CTRS – Paper 1
CTRS – CERTIFIED THERAPEUTIC RECREATION SPECIALIST
| EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS | LATEST
2026/2027
NATIONAL THERAPEUTIC RECREATION PRACTICE SERIES
CTRS – CERTIFIED THERAPEUTIC RECREATION SPECIALIST
1. Which model of practice organises services along a continuum of
functional intervention, leisure education, and recreation
participation?
A. Leisure Ability Model
B. Health Protection/Health Promotion Model
C. Self-Determination and Enjoyment Enhancement Model
D. Therapeutic Recreation Outcome Model
A. Leisure Ability Model
Peterson and Gunn's Leisure Ability Model moves the client toward an
independent leisure lifestyle through these three service components.
Page 1 of 57
, CTRS – Paper 1
2. In Austin's Health Protection/Health Promotion Model, the
prescriptive activity end of the continuum is chiefly concerned with:
A. Teaching the client to locate community resources
B. Maximising self-actualisation through freely chosen leisure
C. Providing unstructured free-time opportunities
D. Helping the client stabilise and recover from a threat to health
D. Helping the client stabilise and recover from a threat to health
Prescriptive activities protect health when the client is least in control;
the continuum then shifts toward recreation and leisure for health
promotion.
3. The Optimizing Lifelong Health through Therapeutic Recreation
model is built upon which theoretical framework?
A. The normalization principle
B. Maslow's hierarchy of needs
C. Flow theory
D. Selection, optimization and compensation
D. Selection, optimization and compensation
Wilhite, Keller and Caldwell grounded the model in Baltes' SOC theory of
successful adaptation.
4. According to flow theory, an optimal experience is most likely when:
A. External rewards are offered for participation
B. The person's skill greatly exceeds the challenge
C. The challenge of the activity is balanced with the person's skill
D. The challenge greatly exceeds the person's skill
C. The challenge of the activity is balanced with the person's skill
Csikszentmihalyi found that skill above challenge leads to boredom and
challenge above skill leads to anxiety; balance produces flow.
Page 2 of 57
, CTRS – Paper 1
5. Neulinger identified which two conditions as the primary
determinants of a leisure experience?
A. Social interaction and external structure
B. Extrinsic reward and obligation
C. Perceived freedom and intrinsic motivation
D. Physical exertion and competition
C. Perceived freedom and intrinsic motivation
Neulinger's paradigm places perceived freedom and intrinsic motivation
at the core of pure leisure.
6. The CTRS credential is awarded by which organisation?
A. National Recreation and Park Association
B. Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities
C. National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification
D. American Therapeutic Recreation Association
C. National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification
NCTRC, established in 1981, is the independent credentialing body for the
CTRS.
7. The American Therapeutic Recreation Association was founded in:
A. 1966
B. 1990
C. 1984
D. 1981
C. 1984
ATRA was formed in 1984 as a professional membership organisation for
recreational therapists.
8. The principle that people with disabilities should experience
patterns of everyday life as close as possible to those of society
generally is known as:
A. Least restrictive environment
B. Normalization
C. Habilitation
D. Deinstitutionalization
B. Normalization
Normalization was articulated by Nirje and expanded by Wolfensberger,
and it shaped inclusive recreation practice.
Page 3 of 57
, CTRS – Paper 1
9. The Self-Determination and Enjoyment Enhancement Model
emphasises that TR services should primarily:
A. Prescribe specific exercises to correct physical deficits
B. Focus exclusively on diversional recreation
C. Foster self-determination and enjoyment so clients can experience flow
and improved functioning
D. Rely on extrinsic rewards to maintain participation
C. Foster self-determination and enjoyment so clients can experience
flow and improved functioning
Dattilo, Kleiber and Williams proposed that self-determination, intrinsic
motivation and enjoyment lead to functional improvement.
10. A client repeatedly states, 'Nothing I try ever makes a difference,'
and withdraws from activities. This pattern best reflects:
A. Internal locus of control
B. Self-actualization
C. Learned helplessness
D. Intrinsic motivation
C. Learned helplessness
Seligman described learned helplessness as the belief that outcomes are
independent of one's actions, leading to passivity.
11. Within Crawford and Godbey's leisure constraints model, lack of
transportation is classified as a(n):
A. Intrapersonal constraint
B. Interpersonal constraint
C. Antecedent constraint
D. Structural constraint
D. Structural constraint
Structural constraints are external factors such as money, time,
transportation and facilities that intervene between preference and
participation.
