10. REABILITATION COUNSELOR/PSYCHOLOGIST

JOB DESCRIPTION

Overview

Rehabilitation counselors and psychologists (RCPs) assist people with physical, cognitive, emotional, and developmental disabilities. They conduct assessments, provide personal and vocational counseling, plan and implement rehabilitation programs, and provide support to families. A primary goal of rehabilitation counseling is to increase a client’s capacity to become independent or remain self-sufficient. In addition, RCPs attempt to change environmental or social barriers that create obstacles for people with disabilities. RCPs are employed by medical and rehabilitation hospitals, government agencies (especially departments of rehabilitation), publicly supported agencies working with disabled persons, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and insurance companies.

Although rehabilitation counseling and rehabilitation psychology are technically different fields (the former is a division of the American Counseling Association and the latter is a division of the American Psychological Association), the work roles, responsibilities, and goals of the two professions overlap significantly. In terms of training, RC programs are likely to provide a broader introduction to different types of disabilities and a greater focus on vocational rehabilitation, whereas RP programs are more likely to emphasize psychological assessment as well as other areas of psychology (e.g., biopsychology, learning, social, and developmental). In terms of numbers, there are many more rehabilitation programs in counseling than in psychology and, consequently, more practicing RCs than RPs.

Typical Job Duties

• interviewing a disabled individual regarding personal or occupational adjustment

• evaluating a disabled individual’s strengths and limitations

• helping individuals and their families deal with the personal and social impact of disabilities

• conferring with allied health professionals (e.g., physicians, psychologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists) about a disabled person’s progress

• advising clients about education and training opportunities, careers, and job-finding skills

• planning a client’s rehabilitation program and working individually with the client to help implement it

• providing outreach programs that attempt to educate the public regarding myths about disabilities prevalent in society

Job Outlook

Faster-than-average job growth is expected for many reasons: medical advances allowing seriously disabled individuals to survive, a growing elderly population, and legislation requiring equal employment rights for people with disabilities. Rehabilitation counselors were not among the top 30 fastest-growing occupations as ranked by the BLS, and rehabilitation counseling was not one of the fields examined by the MSU study.

Potential Earnings

The Occupational Outlook Handbook does not differentiate between community and rehabilitation counselors in reporting salary studies. Consequently, estimates here are the same for both professions: $25,000-$35,000, starting; $30,000-$40,000, median. A 1995 study of vocational rehabilitation counselors (most frequently employed by state departments of Vocational Rehabilitation) revealed an average starting salary of $26,000.

TRAINING

Professional Degree Required

A master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling or psychology is the entry-level degree. Graduate programs in both fields typically require two years of full-time study and field work but usually allow students to attend on a part-time basis.

How to Find Programs

RC programs are accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE), which maintains a list of accredited programs on its Internet site or will send a print version free of charge (addresses below). CORE also has a copy of its accrediting standards on its web page, which is helpful when considering the differences in curricula of counseling vs. psychology programs.

RP programs are listed in APA’s Graduate Study in Psychology guide, but do not appear to be accredited by any central agency. You may find some useful information about RP through APA’s Division of Rehabilitation Psychology, Division 22 (address below).

Entrance Requirements/Admissions

A psychology major is excellent preparation for both RP and RC. RP programs are likely to place greater emphasis on adequate preparation in statistics and research methods and a well-rounded psychology major; RC programs are often satisfied with any helping-oriented social science major. Abnormal psychology (psychopathology) is a good preparatory elective for both fields, and field work or internship experience is important (perhaps more so for RC than RP).

Competitiveness is on a par with community counseling, with a 3.0 GPA and 1000 GRE- combined as typical minimum requirements (but grades above 3.0 could make up for sub-1000 test scores and vice versa). Programs do not appear to receive an abundance of applications, so numbers may favor applicants in this field.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Print Materials/Organizations

American Psychological Association (APA), Division 22 (Rehabilitation Psychology), 750 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002-4242. 202/336-5500. For Division 22 membership information, contact Rochelle Balter, Ph.D., P.O. Box 20235, Cherokee Station, New York City, NY 10021.

Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE), 1835 Rohlwing Road, Suite E, Rolling

Meadows, IL 60008. 847/394-1785.

Leahy, M. J., & Szymanski, E. M. (1995). Rehabilitation counseling: Evolution and current status. Journal of Counseling and Development, 74, 163-166.

Internet Resources

APA, Division 22 home page: http://www.apa.org/divisions/div22/homepage.html

CORE home page: http//www.core-rehab.org

National Rehabilitation Counseling Association: http://www.nchrtm.okstate.edu/NRCA_files/htdocs/index.html