Activities	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.
Outlook	Faster-than-average-job growth
Median Income	$29,200 per year in May 2006
Work Context & Conditions	Usually have a private office and work a standard 40-hour week. May work evenings to counsel clients who work during the day. The job can be stressful.
Minimum Education Requirements	Master's Degree
Skills	Social Perceptiveness, Learning Strategies, Monitoring, Management of Personnel Resources, Management of Financial Resources, Critical Thinking, Instructing, Active Listening, Writing, Service Orientation, Time Management, Systems Evaluation, Active Learning, Judgment and Decision Making, Coordination, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Complex Problem Solving, Systems Analysis
Abilities	Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Written Comprehension, Speech Clarity, Oral Comprehension, Flexibility of Closure

Job Category		Community & Social Services
Job Description		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. 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 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, which often includes training to help the person develop job skills. They also work toward increasing the client's capacity to live independently.
Working Conditions		Persons interested in counseling should have a strong interest in helping others and the ability to inspire respect, trust, and confidence. They should be able to work independently or as part of a team. Counselors follow the code of ethics associated with their respective certifications and licenses. Rehabilitation counselors usually work a standard 40-hour week. Self-employed counselors and those working in mental health and community agencies, often work evenings to counsel clients who work during the day. Counselors must possess high physical and emotional energy to handle the array of problems they address. Dealing daily with these problems can cause stress. Because privacy is essential for confidential and frank discussions with clients, counselors usually have private offices.
Salary Range		Median annual earnings of rehabilitation counselors in May 2006 were $29,200. The middle 50 percent earned between $22,980 and $39,000. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $19,260, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $53,170. Self-employed counselors who have well-established practices, as well as counselors employed in group practices, usually have the highest earnings, as do some counselors working for private firms, such as insurance companies and private rehabilitation companies.

Education Required		Formal education is necessary to gain employment as a counselor. About half of all counselors have a master's degree; fields of study include college student affairs, elementary or secondary school counseling, education, gerontological counseling, marriage and family counseling, substance abuse counseling, rehabilitation counseling, agency or community counseling, clinical mental health counseling, counseling psychology, career counseling, and related fields. Graduate-level counselor education programs in colleges and universities usually are in departments of education or psychology. Courses are grouped into eight core areas: human growth and development, social and cultural diversity, relationships, groupwork, career development, assessment, research and program evaluation, and professional identity. In an accredited program, 48 to 60 semester hours of graduate study, including a period of supervised clinical experience in counseling, are required for a master's degree. Counselors must be aware of educational and training requirements that are often very detailed and that vary by area and by counseling specialty. Prospective counselors should check with state and local governments, employers, and national voluntary certification organizations in order to determine which requirements apply. Vocational and related rehabilitation agencies usually require a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling, counseling and guidance, or counseling psychology for rehabilitation counselor jobs. Some, however, accept applicants with a bachelor's degree in rehabilitation services, counseling, psychology, sociology, or related fields. A bachelor's degree often qualifies a person to work as a counseling aide, rehabilitation aide, or social service worker. Experience in employment counseling, job development, psychology, education, or social work is helpful. Some states require counselors in public employment offices to have a master's degree; others accept a bachelor's degree with appropriate counseling courses. A 6-year, master's level degree is the minimum education required to enter the field of marriage and family therapy. Some employers provide training for newly hired counselors. Many have work-study programs so that those employed counselors can earn graduate degrees. Counselors must participate in graduate studies, workshops, and personal studies to maintain their certificates and licenses. Counselors can become supervisors or administrators in their agencies. Some counselors move into research, consulting, or college teaching, or go into private or group practice.
Recommended High School Courses		English
Postsecondary Instructional Programs		Therapy and Counseling, Customer and Personal Service
Certification and Licensing		In 2006, 49 States and the District of Columbia had some form of counselor credentialing, licensure, certification, or registration that governed their practice of counseling outside of schools. Requirements typically include the completion of a master’s degree in counseling, the accumulation of 2 years or 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience beyond the master’s degree level, the passage of a State-recognized exam, adherence to ethical codes and standards, and the satisfaction of annual continuing education requirements. Many counselors elect to be nationally certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. (NBCC), which grants the general practice credential “National Certified Counselor.” To be certified, a counselor must hold a master’s or higher degree, with a concentration in counseling, from a regionally accredited college or university; must have at least 2 years of supervised field experience in a counseling setting (graduates from counselor education programs accredited by CACREP are exempted); must provide two professional endorsements, one of which must be from a recent supervisor; and must have a passing score on the NBCC’s National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification (NCE). This national certification is voluntary and is distinct from State certification. However, in some States, those who pass the national exam are exempted from taking a State certification exam. NBCC also offers specialty certification in school, clinical mental health, and addiction counseling. Beginning January 1, 2004, new candidates for NBCC’s National Certified School counselor (NCSC) credential must pass a practical simulation examination in addition to fulfilling the current requirements. To maintain their certification, counselors retake and pass the NCE or complete 100 hours of acceptable continuing education credit every 5 years.

