What is Rehabilitation Psychology? About two years ago, I asked this question myself while selecting an elective course to complete my undergraduate psychology degree at Pitt. At the time, my heart was set on becoming a mental health counselor, and I didn’t understand how “rehabilitation” could factor into counseling and therapy. Nevertheless, this course in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS) broadened my interests by providing a well-informed, holistic and functional approach to counseling and mental health.
Rehabilitation Psychology refers to the mental health experiences of individuals with a wide array of disabilities or chronic illnesses. These could be acquired or congenital, visible or invisible to others. The course is cross listed by both the Department of Psychology and SHRS, which offered me an introduction to the school as a psychology major. It was led by an instructor in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program of SHRS—Caitlin Trabert—and included several guest lectures from other Counseling faculty members. As a prospective student of the Counseling program, I was able to absorb information from many of my future teachers while finishing my undergraduate psychology degree. These Associate Professors Michelle Schein, Jamie Kulzer, Michael Pramuka, and Laura Dietz, to name a few. I entered the Counseling program recognizing their faces and names, which made the transition to graduate school significantly less nerve-wracking.
Throughout the course, we discussed important concepts relating to models of disability, the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), building client rapport and adjustment to disability. I am currently in the fourth semester of the Counseling graduate program and frequently use the ICF model to conceptualize individuals with medical disabilities in class. I primarily operate from a social model of disability, which identifies systemic barriers and social stigma as primary obstacles which prevent people with disabilities from reaching their desired levels of functioning. The course also made me cognizant of how the physical office space can impact the relationship I build with a client. Is my office accessible? Does it feel comfortable and safe in terms of the lighting, temperature, sound and smell? These are a few of many takeaways from this course which have set me up for success in the Counseling program.
As I predicted two years ago, my focus on mental health symptoms and diagnoses has remained a primary interest for me. At my internship site, I work with young adults managing anxiety and depression in a private practice setting. I have also been exploring neurodivergence (autism and ADHD) with clients who never received a diagnosis nor understood their brain-type throughout childhood. Although I have maintained my focus on mental health, a fundamental takeaway from the Rehabilitation Psychology undergraduate course and the Counseling program is the importance of an individual’s adjustment to their disability. What happens when a client who is already struggling to manage their depression returns to you next session with a newly diagnosed autoimmune condition? How do you respond when your client, who is recovering from the trauma of emotional manipulation and abuse, finally speaks up about their chronic back pain? These individuals are much more than the mental health diagnoses we assign them. They are people with physical, cognitive and emotional experiences which cannot be viewed in isolation, and it is often the counselor’s job to help make sense of these issues.
Considering the high rates of disability and disease within the United States, these are not concerns we can turn a blind eye to when working in the mental health field. Because of this, the Counseling program infuses rehabilitation concepts and principles throughout the curriculum. I have enjoyed my time in the graduate program because of the curriculum, as well as the support and care I receive as a student. At my internship site and in the classroom, I have been given abundant room to grow and work toward becoming a professional counselor. What I love about this work is that there is no endpoint to that journey. We are constantly learning new interventions, new modalities and best practices for conceptualizing the complex human beings we work with.
If you are a prospective student of any SHRS program and would like to learn a well-rounded approach to the issues our clients and patients face, I would highly recommend enrolling in the Rehabilitation Psychology course. I have been speaking from a counseling perspective, but I believe the course is also beneficial to students interested in any field of rehabilitation science (physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, nutrition, athletic training, physician assistant studies and others). While our professions focus on different aspects of what encompasses the person, we must also account for the whole picture. I am thrilled to be receiving my degree from a program that values integration, holistic care and the connection of mind and body in the counseling profession.
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Bridget Hogue (she/her/hers) is a second-year graduate student in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at SHRS. Hogue received her Bachelor of Science in psychology from Pitt in 2021 and is expected to graduate with a Master of Science from the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program in the spring of 2023. She is currently an intern at Elliot Counseling LLC—a private practice which specializes in neurodivergence, LGBTQIA+ issues and trauma.
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Published December 22, 2022