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Rehabilitation Counselor
Helps people with disabilities or addictions regain independence and enter the workforce.
Did you know?
In 1977 disability activists occupied a US federal building in San Francisco for 25 days until new disability rights rules were signed.
How subjects help
- Psychology: Help someone rebuild confidence after an injury, illness or addiction.
- Sociology: Tackle unfair attitudes that stop disabled people from getting hired.
- Biology: Understand how a condition affects someone's body and which kinds of work suit it.
- Communication: Talk with employers about changes that let a person do the job well.
A famous name
Howard A. Rusk: Doctor seen as the founder of rehabilitation medicine, helping injured people return to work and life.
Try it yourself: Practise listening the SHUSH way
- Ask your partner to talk for three minutes about something ordinary and happy, like the best day they've had this year.
- Listen the SHUSH way: Show you care (phone away, look at them), Have patience, Use open questions ("Tell me more"), Say it back to check you understood, and Have courage to let a silence happen.
- Don't interrupt or offer a solution: just listen.
- Swap roles. If there is a third person, they watch and say which SHUSH tip they saw each of you use.
Social workers, counsellors and mediators spend much of their day listening carefully like this, so people feel heard before anyone talks about what happens next.
Adapted from Samaritans: DEAL: developing listening skills (SHUSH listening tips).
Also try: Test your balance like a physio.
Known for it in
USA, Australia, UK, Canada, Sweden