Rehabilitation Counseling Emphasis

Masters emphasis in Rehabilitation homepage.

Rehabilitation Counseling Emphasis

Our mission is to prepare rehabilitation counselors with knowledge and skills to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. The Rehabilitation Counseling emphasis in the Counselor Education (M.Ed.) Master's Program is accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) and ranked 4th in the nation with faculty who have won national awards for their teaching, research and service to the profession. Through federal Rehabilitation Services Administration grants, we have been able to provide some funding (tuition and stipend for one year of study) to eligible students.

Rehabilitation counseling students who would like to graduate with a dual emphasis in Rehabilitation Counseling and Clinical Mental Health Counseling in Schools and Communities can take an additional 3 courses to meet this goal. Please contact the program coordinator or individual adviser to discuss the specific courses required.

Penn State also has a doctoral program in Counselor Education. Please review that webpage for more information about our doctoral program where students can complete a minor in rehabilitation counseling or other areas of interest (school counseling, mental health, multicultural counseling).

The purpose of this emphasis is to:

Provide didactic and clinical experiences that prepare students to implement a wide range of interventions to improve the functional, psychological, social and vocational outcomes for people with chronic illness, mental health and/or other disabling conditions (sensory disability, traumatic brain injury, amputation, substance abuse, developmental disability, physical disability).
Prepare students to be eligible to become Certified Rehabilitation Counselors, Licensed Professional Counselors, and Certified Addictions Counselors.

Provide students with the opportunity to specialize in a range of counseling settings (mental health, non-profit rehabilitation, state-federal vocational rehabilitation, veterans rehabilitation, private-for-profit rehabilitation, substance abuse/addictions, hospital, private practice, nursing homes/gerontology units, university disability services, and correctional rehabilitation).

Prepare counselors to develop effective advocacy skills and provide preventative and developmental strategies to address barriers in the physical and social environment that can limit the civil and human rights of their clients.

The curriculum requires a minimum of 51 credit hours. However students who are interested in obtaining a license in professional counseling (LPC) may take an additional 9 credits before or after graduation and can select the required courses with their academic adviser.

A well-rounded program is attained through emphasis on:

the holistic development of individuals with chronic illness, mental health and/or other disabling conditions with a primary focus on empowering individuals to select and implement life goals that are congruent with individual values, beliefs, and lifestyles.
understand the medical aspects of living with a range of chronic illness and disability, and the inter-relationship between physical and mental health that can influence case conceptualization, counseling goals, and selected interventions.

client assessment, planning, and service delivery that includes synthesis of all major areas of client information; rehabilitation plan development; knowledge of service delivery; identification of community resources; and vocational assessment.
exploration of the psychological, social, and cultural factors that can impact client outcomes and development of the multicultural clinical and advocacy skills needed to realize improved outcomes.
incorporating counseling theory, skills and techniques into experiential learning modes including role-playing and genuine counseling situations through practicum at the CEDAR Clinic and supervised internship in a counseling setting related to the student's primary interest area.

Frequently Asked Questions

Psychiatric Rehabilitation Option:

The psychiatric rehabilitation option is designed for students who would like to focus primarily on working with individuals with mental illness in community mental health settings, psychiatric rehabilitation programs, and within the state vocational rehabilitation program. This option requires the regular program content and two additional courses, RHS 401 (Community Mental Health Practice and Services) and PSYCH 470 (Abnormal Psychology) as part of the elective coursework.

Students who elect this option will also be required to do an internship serving clients with mental illness/psychiatric disability, as well as complete a related master's paper.  Students who complete the 60 credit option are eligible to become licensed professional counselors in addition to their certified rehabilitation counselor credential. This option is ideal for students who anticipate working with individuals who may have a combination of mental health and physical disability (e.g., veterans, adults with significant mental illness, others with long-term disability or chonic illness).

Students who took the elective courses as an undergraduate and achieved a grade of "B" or better may have this course requirement waived.

Coordinator:  Liza Conyers, Ph.D.,  302 CEDAR Building,  University Park, PA 16802  (814) 863-6115

Addictions Rehabilitation Option:

The addictions rehabilitation option is designed for students who would like to focus primarily on working with individuals with addiction disorders or as drug and alcohol specialists within the state vocational rehabilitation program. This option requires the regular program curriculum with two addictions courses included as part of the electives: Foundations of Addictions Counseling and an additional course related to addictions/substance abuse (CnEd 840, CnEd 420). Students who complete the 60 credit option are eligible to become licensed professional counselors in addition to their certified rehabilitation counselor credential. This option is ideal for students who anticipate working with individuals who may have a combination of addictions and other health concerns (e.g., veterans, adults with significant mental illness, others with long-term disability or chronic illness).

Students who elect this option will also be required to do an internship working with clients with substance abuse disorders, as well as complete a related master's paper.

Students who took the Foundations to Addictions Counseling course as an undergraduate and achieved a grade of “B” or better may have this course requirement waived. PSU students may also be able to combine their undergraduate addictions coursework with their MA level addictions coursework to graduate with an addictions counseling certificate.

Coordinator: Deirdre O’Sullivan, Ph.D., 312 CEDAR Building,  University Park, PA 16802  (814) 863-4594

Program Outcomes

The Rehabilitation Counseling emphasis area within Penn State University’s Counselor Education program is fully accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) through 2013 www.core-rehab.org. We admit a cohort of 8 to 12 rehabilitation counseling graduate students per year who begin the program each fall semester. Within the Counselor Education program we have 5 full-time tenure-track faculty members who specialize in rehabilitation counseling and teach courses in the CORE accredited curriculum. The instructor to student ratio is about 1:4. The current grade point average of the students in the program is 3.79.

For the 2010-2011 academic year, a total of 19 students graduated from the program. 100 percent of students passed their clinical coursework. During the period of 2008 to 2011, 93 percent of PSU’s graduates passed the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) exam www.crccertification.com and 90% of the graduates are employed or pursuing advanced academic degrees.

Fifty-seven percent of the students are from underrepresented groups, including people with disabilities. PSU has one current RSA training grant that generates a total of $76,000 each year in student support in the form of tuition and scholarships. The PA State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors accepts the CRC exam to become licensed as a Professional Counselor.

Rehabilitation Counseling Emphasis Coordinator
Liza Conyers, Ph.D.
302 CEDAR Building
University Park, PA 16802
(814) 863-6115