Rehabilitation Counseling is a helping profession that provides services to economically and socially disadvantaged people who have physical, emotional, and/or intellectual disabilities. Rehabilitation Counselors help people with disabilities gain satisfying employment, consistent with their interests, and within their limitations. Cal State LA graduates in Rehabilitation Counseling obtain outstanding career employment in a diversity of human services settings.
As graduates from the Master of Science degree in Counseling, Option in Rehabilitation Counseling, one may find work as:

• Rehabilitation Counselor
• Career or Vocational Counselor
• College Career Planning Counselor
• College Instructor
• Disabled Student Services Coordinator
• Expert Witness for Social Security, Marriage Dissolution, Personal Injury, and/or Wrongful Death Cases
• Employment Officers for Veterans Affairs
• Grant Administrator
• Rehabilitation Student Coordinator
• Rehabilitation Agency Director

Program Outcomes
Students will:

• Learn about current issues, practices, and directions in rehabilitation counseling and the ability to inquire into these.
• Develop knowledge and skills in educational research; develop analysis and reflection skills and written and oral communication.
• Identify and analyze topics of importance in current educational conversations and debates for critical issues related to counseling.
• Enhance commitment to the profession.
• Increase their confidence to serve the community with disabilities.
• Improve their ability to manage and assess clients’ needs and rehabilitation potential.
• Augment the capacity to think reflectively about their ability to serve as rehabilitation counselors.
• Increase capacity to become an agent of change in the field of rehabilitation

CORE Standard A.5
as of September 2013

1. Student retention rate to include the number of students who enroll and graduate each year for a three-year period.

   Student Retention

   	Students Accepted	Students Graduated
   2010-2011	24	28
   2011-2012	24	19
   2012-2013	24	22

2. Average time necessary to complete the program.
   Eight quarters.
3. Estimated cost of program attendance
   ~$25,000 for the entire program.
4. Available scholarships
   CSULA offers on-campus and off-campus scholarships. Students are directed to two resources: (a) Charter College of Education Scholarships and (b) University Center for Student Aid and Scholarships
5. Employment rate of graduates within the first six months following graduation
   85% to 90% for each year
6. Employment settings where graduates work (examples)

    

    

    

   1. Public agencies (e.g., Department of Rehabilitation, Department of Veterans Affairs, LA Metro, regional centers, mental health facilities, community rehabilitation agencies)
   2. Private non-profit agencies (e.g., Goodwill Industries, Easter Seals, Asian Pacific Counseling Center, Jewish Vocational Services, LA Gay and Lesbian Center, substance abuse facilities, crises and abuse centers)
   3. Private for-profit agencies (e.g., CIGNA Insurance, UNUM Insurance, Choices Vocational Rehabilitation)
   4. Colleges and universities (e.g., CSU-Los Angeles, East Los Angeles College, Pasadena City College, Glendale College, Mt. San Antonio College, LACC, Rio Hondo College, CSU-Long Beach, LA Trade-Technical College)
7. Eligibility for licensure by program graduates
   LPCC has nine core content areas. CSULA RCEP requires eight of the nine core content areas. For LPCC Core Content Area 7 (principles of the diagnostic process), the Program is currently developing a course as an elective that can be taken to satisfy this area. Students interested in courses or hours not available at CSULA are directed to Interworks at San Diego State University and/or similar programs.
8. Passing rates for a comprehensive measure of student learning the program uses to assess student learning across all CORE knowledge domains covered in the standards.
   Students either take the Comprehensive Examination or write a thesis/project. The vast majority of our students take the exam. We have an 85% passing rate the first time students take the exam. If they do not pass, they are given a second chance to pass the exam.

Mission Statement

MS in Rehabilitation Counseling Program

The mission of the Rehabilitation Counseling Program is to recruit and train individuals from a remarkably diverse urban center to become rehabilitation counselors who work in a variety of employment settings. The Program serves the community by preparing counselors and administrators to become leaders and work in partnership with individuals who have disabilities to maximize their personal and professional potential.

MS in Rehabilitation Counseling Objectives

1. Recruit applicants from a remarkably multicultural, multilingual urban center, who have a variety of experiences and skills, including students with disabilities.
   1. Distribute program brochures via mail, e-mail, and our website
   2. Present on the program to relevant organizations, agencies, classes at CSULA, and other colleges and universities
   3. Networking with employers at practica and internship sites

2. Retain enrolled students through graduation.
   1. Encourage to join the student Rehabilitation Counseling Association and other rehabilitation-related state and national organizations to further develop their professional identity
   2. Provide accurate, timely, and effective advisement throughout the academic year
   3. Collaborate with Student Financial Aid and funding from outside sources (RSA and private grants)
   4. Help students remedy academic difficulties

3. Deliver the CORE-accredited curriculum in rehabilitation counseling.
   1. Students will promote the dignity and worth of all individuals, and advocate for people with disabilities so that they receive maximum benefit and equitable treatment in society (C.1)
   2. Students will recognize the richness and uniqueness of socially and culturally diverse populations, providing equitable services to all individuals (C.2)
   3. Students will be able to recognize consumers’ strengths and capabilities throughout their lifespan, and assist them to maximize their potential (C.3)
   4. Students will establish their knowledge and expertise in the world of work, and the vocational implications of disability, including the knowledge to assist with issues of accommodation and accessibility (C.4)
   5. Students will develop effective individual and group counseling strategies, interviewing and consultation skills, and sensitivity in working with consumers (C.5, C.6)
   6. Students will learn evaluation techniques necessary for case conceptualization and intervention targeting (C.7)
   7. Students will apply empirically-supported interventions to practice and program development, and appropriately evaluate the effectiveness of these activities (C.8)
   8. Students will become expert in medical and psychosocial aspects of disability and functioning (C.9)
   9. Students will obtain practical experiences in working with people with disabilities in community, public, private sector agencies, and colleges and universities within an urban environment (C.10)

4. Graduate and place 100% of enrolled students.
   1. Encourage students to select employment in the public sector (e.g., vocational rehabilitation, Veterans Administration); facilitate placement in private not-for-profit and for profit agencies
   2. Student development counseling graduates find disability-related employment in higher education
   3. Transition services graduates will assume positions within state-federal vocational rehabilitation system, in collaboration with the secondary education system

Program Faculty

As part of the Rehabilitation Counseling Program, students receive individual advisement and instruction from expert faculty members who combine extensive classroom-teaching experience, research, and pre-service and in-service development in the area of rehabilitation counseling. For more information regarding rehabilitation counseling, contact:
Martin G. Brodwin, Ph.D., C.R.C.
/sites/default/files/faculty/mbrodwi/

Heidi Paul, Ph.D., C.R.C.
/sites/default/files/faculty/hpaul/_

David B. Peterson, Ph.D., C.R.C.
/sites/default/files/faculty/dpeters3/_

Frances W. Siu, Ph.D., C.R.C.
/sites/default/files/faculty/fsiu/_

Application to the Program
Click HERE to find out how to apply to the program.

Program Description
Click on the LINK to learn what types of classes you’ll be taking as part of the Rehabilitation Counseling.