Lauren Carbonell

Lauren Carbonell Recreational Therapy Video

Lauren Carbonell, Director Recreation Personal Bio

As director of recreation, Lauren Carbonell engages with clients daily conducting recreational activities to improve recovery outcomes. The position’s unique skills and abilities focus on using fun activities to enhance client communications. And help foster client changing focus on being happy while gaining socialization skills interacting with peers and staff. Sponsoring improved mental health and recovery progress. Expertise required for the role includes knowledge of the concepts, methods, routines, and equipment used in recreational therapy. That extends to outdoor games, arts and crafts, and both sporting and social group recreational activities. Recreational therapy goals include teaching and improving client interrelationship with their ongoing treatment programs. Improving negative behavior and providing positive behavior modification techniques help clients express their emotions through safe recreational activities. Lauren supervises and plans various types of recreational activities. Her role requires she maintain effective working relationships with clients and co-workers. So to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing; to exercise initiative and independent judgment, and to work with substance abuse and mentally sick clients.

Lauren Carbonell Video Transcript

In doing recreation with the clients I tend to build a lot of very strong rapport with most of them. That, you know, come to all my groups and do the activities with me. I get to know them on a deeper level. You Know. I get to help them find that happiness within. That connection within. That content within. And all those positive things they came to treatment to look for. And so there is one specific story that always sticks out to me. That always helps me in pushing somebody forward. I tell this story all the time. I tell it in groups all the time. Because it’s very powerful to me. The one thing I tell clients a lot is when they are struggling with the decision to stay in treatment or not, right. I always tell them give yourself 365 days. One full entire year of working on yourself . Of healing from your trauma, of pushing through, of stepping outside of your comfort zone. Stepping outside of your shell and finding out who the real person is within and what makes that person happy.

Giving it the full effort. And if after 365 days you still feel the same, you still want to stay in this chaos and insanity, then do what you have to do. Right. But, if after 365 days you don’t feel that anymore, you don’t have that mental obsession anymore, then you heal. Right. You’ve begun your process to a happy full life of sobriety. And I told that client, one client just last year. And just about 2 months ago, exactly on his 365th day sober, he sent me a picture of it on our alumni page and told me. He said. 365 days, today is that day, and I haven’t even thought about looking back since. And for me to hear something like that, I mean I cried, I was emotional, I was all these things. But, its so powerful to know that some simple words that I can say, because of what I feel what I think what I believe in can help someone define who they are and make someone better.