Recreation Therapy

Recreation Therapy

How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation on the Addict II Athlete Podcast shines a light on a surprisingly powerful tool: play. Host Coach Blu Robinson sits down with Athletic Director and Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist Marissa Robinson to break down how recreation can become a serious asset in recovery. Marissa points out that "addiction starts to become the recreation", especially in those aimless "hanging out" hours where teens and adults first experiment with substances.

She talks through warning signs for parents, like isolation and poor leisure skills, and why vague plans to "just hang out" can be a red flag. Marissa explains recreational therapy as teaching people how to have fun again, sober. That can mean team-building tasks, ropes courses, skiing, fishing, even learning bus routes or going bowling. These structured activities expose real behaviour patterns that might stay hidden in a therapy room.

As Blu puts it, "You can sit in a group therapy session and act like you know everything… when you're doing a task, it's loud and clear." When someone panics on a ropes course, blames others in a group activity, or jumps impulsively from a high platform, it reveals coping habits that can then be worked on. Together they stress that genuine experience comes without substances.

Marissa says, "The only way to feel life is sober," while Blu adds, "You can't talk your way out of this stuff. You've got to do your way out of this stuff." They tie this into the Addict II Athlete philosophy of erasing addiction and replacing it with meaningful, balanced recreation, family connection, and community.

If you're looking for practical ideas on how to bring more healthy fun, structure, and connection into recovery—whether for yourself, your family, or your clients—this conversation might spark a few questions about how you currently spend your free time.