NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Laurie Jake, ATRA Communications Coordinator
Phone (480) 460-1525 or
Dawn DeVries, ATRA Conferences Coordinator
Phone: (703) 683-9420

Recreational Therapists Celebrate 20 Successful Years

(Alexandria, VA) The 2004 Annual Conference of the American Therapeutic Recreation Association will be held September 30 - October 4, 2004, at the Crowne Center Hyatt in Kansas City, MO. This year's theme: "Celebrating the Past, Growing For The Future" truly reflects the vibrant nature of this conference addressing the dynamic history and advancements in the therapeutic recreation field, as well as exciting new interventions and current healthcare and public policy issues that impact practice. Conference participants from across the country will enjoy the unique sights and sounds of Kansas City as they gather for the largest national conference of recreational therapy professionals.

This conference marks ATRA's 20th Anniversary, and ATRA is excited to come back to Kansas City, the city where it all started. Kansas City is not only the birthplace of ATRA, but within a short drive of downtown Kansas City, people can visit the birthplace of the Pony Express or of Amelia Earhart. Kansas City played a major role in history as a gateway for pioneers heading west along the Oregon, California and Santa Fe trails, and conference participants can immerse themselves in Civil War history or explore some of the nation's top antique shops.

The conference will be bursting at the seams with five days of educational sessions covering a wide array of topics from Aquatic Therapy and Pain Management to current public policy and healthcare issues including the latest changes with JCAHO and CARF that affect recreational therapy services. This year's conference features sessions designed to help recreational therapy professionals look toward their own future, including presentations covering how to get published and how to get involved with
research. During this year's conference ATRA is launching an evening of Non-CEU Intervention learning opportunities for recreational therapists to explore and gain skills in activity based interventions like Aromatherapy, Tai Chi and Kin Ball.

From start to finish, the conference will focus on celebrating ATRA's 20 incredible years. ATRA is excited to host Keynote Speaker, Randy Snow, well known for his success in international wheelchair sports. Highlights of the conference include ATRA's Dementia Clinical Practice Guideline Training, an Educators Institute, a special all day Institute for Recreational therapists working in the Veterans Administration, an all day Institute on Inclusion, an all day Institute on Clinical Supervision, and members can participate in pre and post conference offerings.

Recreational therapists love to have fun, so Kansas City will offer plenty of that too. Barbecue is a way of life in Kansas City, and you can bet an evening of authentic KC Barbeque will be on the schedule. The American Therapeutic Recreation Foundation has big plans for a truly Kansas City style celebration to honor researchers and past leaders in the recreational therapy field.

For more information about the conference or the field of recreational
therapy please contact the American Therapeutic Recreation Association.

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The American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) was founded in 1984 to advance the 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