Rehabilitation Counselors
Community and Social Service
Clients may be dealing with illness, injury, a birth condition, aging, or daily strain; the aim is independence and work. Counselors review interviews, school and medical records, and other evaluations, then write plans that fit abilities, education, and career aims. That can mean tackling barriers such as inaccessible workplaces or transport problems, contacting employers, placing clients in jobs, and checking whether placements hold. Families often help carry out behavioral, housing, social, or employment goals, and contacts go into detailed case files. The work suits people who like practical problem-solving, careful tracking, and talking with both clients and employers.
Typical education: Bachelor’s Degree (4-year)
Annual Median Wage in Field (2025)
$46'850
Median Wage Market Position
$46'850
What you might do
- Talk with clients about goals and service options
- Build rehabilitation plans that fit abilities and career goals
- Help clients get around barriers to work
- Contact employers and place clients in jobs
- Review records and evaluations to assess client needs
- Keep case files on services and client progress
Skills that matter
- Listening for work barriers and goals
- Keeping eligibility files and contact notes
- Fitting rehab plans to aptitude and education
- Walking clients through service options
- Checking progress against rehab goals
- Placing clients and following up with employers
AI & the future of this role
Trust-building and tailored rehab planning with clients remain hard to automate. Scheduling and benefits research may lean more on software, yet hands-on coaching and judgment about work readiness still tend to matter.
Does Rehabilitation Counselors fit your values?
Take the free LostInCareer assessment to see personalized matches based on your core values—not just a personality label.
Related careers
Includes O*NET® 30.3 Database information by USDOL/ETA under CC BY 4.0; modified by LostInCareer. Wage/outlook from BLS. Attribution details