Rehabilitation Counseling
The Profession
Rehabilitation Counseling is a Career That Makes a Difference. Rehabilitation counselors help people deal with the personal, social, and vocational effects of disabilities. They counsel people with disabilities resulting from birth defects, illness or disease, accidents, or the stress of daily life. This might mean the person has a physical disability, cognitive disabilities, a mental health or substance abuse problem. They evaluate the strengths and limitations of individuals, provide personal and vocational counseling, and arrange for medical care, vocational training, and job placement.
Rehabilitation counselors interview both individuals with disabilities and their families, evaluate school and medical reports, and confer and plan with physicians, psychologists, occupational therapists, and employers to determine the capabilities and skills of the individual. Conferring with the client, they develop a rehabilitation program that often includes training to help the person develop job skills. Rehabilitation counselors also work toward increasing the client's capacity to live independently. (US Dept of Labor)
Rehabilitation counselors also find themselves working as mental health professionals, substance abuse counselors, disability management specialists, employee assistance professionals, and case managers to name a few. It isn't just a job title.it's an approach to helping people make changes in their lives.
A Career in Great Demand
Rehabilitation counselors are often employed in state rehabilitation agencies or community programs. Other areas of possible employment exist in schools and universities, independent living centers, drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, halfway houses, correctional facilities, residential care facilities, and employee assistance programs.
Employment opportunities for rehabilitation counselors are expected to be excellent well into the future. The number of people with disabilities needing services is growing, more and more employers are hiring rehabilitation counselors to serve employees injured on the job, and a large number of counselors are retiring. The result? A large number of job openings across the nation and not enough graduating students to meet the demand.
Want more information? Check out the job openings listed in our WVU Rehabilitation Recruitment Materials.
A Career Path with Growth Potential .
Rehabilitation counselors have the option of becoming Certified Rehabilitation Counselors and then Licensed Professional Counselors, among other credentials available in the counseling or rehabilitation professions. There is also the option to take coursework leading to Certification as a Vocational Evaluator. Graduates can also grow into supervisory or management positions, start their own companies, or move into a variety of counseling positions.
National Certification. Graduates of accredited master's degree programs in rehabilitation counseling are eligible for certification by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) which sets the standard for quality rehabilitation counseling services in the U.S. and Canada. As an independent, not-for-profit organization, CRCC has certified more than 35,000 counselors since its incorporation in 1974.
Graduates obtain the credential of Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC). This certification is standard for employment in the rehabilitation field nationwide. The purpose is to ensure that the professionals engaged in rehabilitation counseling meet acceptable standards of quality in practice. The existence of acceptable standards is considered to be in the best interest of consumers of rehabilitation counseling services and the general public.
For more information about the CRC, visit www.crccertification.com/
Licensure. The CRC is also a step in many states toward becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). LPC refers to the most often granted state statutory counselor credential. Licensure, unlike certification, is always a legislatively established process of credentialing. Typically, licensure grants a practitioner the legal right to practice through law, while restricting this right to only those persons who hold a license. It is important to note that state laws vary. In some states, state legislated certification may protect both the title and practice of a profession. These states require licensure to render counseling services to the public and the laws are typically referred to as "practice acts or laws." Similarly, some states grant licenses that act more like certification laws by protecting only the title granted to practitioners but not regulating the practice of the profession. These laws are usually referred to as "title acts or laws."
For more information about licensure in North America, visit the American Association of State Counseling Boards at /www.aascb.org/state.htm
- West Virginia, visit www.wvbec.org/
- Virginia, visit www.dhp.state.va.us/counseling/
- Pennsylvania, visit /www.dos.state.pa.us/bpoa/cwp/
Certified Vocational Evaluation Specialist. Individuals who earn the designation of a Certified Vocational Evaluation Specialist (CVE) have demonstrated that they possess at least an acceptable minimum level of knowledge (as determined by the Commission on Certification of work Adjustment and Vocational Evaluation Specialists) with regard to the practice of their profession. The primary purpose of this certification process is to provide assurance that those professionals engaged in vocational evaluation meet acceptable standards of quality. Work in the community is foundational to the practices of vocational evaluation and work adjustment.
For more information about the CVE, visit www.ccwaves.org/
Working Woman magazine ranked Rehabilitation Counseling as #16 among its top 25 recommended careers (1995).
The 110th Congress of the United States Senate designated March 22, 2008 as National Rehabilitation Counselors Appreciation Day! Resolution