Psychiatric rehabilitation training needs of state vocational rehabilitation counselors: A preliminary study

Previous studies indicated that the increasing demand and complexity for rehabilitation counselors in serving people with psychiatric disability may not reflect an adequate training in this area. This study investigated the training needs of vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors with a psychiatric caseload from a midwestern state VR agency. Forty-eight state VR counselors completed an inventory on the training needs serving this population. Forty-six percent of area/item was identified as poorly met training needs, particularly in case and caseload management in psychiatric rehabilitation and principles and techniques of psychiatric rehabilitation. The results of this preliminary study implied that the state VR program in this state agency need more in-service training and that traditional rehabilitation counseling training programs may not prepare students in this area adequately. Continuous in-service training and strengthening of the education curriculum in this area are likely to improve the services provided as well as the competency of students.