About

Do you want to help people master the challenges of life? Are you interested in encouraging others to make positive changes in their lives?

Rehabilitation counselors are trained and committed to providing the help and support to master the challenges of life. With this degree, you will be able to help people maximize their potential and make life changes for the better. As a rehabilitation counselor, you will help people cope with personal and social accidents, or the stress of daily life. Rehabilitation counselors work toward increasing a person's capacity to live independently.

Clinical counselors help people who have mental health concerns such as mood disorders (depression, bipolar), thought disorders (schizophrenia) and situational life issues (family, relational, or vocational). As a clinical counselor, you would work toward increasing a person's coping skills, self-efficacy, and self-esteem. Career counselors help people make career decisions. They evaluate a person's abilities, interests and talents, to develop realistic career goals.

If you are interested in the fields of rehabilitation and mental health, you should explore these fields in greater depth prior to enrolling in any master's program.

ECU Advantage

The College of Allied Health Sciences is the largest university-based allied-health provider in the state of North Carolina. The college has eight departments, Addictions and Rehabilitation Studies, Biostatistics, Clinical Laboratory Science, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Health Services and Information Management, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Physician Assistant Studies, and offers degrees on the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels.


Delivering a comprehensive professional education that will prepare allied-health graduates to make a difference in the health of the region, state, and nation was the primary reason for the creation of the College of Allied Health Sciences and its departments. Fueled by the growth and aging of our population, the demand for these highly skilled specialists is expected to greatly increase as health care continues to be a priority for our citizens.

What You Will Study

Program Coordinator: Dominiquie Clemmons-James (4425-J Health Sciences Building; 252-744-6292; clemmonsjamesd21@ecu.edu)

The Rehabilitation Counseling, MS is a Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accredited program that generally takes a full-time student two years to complete. Graduates from the program are eligible for national certification as a rehabilitation counselor (CRC) by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification. Additionally, graduates are eligible for licensure as a clinical mental health counselor (LCMHC) by the North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors after two years of post-master's degree supervised counseling experience.  

The degree requires 62 s.h. as follows:

1. Required courses - 56 s.h.
  • ADRE 6000 - Medical and Psychosocial Aspects of Disability
  • ADRE 6010 - Introduction to Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6050 - Ethical and Legal Aspects in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6100 - Occupational Analysis and Career Counseling
  • ADRE 6250 - Diagnosis and Treatment of Mental and Emotional Disorders
  • ADRE 6300 - Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling Theories
  • ADRE 6310 - Prepracticum in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6340 - Human Growth and Development in Clinical, Addictions and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6350 - Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Group Counseling
  • ADRE 6351 - Personal Growth Group Lab
  • ADRE 6360 - Practicum in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6361 - Practicum in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling Lab
  • ADRE 6370 - Multicultural Issues in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6380 - Career Counseling in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6401 - Assessment in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6550 - Research in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6991 - Internship in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling *
    • Note:

    *The internship (ADRE 6991) must be repeated for a minimum of 12 s.h.

    2. Approved elective courses - 6 s.h.

    (Choose 6 s.h. from the following.)

    • ADRE 6375 - Military and Trauma Counseling
    • ADRE 6703 - Foundations of Addictions and Clinical Counseling
    • Other electives approved by program director
    • Other electives approved by program coordinator
    Personal experiential counseling requirements

    Students in the clinical counseling and rehabilitation counseling programs are required to participate in personal counseling and experiential activities. These include participation in a small personal growth group, a group counseling course, counseling pre-practicum and practicum courses, and an option of individual personal counseling by the student counseling center or from another mental health professional to meet part of an optional requirement in the counseling practicum course. All of these personal counseling experiences are oriented toward increasing personal and interpersonal growth of the student in order to become a competent professional clinical counselor.

      Retention standards

      Good academic standing in accordance with ECU Graduate School guidelines is required. 

      Students not maintaining the criteria above may be placed on academic probation in accordance with Graduate School policies.

      In addition, the program has the following specific regulations:

      Students receiving a grade of U or C or lower in more than six semester hours of required or elective courses will be dismissed from the program in accordance with departmental policies. 

      In courses graded on the S/U system, the grade of Unsatisfactory (U) is assigned when the equivalency of a C grade or lower is earned. If a student receives a U grade in a course, the student may repeat the course one time. If an S grade is not earned on the 2nd attempt, the student is dismissed from the program.

      • Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA in all required courses for the degree to graduate.
      • In courses graded on the S/U system, a minimum grade of "S" must be earned before progression to subsequent S/U graded courses; and
      • No more than six semester hours of U or C or lower grades in any required or elective courses for the degree.
        For more information about this degree visit the university's academic catalogs.
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