Master of Science in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling
Program Overview
The mission of the Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling Program is to prepare students for careers in a variety of counseling settings, with the primary goal of acquiring and applying the specialized knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed to collaborate in a professional relationship with people who have disabilities to achieve their personal, social, psychological, and vocational goals.
What is a Clinical Rehabilitation Counselor?
A clinical rehabilitation counselor is a clinically trained, master’s-level counselor who has specialized training and knowledge to assist all people but can also use their unique lens to assist people with disabilities to reach their goals and to live as independently as they wish. Some people are born with disabilities, and some acquire them during their life.
Client Population
Disability is defined widely and includes individuals with physical disabilities (e.g. spinal cord injuries, sensory disabilities like blindness or deafness), intellectual and developmental disabilities (e.g. Down Syndrome, autism, intellectual impairments), emotional or psychiatric disabilities (e.g. depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders or schizophrenia) and chronic illness (e.g. diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cancer, drug and/or alcohol addiction).
Clinical rehabilitation counselors work with clients from all age groups and a wide range of backgrounds, such as:
- students transitioning in the exit of high school
- veterans with acquired disabilities
- a long time employee who is injured at work
- an individual with autism looking to join the workforce
Why Choose Scranton?
- Evening courses allow students to work in the field as they complete their degree. In-person classes are a chance to step away from life's distractions and focus solely on learning.
- The David W. Hall Counselor Training Center provides the students with state of the art video-capture technology to record counseling sessions to get hands-on supervision.
- All courses are taught by accomplished teachers and scholars currently engaged in research and scholarly work. Our faculty have leadership experience at state and national levels.
- Teaching rooted in Jesuit values like cura personalis (care of the whole person). For more information, please read our "Counseling and Human Services Perspective on Jesuit Education."
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Our program is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report.
Where Can I Work With This Master's Degree?
Clinical rehabilitation counselors work in many different settings. Some of the most common work environments include:
- community rehabilitation services centers
- government facilities (Veterans Administration and Hospitals)
- rehabilitation hospitals
- schools
- state/federal vocational rehabilitation programs
- behavioral health
- higher education disability services
- drug & alcohol treatment centers
- workers compensation insurance companies
- state/federal correctional facilities.
The exact environment you can expect to work within will likely depend on the kind of clients with whom you work. Some people work in the field for a while acquire their license as a professional counselor and open a private practice.
How Can This Degree Help Me As A Professional Counselor?
Because clinical rehabilitation counselors are trained as counselors and are prepared to be eligible for licensure as a professional counselor – you are able to do all jobs related to master’s level counseling. The additional benefits of THIS degree is that you would have an additional knowledge and skill set that would allow you to help your clients with issues related to disabilities (examples might include psychosocial adjustment, advocacy and knowledge of laws and polices, vocational strategies and support, benefits and other resources, etc.). Many clients in counseling settings are also coping with physical, mental, intellectual disabilities or addictions.
The average starting salary of our recent graduates is $52,000, and research shows that Rehabilitation Counselors make the highest salaries among all counseling professions.
