|
To succeed in graduate programs within the Department
of Rehabilitation Counseling, it is important not only
to succeed in academic courses, but to learn from experience
as well. Success requires an ability to learn independently,
think critically and integrate ideas, rather than just
memorizing facts. Similarly, students in our programs
must be able to learn from their clinical experiences
and respond effectively to supervisory feedback.
In addition to the basic skills necessary for success
in a graduate program, it is important for prospective
student to be aware of other skills needed to be an
effective counselor. As described in the U.S.
Department of Labor’s O*NET OnLine,
the following skills and abilities are necessary.
Skills
Active listening – Giving full attention to
what other people are saying, taking time to understand
the points being made, asking questions as appropriate
and not interrupting at inappropriate times
Social perceptiveness – Being aware of others’ reactions
and understanding why they react as they do
Critical thinking – Using logic and reasoning
to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative
solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems
Service orientation – Actively looking for ways
to help people
Active learning – Understanding the implications
of new information for both current and future problem
solving and decision making
Learning strategies – Selecting and using training/instructional
methods and procedures appropriate for the situation
when learning or teaching new things
Speaking – Talking to others to convey information
effectively
Time management – