Program Overview

Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling (GRAD)

Overview

The Division of Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling (CRMH) in the Department of Health Sciences offers a unique and challenging 60+ credit master of science degree in clinical rehabilitation counseling.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree transcript from an accredited college or university
• A pre-admission interview with the program faculty
• Eligibility to meet student requirements to participate in clinical training
• Minimum TOEFL or IELTS scores as required by the UNC Graduate School for any non-native English-speaking applicant.
• Three letters of reference
• Personal statement/statement of purpose
• Responses to five supplemental questions

Master's Degree

The Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling program is a 60+ credit master’s degree. Graduates are eligible for national professional certification to become a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) or National Certified Counselor (NCC) and meet educational requirements for state license to practice counseling in many states (Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor or LCMHC in North Carolina).

Courses

Core Courses

Thesis/Substitute or Dissertation

• CRMH 992: Master's (Non-Thesis)
• CRMH 993: Master's Research and Thesis

Faculty

• Eileen J. Burker, Ph.D., C.R.C., Division Director: Quality of Life Associated with Heart and Lung Transplantation and Left Ventricular Device (LVAD) Surgery; Mental Health Aspects of Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation; Vocational Functioning in Individuals with Chronic Medical Conditions; Counseling Skills Development in Graduate Students in Counseling; Ethics in Counseling
• Dara Chan, Sc.D., C.R.C., Assistant Division Director, Admissions Chair: Career Counseling and Development for Adults with Developmental Disabilities; Community Participation and Integration of Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder; Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Measures; Spatial Analysis of Environmental Accessibility and Resource Use
• Eniko Rak, Ph.D., C.R.C, Program Coordinator-Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling Program: Life Transitions and Quality of Life Outcomes; Impact of Health Literacy and Self-Management Competencies on Well-Being; Professional Identity Development in Students in Counseling Programs
• Blaise Morrison, Ph.D., C.R.C, P.C.: Psychosocial Adjustment Counseling for Families Affected by Chronic Illness and Disability; Family Therapy Interventions for Adjusting to Life After TBI, Stroke, and SCI; Caregiver/CarePartner QOL; Interdisciplinary Psychosocial Research; Community Participation and Employment Outcomes in Individuals with Acquired Brain Injury; Psychiatric Rehabilitation; Family Functioning After Disability Onset
• Damaris Bates, PhD, LCMHCA, NCC: The Application of Critical Theories such as Disability Justice and Intersectionality to Enhance Counseling Praxis and Training Experiences; Foster Culturally and Disability-Affirming Spaces for QTBIPOC Clients with Disabilities; Cultivating a Social Justice-Based Counseling Training Curriculum
• Terra Rose, Psy.D., L.P., LCMHC-QS, Assistant Practicum and Internship Coordinator: Supervision and Counseling Skill Development of Graduate Students; Evidence-Based Treatments for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities and Substance Use Disorders, Quality of Life Associated with Organ Failure and Transplant
• Judy Schmidt, Ed.D., C.R.C., LCMHCA, Practicum and Internship Coordinator & Program Coordinator-Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program: Trauma Informed Care, Counselor Development and Training, Interprofessional Education and Practice in Counselor Training
• Scarlett Anthony, Ph.D.: Quality of Life Associated with Heart and Lung Transplantation and Left Ventricular (LVAD) Surgery; Behavioral and Lifestyle Risk Factors Among Cardiology Patients
• W. Leigh Atherton, Ph.D., LCMHCS, LCAS, CRC, CCS: Substance Abuse, Dual Diagnosis and Motivational Interviewing
• Brianne Tomaszweski, PhD: Specializing in Examining and Promoting Functional Outcomes for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities
• Katie Tompkins, M.S., C.R.C., LCMHC: Co-Occurring Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Psychiatric Disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Mission of the Division

The mission of the Division of Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling (the “division”) is to serve the people of North Carolina by educating clinical rehabilitation counselors (“CRCs”) and clinical mental health counselors (“CMHCs”) with the knowledge and expertise to serve the state’s citizens with mental, behavioral, or neurodevelopmental disorders with an emphasis on those citizens who have psychiatric and/or developmental disabilities.

Mission of the M.S. in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling Program

The mission of the Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling master’s program at UNC is to develop professional counselors who have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to provide state-of-the-art services to culturally diverse individuals with physical, psychiatric, developmental, and/or intellectual disabilities in diverse settings.

Objectives of the M.S. in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling Program

Graduates of the CRC Master’s Program will:

1. Learn and effectively apply current best practices in rehabilitation counseling within the continuum of care using a community-inclusion model.
2. Accurately assess the rehabilitation counseling needs of people with disabilities and work in partnership with consumers, families, and affiliated agencies to provide the most appropriate rehabilitation services and supports needed.
3. Acquire specific knowledge and skills to address the counseling and case management needs of people with disabilities with an emphasis on strategies and techniques for serving people with psychiatric and/or developmental disabilities; this includes assessing the impact of crisis and trauma, the impacts of biological and neurological mechanisms, and the effects of co-occurring disabilities.
4. Demonstrate multicultural and social justice counseling competencies, including cultural humility practices.
5. Work collaboratively with professionals as members of an interdisciplinary treatment team, family members, community providers, employers, and agency policy and decision makers to achieve optimal rehabilitation outcomes for people with disabilities.
6. Engage in a process of lifelong learning, collaboration, collegiality, and ethical relationships as part of ongoing professional development as CRCs.
7. Have the necessary leadership, business and management, and public policy skills to assume leadership roles; and
8. Promote and support consumer empowerment and self-advocacy, with a focus on inclusion and removal of environmental, attitudinal, and individual barriers for individuals with disabilities.