Interest Area		Social Involves working and communicating with, helping, and teaching people.
Work Values		Achievement Get a feeling of accomplishment. Social Service Do things for other people. Security Have steady employment. Ability Utilization Make use of individual abilities. Activity Busy all the time. Autonomy Plan work with little supervision. Responsibility Make decisions on your own.
Skills		Social Perceptiveness Be aware of others' reactions and understand why they react the way they do. Learning Strategies Use multiple approaches when learning or teaching new things. Monitoring Assess how well someone is doing when learning or doing something. Management of Personnel Resources Motivate, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job Management of Financial Resources Determine how money will be spent to get the work done and account for these expenditures. Critical Thinking Use logic and analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. Instructing Teach others how to do something. Active Listening Listen to what other people are saying and ask questions as appropriate. Writing Communicate effectively with others in writing as indicated by the needs of the audience. Service Orientation Actively look for ways to help people. Time Management Manage one's own time and the time of others. Systems Evaluation Look at many indicators of system performance, taking into account their accuracy. Active Learning Work with new material or information to grasp its implications. Judgment and Decision Making Be able to weigh the relative costs and benefits of a potential action. Coordination Adjust actions in relation to others' actions. Reading Comprehension Understand written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. Speaking Talk to others to effectively convey information. Complex Problem Solving Solving novel, ill-defined problems in complex, real-world settings. Systems Analysis Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Abilities		Oral Expression Able to convey information and ideas through speech in ways that others will understand. Problem Sensitivity Able to tell when something is wrong or likely to go wrong. This doesn't involve solving the problem, just recognizing that there is a problem. Written Comprehension Able to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. Speech Clarity Able to speak clearly so listeners understand. Oral Comprehension Able to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. Flexibility of Closure Identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.

Related Jobs		Physician, Family and General, Social Worker, Child, Family, and School, Therapist, Physical, Therapist, Recreational, Nurse, Registered, Therapist, Occupational, Social Worker, Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Job Outlook		Rehabilitation counselors held 141,000 jobs in 2006. Overall employment of counselors is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2016. In addition, numerous job openings will occur as many counselors reach retirement age. Demand is expected to be strong for rehabilitation counselors for a variety of reasons. The increasing availability of funds to build statewide networks to improve services for children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances and their family members should increase employment opportunities for counselors. Under managed care systems, insurance companies increasingly provide for reimbursement of counselors, enabling many counselors to move from schools and government agencies to private practice. Counselors also are forming group practices to receive expanded insurance coverage. The number of people who need rehabilitation services will grow as advances in medical technology continue to save lives that only a few years ago would have been lost. In addition, legislation requiring equal employment rights for people with disabilities will spur demand for counselors. Counselors not only will help individuals with disabilities with their transition into the workforce, but also will help companies comply with the law.
More Information		Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, American Counseling Association, American Counseling Association, National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc.
References		Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition, Counselors, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos067.htm O*NET OnLine, on the Internet at http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/21-1015.00