It’s More Than “Play”: How Recreational Therapy Supports Trauma Recovery
When people hear the term recreational therapy, they often picture games, crafts, or play. While play and activity are often part of the process, Recreational Therapy (RT) is a clinically grounded, evidence-based therapy delivered by trained and licensed professionals.
As a North Carolina–Licensed Recreational Therapist providing outpatient recreational therapy in NC, I often say:
Recreational therapy is not “just play.”
It is purposeful, goal-driven, and evidenced-informed treatment.
For children, adolescents, and young adults navigating trauma, recreational therapy offers an alternative to traditional talk therapy that allows for experiential learning, skill building, processing, and improved quality of life.
Within intentionally selected, goal-aligned activities, clients can practice emotional regulation in real time, strengthen executive functioning skills, build distress tolerance, improve social communication, and experience genuine mastery.
The activity is not a distraction from therapy — it is the pathway into it.
In North Carolina, Licensed Recreational Therapists (LRT, CTRS) are trained to assess functional needs and implement individualized treatment plans using movement, expressive arts, outdoor experiences, sport-based interventions, skill-building activities, and structured play.
The Brain Changes Through Experience.
When a child regulates their body during a structured challenge, when a teen practices planning and follow-through in a meaningful activity, or when a young adult tolerates discomfort and completes something difficult, those lived moments reshape neural pathways and self-belief.
Recreational therapy creates safe, supported opportunities to practice new patterns — not just talk about them. For many children, adolescents, and neurodivergent clients, that shift makes therapy feel engaging, accessible, and truly effective.
Recreational therapy sessions are intentionally designed to target:
Emotional regulation
Executive functioning
Social skills/expression
Distress tolerance
Identity exploration
Nervous system regulation
Why Recreational Therapy Works for Trauma:
Trauma Lives in the Body — Not Just in the Story.
Many trauma survivors struggle to verbally articulate their experiences.
Recreational therapy integrates bottom-up regulation strategies, meaning we work through the body to support the brain.
For many children, teens, and even adults, trauma shows up as big reactions, shutdown, avoidance, irritability, perfectionism, or difficulty trusting others. Often, they don’t have the words to explain what’s happening inside. And sometimes, even when they do have the words, their body is still reacting as if they’re not safe.
That’s because trauma isn’t only a story we remember. It’s something the body learns.
This is where recreational therapy can be especially powerful.
Instead of relying only on talking, recreational therapy creates structured, activity-based experiences that help the nervous system practice safety in real time. Through movement, creative expression, outdoor experiences, or cooperative challenges, clients begin to:
Connect with what regulation actually feels like in their body
Experience mastery instead of helplessness
Build trust through shared, attuned experiences
Tolerate discomfort in small, supported ways
Reconnect with play, curiosity, and joy
For example, rhythmic movement activities can support regulation. Cooperative challenges can gently rebuild trust and relational safety. Nature-based sessions can lower physiological stress responses. Expressive arts allow emotions to be processed symbolically when direct conversation feels overwhelming.
The activities themselves are not random: they are carefully selected and aligned with therapeutic goals. The aim is always the same: to help the mind and body learn that safety, connection, and choice are possible again.
For trauma-impacted individuals in North Carolina, recreational therapy offers a pathway to healing — especially for those who struggle to sit still and “just talk.”
Every activity has intention.
Every intervention is connected to treatment goals.
Considering Recreational Therapy?
If you’re exploring therapy options for yourself or your child, you may be wondering whether recreational therapy is the right fit.
Families and individuals often reach out to Solstice Counseling and Recreational Therapy Services when:
Their child has tried traditional talk therapy but struggled to engage, and they’re looking for a more experiential, play-based approach.
ADHD makes sitting still for 50 minutes unrealistic — and they want a therapist in North Carolina who understands executive functioning and regulation from a strengths-based lens.
Trauma has shown up as shutdown, anger, or avoidance — and they’re seeking trauma-informed care that integrates the body, not just conversation.
Their teen feels exhausted from masking — and they want a therapeutic space where authenticity is welcomed and supported through creative, relational, and activity-based work.
They’re interested in alternative therapies, including nature-based and experiential approaches grounded in clinical evidence.
At Solstice, recreational therapy is not "just play”. It is structured, intentional, and individualized. Each session is guided by assessment, measurable goals, and ongoing collaboration.
Know that therapy does not have to mean sitting still and talking for 50 minutes.
Sometimes healing looks like movement.
Sometimes it looks like play.
Sometimes it looks like rediscovering joy in a body that has felt unsafe.
Most importantly, it can look like feeling safe enough to be fully yourself.
Recreational therapy honors all of that — with clinical intention and compassionate care.
If you’re searching for outpatient recreational therapy in North Carolina, alternative therapy options for kids and teens, or trauma- and ADHD-informed care in an inclusive, relational setting, Solstice Counseling and Recreational Therapy Services offers a space where healing is both purposeful and human. Call 828-209-8926 to schedule your free 15-minute consultation today.
