Recreational therapists employ different techniques to facilitate changes in health status and behaviors of patients. One concept which is often overlooked is the potential collaborative process between recreational therapy (RT) and the patient, which is fostered by agreements on treatment goals, consensus on tasks of therapy, and a positive bond between the patient and therapist. RT, in general, appears to be beneficial to advancing a patient to greater wellness; however, patients may still have issues with compliance, dropout, and maintenance of change. To address issues of dropout, compliance, and maintenance, it may be important to investigate motivation for RT. The purpose of this study was to determine if Therapeutic Alliance (TA) was correlated with motivation, as described by Self-Determination Theory, and where possible differences occurred. The results of the study confirm that a correlation exists between TA and motivation, and if a recreational therapist is able to develop and maintain a stronger TA with an individual or patient, intrinsic motivation for participation in RT sessions may exist. The results also indicate that patients reporting weaker TA also have higher amotivation correlation and external regulation. Amotivation and external regulation result in high levels of reported extrinsic motivation toward participation in RT session. Further research is needed to determine if length of time participating in RT treatment impacts the development of TA resulting in changes in reported intrinsic motivation for RT treatment.