Virginia Commonwealth University - Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling Master's Program

One of the first rehabilitation counseling programs in the U.S. when established in 1955, VCU now ranks 4th among masters level rehabilitation counseling training programs in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report. As one of the largest rehabilitation and mental health counseling graduate programs in the country, we currently serve around 100 on-campus students and a growing number of distance-learning students, with faculty based in our own department. Over 3,000 alumni of the program currently practice in nearly every state in the country, as well as internationally.

Our 60 credit Master of Science in Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling program is fully accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and those graduates are immediately eligible for certification as Certified Rehabilitation Counselors, and following residency, for License Professional Counselor status. The Advanced Certificate in Professional Counseling program is designed to meet the needs of counseling professionals with masters degrees from other universities who wish to become licensed professional counselors or those who seek certification in a variety of specialty areas, such as vocational evaluation, life-care planning, and mental health or addiction counseling, among others. Our distance-learning Ph.D. in Health Related Sciences, with an emphasis in rehabilitation leadership, is designed to train and mentor future rehabilitation researchers, educators or high-level administrators.

We take pride in offering excellent training programs that are flexible enough to meet the needs of a diverse student body. Both full-time and part-time study options are available to students enrolled in our programs; students who are accepted into the Master's or Certificate programs may take online or on-campus courses, or they may combine the two options. Note, however, that the distance-learning program does require students to attend two courses on campus, in order to receive in-person instruction and feedback to develop effective counseling skills. Those two courses, RHAB 612 Group Counseling and RHAB 691 Counseling Techniques, are each offered in a one-week intensive “boot camp” format, as well as in the traditional weekly meeting format.