Facilitation Technique Category: Leisure Education

Activity Title: Friendship Interaction Skills: Friendship Tree

Source: Dattilo, J., & McKenney, A. (2011) Facilitation Techniques in Therapeutic
Recreation. State College, PA: Venture Publishing, Inc
Equipment: Papers and Markers
Activity Description: There are many different aspects that encompass/fall under the
Leisure Education spectrum but one broad definition for Leisure Education is the process
of teaching leisure-related skills, attitudes, and values. Whenever someone is receiving
therapeutic recreation services (TR), leisure education helps in addressing the challenges
they may have encounter when pursuing enjoyable and meaningful leisure experiences.
Leisure Education is designed to help encourage people to actively participate in
physically and mentally healthy programs, to empower them to make decisions and
discover new information and resources about leisure, and help them navigate through
stressful transition throughout their lives. The activity chosen for this week is called
Friendship Tree. The number of participants is up to the discretion of the group leader,
however the smaller the group, the more intimate/deep the discussions after can/will be.
For this activity, the whole objective is for the participants to draw a friendship tree. The
steps necessary to accomplish this include: 1) The leader distributes markers and papers
to all the participants, 2) the participants will then be instructed to draw a tree (includes
roots, a trunk, branches, leaves, and circles scattered among the leaves that represent
fruit). The drawing should cover nearly the entire page. 3) After the clients have finished
drawing their trees, they are to label the roots of their trees with what they believe are
things that are needed to nourish a friendship. If clients, have a hard time coming up with
ideas/words the leader/facilitator can assist them by providing suggestions like trust,
respect, common interests, and fun experiences. 4) After the roots have been labeled, the
clients will now be instructed to label the fruits of the trees with what they think are the
benefits of friendship. And like before, if clients have a hard time completing this task,
the leader san suggest words like companionship, happiness, and intimacy. 5) The last
step is to debrief with the participants. Here the leader asks the participants to share and
discuss ingredients and benefits of successful friendships. It also may be beneficial to ask
participants to share stories about their friends and what their friendships have meant to
them.
Leadership Considerations: A CTRS will function as an instructor for this activity, and
he/she will assist the client if any help is needed. If there are any limitations that a client
may have or that has already been diagnosed as having, it is essential that the CTRS
gather this information as early as possible. This is done so the leader can have time to
prepare/adjust the activities, according to the specific clients needs. The level of
closeness between the leader or between the clients is all up to the client, they can be as
far or as close as they feel comfortable being. In order to help develop a leisure ethic and
an appreciation of leisure, the leader can encourage participants to: understand leisure,
consider the benefits of leadership participation, realize flexibility of leisure, and identify

contexts conductive for leisure. Leaders for leisure education should aim to create
environments that encourage having multiple options, is responsive, and also informative.
Additionally, in order to help improve effective skills to make decisions, leaders need to
encourage participants to: value decision making, set goals, and solve problems.
Adaptations: Participants with Epilepsy: Epilepsy is a neurological disorder where
nerve cell activity in the brain becomes disrupted, causing seizures or periods of unusual
behavior, sensations and sometimes loss of consciousness. The symptoms in regards to
seizure can vary but some common symptoms include: staring blankly a few seconds
during a seizure, and others may twitch their arms and legs. In order to obtain the
epileptic diagnosis, two unprovoked seizures are generally required. Adaptations for this
type of disorder include: staying away from overstimulation, such as flashing lights, or
loud noises (in order to prevent onset of seizures), and the CTRS should be cognizant of
the client going into a blank face or glazed eyes state, for this can be signs of a seizure
that is to come, or that is currently happening (Loring & Meador, 2001).
Adaptations: Participants with Guillain-Barre Syndrome: Guillain-Barre syndrome
is a rare disorder where the humans immune system attacks its own nerves. The first
symptoms are weakness and tingling in ones extremities. And these sensations can then
spread at a fast rate throughout the body, eventually paralyzing the entire body. The cause
and cure for this syndrome is not known, but there are possible known treatments that can
help ease symptoms and reduce the duration of the illness. Some signs and symptom of
Guillain-Barre syndrome include: prickling, pins and needles sensations in your
fingers, toes, ankles, or wrists, weakness in the lower extremities (such as the legs) that
spread to your upper body, and low/high blood pressure. In reference to possible
adaptations that can be made for clients who have Guillian-Barre Syndrome, they
include: checking pulse before and after the activity (to ensure their HR and breathing is
stable before and after the simulation). Furthermore, clients who have this condition often
fatigue easy, so its best to include multiple breaks within the simulation so they can
gather themselves. And for the clients with more sever cases of this syndrome, their level
of mobility may be very limited to nonexistent. So in these cases the CTRS may need to
move the clients limbs from time to time, to keep muscles flexible, and to prevent the
buildup of red blood cells in veins, which could result in reduced blood flow (Yuki &
Hartung, 2012).
Adaptations References
- Yuki, N., & Hartung, H. P. (2012). GuillainBarr syndrome. New England Journal of
Medicine, 366(24), 2294-2304.
- Loring, D. W., & Meador, K. J. (2001). Cognitive and behavioral effects of epilepsy
treatment. Epilepsia, 42(s 8), 24-32.