNCES OFFICERS FOR 2004-2005 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

(ALEXANDRIA, VA) The American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) officially welcomed Nancy McFarlane, CTRS as the new President of the 2004-2005 ATRA Board of Directors. McFarlane was inducted on October3rd during the annual membership meeting at the Annual ATRA conference in Kansas City, MO

McFarlane, the Acting Clinical Manager for the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center is a long time member of ATRA and has served previously on the Board of Directors. A graduate of the University of Northern Colorado, McFarlane has been working in the recreational therapy field for over 25 years.

McFarlane has been actively involved in the ATRA leadership team for several years, most recently providing leadership to the ATRA Ethics and Student Development teams. McFarlane identified three key presidential initiatives for this upcoming year; increasing and strengthening professional membership, continuing to lead and support the ATRA Recreational Therapy Medicare Project, and continuing to further develop ATRA’s Clinical Practice Guidelines which link practice to outcomes.

Also inducted were Bryan McCormick, PhD., CTRS of Bloomington, IN as President Elect, Missy Armstrong, MS, CTRS of Seattle, WA as Secretary, Nancy Richeson, Ph.D., CTRS of Alfred, ME, Ben Curti, CTRS of Pikeville, MD and Mary Ann Keogh Hoss, Ph.D., CTRS of Spokane, WA as members at large. They will be joining Diane Baumann, MA, CTRS of Floyds Knob, IN currently serving as Treasurer and Becki Chilcote-McGrath, CTRS of Scottsdale, AZ and Sharon Ballard CTRS of Alexandria, VA currently serving as members at large. As the new Chair of ATRA’s Chapter Affiliate Council, Kelly Parker, CTRS of Mena, AR will be serving as an ad hoc member of the Board. McFarlane described, “This year’s Board of Directors is a unique balance of educators, practitioners, and managers. It is the perfect balance to lead our membership into the next twenty years.”

The American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) is the national membership organization representing the interests and needs of recreational therapists. ATRA leads the profession with nationally recognized professional standards of practice, code of ethics and competency guidelines. For more information, please contact the ATRA National Office at (703) 683-9420 or access the ATRA website at www.atra-tr.org.

# # #

The American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) was founded in 1984 to advance the profession of therapeutic recreation. ATRA is a non-profit, professional membership organization dedicating 100% of resources and efforts to promote therapeutic recreation professionals in health care and human service settings. For more information, please contact the ATRA National Office.