The Therapeutic Recreation Symposium for the Southwest was organized around a table in the den of Edward Supina's home in Mesquite, Texas. In attendance was Dr. Joe Teaff, then at Texas Women's University, Edward Supina, Recreation Therapy Director at Timberlawn Psychiatric Hospital in Dallas, and Larry J. Mildren, Recreation Therapy Program Supervisor for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

Ed Supina writes, "After a wonderful evening meal prepared by my wife Ann the Three of us sat down and drafted the format for the Therapeutic Recreation Symposium for the Southwest, set the first slate of officers, selected Denton and TWU as the first hosts of the Symposium and each of us put in $500.00 each to get the plan up and running. My wife, Ann, volunteered to set up the first set of book for the Symposium and in doing so became the first Secretary and Treasurer. Larry Mildren became the Chair, I became the vice-chair and Joe Teaff become the first Symposium coordinator."

From this beginning, it has grown into a nationally recognized organization presenting an opportunity for advanced professional development for therapeutic recreation personnel in the five-state region that includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

In 1987, the Executive Board of the TR Symposium for the Southwest set up a scholarship program that would provide educational assistance for undergraduate and graduate students majoring in therapeutic recreation. Previous to this, several smaller scholarships had been awarded, but no established plan had been developed. The TRSSW is the only regional symposium that dedicates proceeds from the annual event to aspiring scholars in therapeutic recreation at any of the colleges and universities in the region.