A Vision for Rehabilitation Counseling: Appreciative Inquiry Through the Eyes of Our Legacy Leaders

Abstract

Rehabilitation counseling (RC), which grew out of vocational rehabilitation legislation in 1920, has quietly developed and expanded its range of services for people with disabilities. As a smaller specialty of counseling, RC has faced challenges to being recognized and valued for its diverse expertise within the counseling field, as well as the broader social service and allied health fields. With a changing landscape of accreditation, state licensing, and service reimbursement requirements, there is now a need for guidance, leadership, and collaborative planning to preserve the vitality of the profession. The purpose of this project was to capture the positive history of the profession through its leaders, utilizing an appreciative inquiry framework, to become more aware of strengths and opportunities, to begin drafting a blueprint for the future of RC. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 leaders in rehabilitation counselor education and research. Four main themes emerged: (a) formative influences, (b) threats, (c) current assets, and (d) future direction. Focusing on the influence of threats to the RC profession, a solution-focused response model is presented toward a vision of the future of RC practice, education, and research.

Contemplating Consolidation: Acting on a Decades Old Call to Survey Professionals in the Discipline

“…The debate over consolidation has continued in the literature since the special issue (Benshoff et al, 2008;Emener & Cottone, 1989;Field & Emener, 1982;Irons, 1989;Leahy et al, 2011;Leahy & Tarvydas, 2001;McCarthy, 2020;Nerlich et al, 2022;Patterson, 2009;Peterson et al, 2006). In fact, at the turn of the century, ARCA and NRCA appeared like they would consolidate into one professional association representing rehabilitation counselors from all the practice settings (Leahy et al, 2011;Leahy & Tarvydas, 2001).…”

“…We hope this data will support a move from a seemingly endless debate to action, regardless of what that action might be. As the past four decades have illustrated, failing to act holds at least as many risks as action, and indecision can be a highly consequential decision (Davis, 2012;Emener, 1981;Nerlich et al, 2022).…”

Addressing the Sticky Issue of How to Consolidate Rehabilitation Counseling Professional Associations

“…A brief historical review is necessary to fully capture the significance of the current study, and the reader is directed to the prologue of this special issue for a more complete discussion. The issue of consolidation is well documented in the rehabilitation literature with articles spanning several decades (Benshoff et al, 2008;Emener & Cottone, 1989;Field & Emener, 1981;Irons, 1989;Leahy et al, 2011;Leahy & Tarvydas, 2001;McCarthy, 2020;Nerlich, Landon, et al, 2022;Patterson, 2009;Peterson et al, 2006;Rasch, 1979;Salomone, 1972). In the 1990s for nearly ten years, the Alliance for Rehabilitation Counseling appeared to represent a successful attempt at consolidation, but ultimately, efforts failed, and the organization dissolved (Leahy, 2009;Leahy et al, 1994Leahy et al, , 2011.…”