Rehabilitation Counselors
Rehabilitation counselors counsel individuals to maximize the independence and employability of persons coping with personal, social, and vocational difficulties that result from birth defects, illness, disease, accidents, aging, or the stress of daily life. They further coordinate activities for residents of care and treatment facilities. They assess client needs and design and implement rehabilitation programs that may include personal and vocational counseling, training, and job placement.
Rehabilitation counselors jobs include preparation and maintainance of records and case files, including documentation, like clients' personal and eligibility information, services provided, narratives of client contacts, or relevant correspondence, and confer with clients to discuss their options and goals so that rehabilitation programs and plans for accessing needed services can be developed. They develop rehabilitation plans that fit clients' aptitudes, education levels, physical abilities, and career goals and monitor & record clients' progress to ensure that goals and objectives are met.
Vocational rehabilitation counselors locate barriers to client employment, such as inaccessible work sites, inflexible schedules, or transportation problems, and work with clients to solve their queries. How to become a certified rehabilitation counselor? For that, you need to have an education background in psychology, education & training, therapy & counseling, and customer service to get a rehabilitation counselor salary.
To be successful at rehabilitation counselor jobs, you need to be reliable, responsible, sensitive, persistent, and honest. Your major skills include service orientation, in which you need to assist people in different ways.
Qualifications
Every career requires an element of study and academic qualification, and there can be several study routes and pathways you can take. In following any academic pathway you will study subjects that contribute to the specialised knowledge required to achieve your career goals. These qualifications provide a future employer with the evidence that you have the desired knowledge, understanding and experience of their industry, so it’s important to consider the various types of qualifications available to you and to understand how they can boost your career and create opportunities for you.
- B.A. Psychology
- B.Sc. Clinical Psychology
- M.A. Counselling Psychology
- M.Sc. Clinical Psychology
- PG Diploma Psychology
Tasks
- Monitor and record clients' progress to ensure that goals and objectives are met.
- Confer with clients to discuss their options and goals so that rehabilitation programs and plans for accessing needed services can be developed.
- Prepare and maintain records and case files, including documentation, such as clients' personal and eligibility information, services provided, narratives of client contacts, or relevant correspondence.
- Arrange for physical, mental, academic, vocational, and other evaluations to obtain information for assessing clients' needs and developing rehabilitation plans.
- Analyze information from interviews, educational and medical records, consultation with other professionals, and diagnostic evaluations to assess clients' abilities, needs, and eligibility for services.
- Develop rehabilitation plans that fit clients' aptitudes, education levels, physical abilities, and career goals.
- Maintain close contact with clients during job training and placements to resolve problems and evaluate placement adequacy.
- Develop and maintain relationships with community referral sources, such as schools or community groups.
- Locate barriers to client employment, such as inaccessible work sites, inflexible schedules, or transportation problems, and work with clients to develop strategies for overcoming these barriers.
- Arrange for on-site job coaching or assistive devices, such as specially equipped wheelchairs, to help clients adapt to work or school environments.
Progression Routes
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