Therapeutic Activities
What Can I Do With a Therapeutic Activities Minor?
If your future work will involve leading groups, supporting people or creating activities with a purpose, Longwood’s Therapeutic Activities minor can add practical skills to your major.
You’ll learn how to plan, lead and evaluate goal-based recreational activities that can be used to teach skills in a variety of settings. You’ll also build experience working with people of different ages and abilities.
This minor may be a good fit if you enjoy learning by doing, working with people, being creative and getting out from behind a desk to practice what you’re learning.
Note: Therapeutic Recreation majors are not eligible for this minor.
How Can a Therapeutic Activities Minor Complement My Major?
The Therapeutic Activities minor is not designed around one specific career. Instead, it gives you skills in group leadership, communication, activity planning and working with different populations that can complement many professional paths.
It may be especially useful for students interested in areas such as:
- Nursing, social work and psychology
- Education and special education
- Speech-language pathology and mental health
- Public health, health and fitness, and corporate wellness
- Parks and recreation, community recreation and camps
- Communications and human resources
The skills you build can apply anywhere you may need to engage a group, identify its needs and lead purposeful activities—from support groups and community programs to classrooms, wellness programs and workplace retreats.
How Will I Get Hands-On Experience?
Hands-on learning is an important part of the Therapeutic Activities minor. You’ll have opportunities to practice leading activities, apply what you learn and interact with different groups of people as part of your coursework.
Depending on the courses you choose, those experiences may include working with Longwood LIFE students, older adults at a local retirement community or children in a local homeschool co-op.
Students in the minor may also choose to get involved with the Therapeutic Recreation Organization, which plans activities on campus and in the Farmville community, including the recurring Study Paws event.
What Will I Learn in the Therapeutic Activities Minor?
You’ll learn how to take an activity from an idea to an experience that has a clear purpose.
Through your coursework, you’ll build skills such as:
- Planning, leading and evaluating goal-based recreational activities
- Assessing the needs of a group and designing activities around those needs
- Engaging, motivating and communicating with groups
- Understanding group dynamics
- Developing leadership and facilitation skills
- Adapting activities for different populations
Your course choices also give you flexibility to learn more about working with populations such as people with physical or intellectual disabilities, older adults or people with mental health conditions.
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