Page 4 of 57
CTRS – CERTIFIED THERAPEUTIC RECREATION SPECIALIST
| EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS | LATEST
2026/2027
NATIONAL THERAPEUTIC RECREATION PRACTICE SERIES
CTRS – CERTIFIED THERAPEUTIC RECREATION SPECIALIST
1. Which model of practice organises services along a continuum of
functional intervention, leisure education, and recreation
participation?
A. Leisure Ability Model
B. Health Protection/Health Promotion Model
C. Self-Determination and Enjoyment Enhancement Model
D. Therapeutic Recreation Outcome Model
A. Leisure Ability Model
Peterson and Gunn's Leisure Ability Model moves the client toward an
independent leisure lifestyle through these three service components.
Page 1 of 57
, CTRS – Paper 1
2. In Austin's Health Protection/Health Promotion Model, the
prescriptive activity end of the continuum is chiefly concerned with:
A. Teaching the client to locate community resources
B. Maximising self-actualisation through freely chosen leisure
C. Providing unstructured free-time opportunities
D. Helping the client stabilise and recover from a threat to health
D. Helping the client stabilise and recover from a threat to health
Prescriptive activities protect health when the client is least in control;
the continuum then shifts toward recreation and leisure for health
promotion.
3. The Optimizing Lifelong Health through Therapeutic Recreation
model is built upon which theoretical framework?
A. The normalization principle
B. Maslow's hierarchy of needs
C. Flow theory
D. Selection, optimization and compensation
D. Selection, optimization and compensation
Wilhite, Keller and Caldwell grounded the model in Baltes' SOC theory of
successful adaptation.
4. According to flow theory, an optimal experience is most likely when:
A. External rewards are offered for participation
B. The person's skill greatly exceeds the challenge
C. The challenge of the activity is balanced with the person's skill
D. The challenge greatly exceeds the person's skill
C. The challenge of the activity is balanced with the person's skill
Csikszentmihalyi found that skill above challenge leads to boredom and
challenge above skill leads to anxiety; balance produces flow.
Page 2 of 57
, CTRS – Paper 1
5. Neulinger identified which two conditions as the primary
determinants of a leisure experience?
A. Social interaction and external structure
B. Extrinsic reward and obligation
C. Perceived freedom and intrinsic motivation
D. Physical exertion and competition
C. Perceived freedom and intrinsic motivation
Neulinger's paradigm places perceived freedom and intrinsic motivation
at the core of pure leisure.
6. The CTRS credential is awarded by which organisation?
A. National Recreation and Park Association
B. Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities
C. National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification
D. American Therapeutic Recreation Association
C. National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification
NCTRC, established in 1981, is the independent credentialing body for the
CTRS.
7. The American Therapeutic Recreation Association was founded in:
A. 1966
B. 1990
C. 1984
D. 1981
C. 1984
ATRA was formed in 1984 as a professional membership organisation for
recreational therapists.
8. The principle that people with disabilities should experience
patterns of everyday life as close as possible to those of society
generally is known as:
A. Least restrictive environment
B. Normalization
C. Habilitation
D. Deinstitutionalization
B. Normalization
Normalization was articulated by Nirje and expanded by Wolfensberger,
and it shaped inclusive recreation practice.
Page 3 of 57
, CTRS – Paper 1
9. The Self-Determination and Enjoyment Enhancement Model
emphasises that TR services should primarily:
A. Prescribe specific exercises to correct physical deficits
B. Focus exclusively on diversional recreation
C. Foster self-determination and enjoyment so clients can experience flow
and improved functioning
D. Rely on extrinsic rewards to maintain participation
C. Foster self-determination and enjoyment so clients can experience
flow and improved functioning
Dattilo, Kleiber and Williams proposed that self-determination, intrinsic
motivation and enjoyment lead to functional improvement.
10. A client repeatedly states, 'Nothing I try ever makes a difference,'
and withdraws from activities. This pattern best reflects:
A. Internal locus of control
B. Self-actualization
C. Learned helplessness
D. Intrinsic motivation
C. Learned helplessness
Seligman described learned helplessness as the belief that outcomes are
independent of one's actions, leading to passivity.
11. Within Crawford and Godbey's leisure constraints model, lack of
transportation is classified as a(n):
A. Intrapersonal constraint
B. Interpersonal constraint
C. Antecedent constraint
D. Structural constraint
D. Structural constraint
Structural constraints are external factors such as money, time,
transportation and facilities that intervene between preference and
participation.
Page 4 of 57
