Rehabilitation Counselors/Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC)

• Students should take a college preparatory curriculum.
• During high school, being a peer counselor, tutor, or volunteer at a hospital or rehabilitation center would familiarize a person with people and disabilities.

• A Bachelor’s Degree must be earned and then a Master’s Degree for Certification as a counselor. A Bachelor’s Degree would allow one to work in the field but not counsel-not be certified or licensed.
• Suggested undergraduate majors are Vocational Rehabilitation, Vocational Rehabilitation with a Concentration in Special Education, or Rehabilitation Psychology.
• UW-Stout has a 124 credit, 4-year Vocational Rehabilitation major that between your Sophomore and Junior year you select a Concentration in either Community-Based Rehabilitation, Criminal Justice, Independent Living Rehabilitation, Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Recreational Rehabilitation, Rehabilitation Counseling, Rehabilitation Technology, Social Work OR as a Freshman select a 124-credit Vocational Rehabilitation major with a Concentration in Special Education…one would then do student teaching.
• The course work in the Vocational Rehabilitation Program combines relevant theory and basic information combined with practical, hands-on application. Students are able to work directly in rehabilitation settings to put into practice their newly acquired skills and to obtain a realistic experience working in rehabilitation.
• Students then apply for a Master’s program. A Bachelor’s Degree is required, but a specific major is not; however remember, admission into a program is competitive and they are looking for highly qualified students with relative coursework and experience.
• Various Master’s Degrees would lead to Certification in this field including Master of Arts OR Master of Science in either Rehabilitation Psychology, Rehabilitation Counseling, or Special Education.
• Master’s programs typically last 2 years and require an additional 600 hours in a supervised clinical internship.
• UW-Stout has a 2-year Master’s in Vocational Rehabilitation that has you choose a focus on Rehabilitation Leadership, Rehabilitation Counseling, School to Work Transition, or Vocational Evaluation.
• UW-Madison has both an undergraduate and graduate program in Rehabilitation Psychology and within that department a Concentration in Special Education. They emphasize that the graduate Master’s Degree is necessary for counseling AND Psychology focuses on counseling teens and adults while Special Education would work with children.

Educational Institutions

University of Wisconsin – Madison
University of Wisconsin – Stout

• Rehabilitation Counselors earn a Bachelor’s Degree and then most states require a Master’s Degree for certification and licensing.
• The Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) sets the criteria for becoming a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC)
• In Wisconsin and a number of other states one must receive a Professional Counselor certification and therefore be licensed through the state of employment.
• Certification (CRC) requires documenting various educational experiences (accepts both educational experience accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) and not) and work experiences. See CRCC website for various certification requirements.
• Initial certification lasts 5 years; must renew certification at 5-year intervals by documenting 100 clock hours of continuing education OR passing the examination.
• Associate degree holders can gain entry into the field as aides.

American Rehabilitation Counseling Association
4202 East Fowler Ave., EDU 105
Tampa, FL, 33620
813/974-0985
www.arcaweb.org

National Council on Rehabilitation Education
1099 E. Champlain Dr., Suite A, #137
Fresno, CA, 93720
559/906-0787
www.ncre.org/

National Rehabilitation Association (NRA)
PO Box 150235
Alexandria, VA, 22315
703/836-0850 or 888/258-4295
www.nationalrehab.org

National Rehabilitation Counseling Assoc.
P.O. Box 4480
Manassas, VA, 20108
703/361-2077
http://www.arcaweb.org/