Welcome
UT Southwestern’s Master of Rehabilitation Counseling Program provides world-class training in a field that transforms the lives of people with disabilities.
As you review potential rehabilitation counseling programs, keep these UT Southwestern advantages in mind:
- Our program combines academic, clinical, and research experiences for a comprehensive, well-rounded education.
- Our location on a large medical center campus offers outstanding opportunities within our hospitals, clinics, and academic community.
- We operate the University Rehabilitation Service, a rehabilitation assessment and counseling facility that provides a range of diagnostic and treatment services for people with disabilities. The URS is a powerful setting for learning and direct experience with clients.
- We also operate the Developmental Neuropsychology Service, providing outpatient assessment and evaluation of children and adolescents with brain injury and dysfunction. This service provides exceptional opportunities for clinical training.
- We’re affiliated with Dallas’ top hospitals, ranked among the best in the nation: Children's Medical Center Dallas, Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Parkland Health & Hospital System, and UT Southwestern University Hospitals.
- Our tuition and fee rates are among the most reasonable in the country.
- We’re located near the heart of Dallas, a thriving center for health care, business, education, and the arts.
As a rehabilitation counselor, you’ll help people build on their strengths and achieve new life goals. Prepare yourself for this rewarding career with an exceptional educational experience at UT Southwestern.
About Rehabilitation Counseling
Rehabilitation counseling blends the fulfilling specialties of psychology and rehabilitation into a profession that transforms lives. Rehabilitation counselors help people with physical, developmental, and emotional disabilities achieve personal, career, and independent-living goals in the most integrated way possible. They work in a wide variety of settings, including state and federal rehabilitation agencies, rehabilitation centers, employment services, sheltered workshops, prisons, hospitals, clinics, welfare offices, educational facilities, and private rehabilitation centers.
Rehabilitation counseling focuses on identifying strengths and resources that can empower people and help them achieve greater autonomy in life and work. The counseling process includes communication, goal setting, and encouragement of beneficial change through self-advocacy, psychological, vocational, social, and behavioral interventions.
Rehabilitation counselors are trained to understand their clients’ medical and psychological needs and often take a lead role in coordinating a range of integrated services. They use a variety of techniques and approaches, including assessment, diagnosis and treatment planning, counseling, case management, and advocacy. In many settings, counselors collaborate with other health services professionals, including psychiatrists and other physicians, physical therapists, prosthetists and orthotists, and dieticians.
Rehabilitation Counseling Today
According to 2008 data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 129,500 active rehabilitation counselors nationwide, and this number is expected to grow significantly. According to a 2009 survey by Salary.com, vocational rehabilitation counselors earn a median salary of $58,000 a year, while the top 25 percent of people earn $64,000 or more.
Outlook for Tomorrow
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that jobs for rehabilitation counselors will grow by 19 percent through 2018, significantly faster than the average for all occupations. Older people become injured and physically and mentally disabled at a higher rate than other age groups; so as the population ages, the need for rehabilitation counseling will rise.
Additional Information
Here are more resources for information about rehabilitation counseling.