The TTAP Method, now proven in 7 studies to enhance cognitive and psychosocial wellbeing will be awarded the Innovative Program of the Year Award given each year by the New York State Therapeutic Recreation Association.
History of the TTAP Method©
The TTAP Method was first introduced to the field of Art and Therapeutic Recreation, pre-publication, at the New York State Therapeutic Recreation Association’s Annual Conference in March of 2006 and the American Art Therapy Conference in November. In the same year the methodology was then highlighted at the annual American Society on Aging, as an innovative practice developed out of research in therapeutic art and recreation. The TTAP Method was officially published through Health Professions Press in January of 2007. The first international educational application of the TTAP Method was taught during the summers of 2006, and subsequently taught in 2007 and 2009 at Helsinki University of Applied Sciences. The Finnish Association for Alzheimer’s Care Journal published an article titled; The benefits of the TTAP-Method, 2006 (P.3-5).
The TTAP Method has been taught and researched at St. Thomas Aquinas College since 2008, and outcomes of students findings have been published in the New York State Therapeutic Recreation Journal and the American Therapeutic Recreation Research Institute as well as the American Journal of Art Therapy. The book today is on the publisher’s best seller list in the United States and has been translated into Finnish through the collaboration of HAMK University and Health Professions Press.
Overview of the TTAP Method©The TTAP Method is a innovative nine step therapeutic modality which is based in the belief that the use of themes, social, cultural or personal, enhances the ability to provide a “person centered approach” to art and therapeutic recreation and is fundamental to the care and treatment of all populations. The method is equally appropriate for any population and can be easily adapted to suit the unique needs of those various special populations such as who are suffering from other disabilities including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The modality’s methodology structures therapeutic recreation and art programming first through the utilization of conversation about a specific theme, and illustrates how to move through music and meditation, mental imagery, painting, sculpture, dance and movement, poetry and writing, food motivated sensory events and phototherapy, with each aspect of the method utilizing a thematic approach tailored to the special needs of the patient population.
Creating programming around themes naturally increases personal shared conversations which provide person-centered programming. The TTAP method instantly enables a “Flow” effect to flourish which naturally transports the individual within the group to a place of creativity, independence, while providing continued opportunities’ for self worth and self esteem. The TTAP Methods nine-step process, structures the therapist with multiple examples of how to develop programming which effortlessly moves from group conversation, to music, guided imagery, drawing, painting, sculpture poetry, movement, dance and finally photography. This approach is firmly based in neuroscience research on the brains complex structure and functioning over the last 10 years, life span developmental theory, and cell re-growth now commonly termed neuroplasticity.
Research supporting the TTAP Method© will be discussed this week.
http://www.digeus.com/products/snapit/snapit_screen_capture_3_5.html
