Testing The Water

Interview by Dave Cohen (B.A. '94)
Georgia State Alumni Association 

An aquatics specialist and recreation therapist at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Yvette Tisdale (B.A. ’04) works with her patients — victims of spinal cord injuries, brain injuries and neuromuscular challenges — in a space that’s always felt like a second home. The pool is her office.

Tisdale’s connection to the water stems from her childhood in Jacksonville, Fla., where she spent hours swimming in her backyard pool and in the ocean. But the connection to her patients, who are working daily to readjust to life post-injury, runs deeper than that. Tisdale was a standout on the women’s basketball team during her time at Georgia State until a back injury forced her to redshirt. She knows how challenging it can be to negotiate parts of life that once came so naturally.

We chatted with Tisdale about her work at the Shepherd Center and the way she bonds with with her patients.

Were you ever interested in recreation therapy while at Georgia State?

Actually, I did take a few recreation therapy classes as electives while I was getting my bachelor’s degree in sociology. I became interested in therapy, but I was also about to graduate. Fast forward to a few years after college, I took some additional recreational therapy classes. I needed to finish four classes to take the national recreation therapy exam, which I then passed.

Did you ever envision a career that would involve aquatics?

I grew up in Florida, and we had a pool at the house. We were always at the beach, and I was always around water, but I never thought I would be working in aquatics. It’s literally something I fell into, and I absolutely love it.

 How did you end up at the Shepherd Center?

I was actually working as a lifeguard while working full time as a recreation therapist at a children’s psychiatric hospital. In 2015, when a position opened in aquatics, I came over to the Shepherd Center full time in the recreation therapy department.

What are your areas of expertise?

Here at the Shepherd Center, we have the largest therapy department in the nation (20-25 recreation therapists). Within that group, we have different specialties. Mine is aquatics, which means I work with our in-patients and day-program patients on water exercises in the pool. I introduce some patients to adaptive scuba diving or reteach them how to swim. Patients just in search of relaxation can participate in our regular sessions.

You take patients to the Georgia Aquarium to snorkel and scuba dive with a therapeutic focus. What does that entail?

We make outings to the aquarium about three to four times during the year. Bernie Marcus is a major supporter of the Shepherd Center and was also vital to the Georgia Aquarium’s development, so we have that connection. I take about five or six of my patients to do adaptive snorkeling in the ocean voyager tank with the whale sharks. Basically, I relate how the animals have to adapt to their new atmosphere and environment (going from the ocean to a tank) to what my patients are doing— how their injuries have shifted their entire lives.

 You also instruct adaptive scuba diving. Can you explain what that is?

We take an annual trip to an island called Bonaire, off the coast of Venezuela. We do three dives a day — two in the morning and one during the afternoon. Former patients or community members can participate. We have about a month of practice sessions before going on the trip, and participants have to be certified scuba divers. It’s so much fun.

 What are your goals for your patients?

My goal is to get people back to the lifestyle they were used to prior to an injury. We may have to reintroduce them to things they are no longer able to do. We offer reintegration outings to sporting events and restaurants. Patients are challenged to problem- solve in different situations, like with things we take for granted and don’t even think about — opening a door, paying the check at a restaurant,  buying a movie ticket, maneuvering big crowds.

Has your experience as a student athlete benefited you in your position?

Yes, actually I have worked with a lot of student athletes, like football players who’ve had spinal cord injuries. Being a former athlete, I am able to make that connection with them. During my junior season at Georgia State, I had a medical redshirt because of a back injury, so I can kind of relate.

Georgia State women’s basketball experienced the best stretch in the history of the program during your four seasons as a player. How rewarding was that?

It’s funny because we all still keep in contact. I still speak with Evita Rogers and Angelina Miller, and every now and then, I’ll talk with Kara Edwards. We came in as a tight group and left that way. Even as adults in our working professions, we have a bond that will never be broken, and I’m so thankful Georgia State brought us all together.

How much did your overall Georgia State experience impact your career?

Georgia State definitely helped mold me into the person I am today. Even outside of basketball, it was about growing up and becoming an adult in this atmosphere. I am an only child, so getting away from home was probably one of the best experiences to prepare me for the next step in my life.