Marieke Van Puymbroeck - Author

Marieke Van Puymbroeck is the recreational therapy coordinator and an associate professor at Clemson University. She has been a CTRS for over 20 years, and over the years she has worked in psychiatric, rehabilitation, and skilled nursing settings.

More recently she has worked in higher education, starting her career at the University of Illinois, and more recently at Indiana University. She considers it a tremendous honor to be training students to enter what she considers one of the best professions there is!

Van Puymbroeck is known as a champion for recreational therapy, and she serves on a number of national and international boards as the recreational therapy representative.

She has published over 60 research articles, many in leading rehabilitation journals, seven book chapters, and 128 presentations at regional, national, and international conferences.

Further, Van Puymbroeck has been an investigator on almost $2,500,000 in research funding, focusing primarily on the use of yoga as a therapeutic intervention and influences on participation for individuals with chronic stroke.

Her most notable awards include fellow, National Academy of Recreational Therapy; Scholarly Achievement Award from the American Therapeutic Recreation Association; Clinical Research Loan Repayment from the National Institutes of Health; Outstanding Young Alumni from the College of Public Health and Health Professions at the University of Florida; Outstanding Teacher; and Best Poster at the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.

Van Puymbroeck serves as president for the National Academy of Recreational Therapists.