A Day in the Life of a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor

A rehabilitation counselor's job starts with an initial interview to assess the client's goals, work interests, limitations and need for services:

• What medical care or assistive devices do they need?
• What are their career goals, and how can they be achieved given the capabilities and limitations of the individual client?
• How can the client best integrate with the community?
• Will the family or employer of the client need to be advised on how to assist with the client's adjustment?

These are the types of questions that a certified rehabilitation counselor must work with the client to answer. Ultimately, the information is used to create an individualized rehabilitation plan.

Over the course of their relationship with clients, rehabilitation counselors maintain records of each individual's case, including the services provided to the client, correspondence, medical and educational records, and any other relevant information. They stay abreast of their clients' progress through regular appointments, making sure that their goals are being met and that they are receiving the services they need. Certified rehabilitation counselors may also provide career counseling, group counseling and job placement assistance.

Being a rehabilitation counselor involves other job duties besides meeting with clients. Over the course of a given day, there will be several other obligations, including the following:

• Administrative tasks to complete, such as organizing physical or mental evaluations
• Consulting with other professionals
• Arranging for assistive devices
• Preparing reports and providing referrals
• Interacting with clients and other professionals face-to-face and over the phone
• Work with electronic records, medical software and common office software

Depending on whether the counselor works for a government program such as the Veterans Administration, a residential care facility, a school, or some other workplace, there may be additional job duties particular to that context.

At the end of the day, a successful career in rehabilitation counseling depends not only on the above skills, but also on a solid education, whether the degree is earned in person or online. Rehabilitation counseling master degrees accredited by the Council of Rehabilitation Education are a necessary step in order to be eligible for the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor designation.
_{Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011; coe.hawaii.edu; michigan.gov/documents/RehabilitiationCounselor_13092_7.pdf}