UMF’s Rehabilitation Services Degree- What You Need To Know!

The Rehabilitation Services degree offered at the University of Maine at Farmington is a hands on human service degree aimed for those individuals who wish to help people with at-risk conditions to function in their daily living, learning and working environments. If you have a passion for helping others in any population, this degree will help prepare you to make a huge difference in the lives of those in need. (Retrieved from http://www2.umf.maine.edu/advising/about/explore-majors-at-umf/rehabilitation-services/)

After fulfilling the 56 credit hour major requirements and three program electives, you will have a greater understanding of the field of human services, the helping relationship, and counselor characteristics. Students who complete the required courses listed here will receive a Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Services.  

Along with this degree, students have an opportunity to get their Mental Health Rehabilitation Technician (MHRT/Community) Certification. The courses that are required to be eligible for this certificate are:

  • REH 249 Psychosocial Rehabilitation
  • REH 270 Vocational Counseling and Placement
  • REH 320 Addiction Rehabilitation
  • REH 420 Trauma and Resiliency

For more information about this certificate, click here.

So what exactly can you do with a Rehabilitation Services degree? Here are some jobs that UMF graduates have obtained with this major:

Licensed Social Worker: these professionals help people with a broad range of issues, including psychological, financial, health, relationship, and substance abuse problems. As well, they help to improve the lives of others and society together.

Guidance Counselor: their duties are to work with students and parents to help guide students through their transition of academics, behaviors, and growth. Guidance counselors can work in elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools.

Occupational Therapist: these professionals help to improve the lives of individuals with their daily life skills. These individuals may have physical, social, mental, or developmental disabilities.

Substance Abuse Counselor: their duties are to work with individuals who may have a dependency on drugs or alcohol and to help them overcome the addiction by seeking a treatment plan. As well, substance abuse counselors get their clients back into a healthier transition and obtain goals they wish to pursue after treatment.

If you have a passion for working with individuals, and want to give back to those in need, then the degree Rehabilitation Services would be a great fit for you! To learn about more information about this degree, and all other minor requirements and certificates offered, visit the Rehabilitation Services page as well as the Course Catalog!

Addiction Certification: Not Just for Rehab Majors

One of the best things about college is that you get to choose classes and topics that interest you, even if they are not part of your declared major! Did you know that UMF offers specialized certification programs that allow students to take a set of classes designed to target a specific field, interest, or topic? The certification programs are not majors, and they are not minors- they are simply a set of courses put together and designed to prepare students going into various fields by giving them knowledge and skills outside of the courses that align with their major. UMF offers Addiction Rehabilitation, Alpine Operations, and English Language Learners (ELL) certifications.

These certification programs are offered to all majors, even with no prior background. Brittany Jerome is a junior at UMF majoring in Early Childhood Special Education while also enrolled in the Addiction Rehabilitation certification program. She has been able to make strong connections between the two fields, as many of her peers have as well. “I never took a rehab class before enrolling in this certification, and I did not feel as though I was behind my classmates,” said Brittany. “These classes include students from a wide range of majors, as many of the classes contain content that is applicable to a variety of majors. The professors understand that not everyone in these classes have the same prior knowledge, so they are really good about including information that non-rehab majors might not know. I have taken classes with students majoring in rehab, education, health, psychology, ORBA, and many more!” 

When asked why she has interest in the addiction field, Brittany touched upon the rapid growth of addiction across the nation. “Addiction is spreading, very quickly. Today, almost everyone you meet has been affected by addiction in some way. While working with young children and their families I will come across families where parents, siblings, and other family members may be struggling with addiction, and it affects the whole family. The applied knowledge of addiction and how it can affect families will give me a better understanding and insight into what the family as a whole struggles with, so that I can better help the family meet their needs.”

This program includes classes about substance abuse prevention and addiction, families in rehabilitation, counseling and the helping relationship, child and family psychology, and more! Some of them are health classes, rehabilitation classes, and psychology classes. For a complete list of the courses included in the Addiction Rehabilitation certification, click here

The classes that are included in this certification have been selected and designed to give students the knowledge and competencies needed in order to take the exam to become a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC) in the state of Maine. More information about the CADC requirements is available here.

This certification program can expose students to various career paths that they had not thought of before that allow them to apply the knowledge they learn in these classes with that of the classes in their major. This was Brittany’s experience, as she was not exactly sure what she wanted to do until recently. “I always knew I wanted to work with babies and young children born with various physical, cognitive, and functional impairments- but I did not want to be a teacher,” Brittany said. “I personally have an interest in working with infants and children born with various mental health needs as well as with parents struggling with their own mental health. I can help parents understand their child’s needs and how to cope with their own struggles as they transition into parenthood. As addiction is a growing epidemic, I will most likely be working with families that struggle with addiction and co-occurring disorders, and even babies born with addiction. This certification program allows me to apply my early childhood special education knowledge with my addiction counseling knowledge in order to make me a more appealing and qualified candidate.”

Are you interested in the topic of addiction counseling, but do not think it will apply to your career goals? Think again! The courses in this certification program are applicable to anyone who wants to work with the public, especially in the human services field. Even if you do not have interest in being an addiction counselor, you still learn a lot about addiction in general, families, co-occurring disorders, the helping relationship- so much more. “Since addiction is such a growing issue, it is almost inevitable that you will end up working with someone who has been affected by addiction,” said Brittany. “Addiction does not discriminate, so I think anyone can find a way to apply it to their current field of interest.”

The certification programs offered at UMF are designed to enhance the knowledge, skills, and competencies of pre-professionals in various areas and disciplines before entering the field. The additional education that students in these programs receive make them a more qualified and appealing candidate, and may be the deciding factor for employers when comparing UMF graduates with other applicants. For more information about the various certification programs offered at UMF, visit the Certificates website.

 

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