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Rehabilitation Counselors

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Rehabilitation counselors help people with physical, mental, developmental, or emotional disabilities live independently. They work with clients to overcome or manage the personal, social, or psychological effects of disabilities on employment or independent living.

Duties:

• Provide individual and group counseling to help clients adjust to their disability
• Evaluate clients’ abilities, interests, experiences, skills, health, and education
• Develop a treatment plan for clients, in consultation with other professionals, such as doctors, therapists, and psychologists
• Arrange for clients to obtain services, such as medical care or career training
• Help employers understand the needs and abilities of people with disabilities, as well as laws and resources that affect people with disabilities
• Help clients develop their strengths and adjust to their limitations
• Locate resources, such as wheelchairs or computer programs, that help clients live and work more independently
• Maintain client records and monitor clients’ progress, adjusting the rehabilitation or treatment plan as necessary
• Advocate for the rights of people with disabilities to live in a community and work in the job of their choice

Education: Individuals looking to join the work force as a Clinical Mental Health Counselor will need to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Counseling, Psychology or a closely related field. Once you have attained your Bachelor’s degree you will need to then apply for and complete a Master’s program in Counseling from an institution of higher learning that is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The licensure requirements for Clinical Mental Health Counselors vary from state to state, but tend to have the following requirements: A Master’s or Ph.D. in Counseling from an accredited school, an internship program as part of earning your degree, a minimum of 3000 hours of supervised clinical experience which must be completed within two years of beginning, passing the National Counselor Exam or similar sanctioned exam as issued by your state board, completing continuing education requirements of your state licensing board and adherence to standards of practice and code of ethics as prescribed by your state’s licensing board.

Work Environment: Rehabilitation counselors work in a variety of settings, such as community rehabilitation centers, senior citizen centers, and youth guidance organizations.

Community and vocational rehabilitation services	30%
Individual and family services	19
State government, excluding education and hospitals	14
Nursing and residential care facilities	12
Self-employed workers	7

Pay: The median annual wage for rehabilitation counselors was $34,860 in May 2017. (The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less.) The lowest 10 percent earned less than $22,040, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $62,780.

In May 2017, the median annual wages for rehabilitation counselors in the top industries in which they worked were as follows:

State government, excluding education and hospitals	$48,380
Individual and family services	33,510
Nursing and residential care facilities	30,800
Community and vocational rehabilitation services	30,350

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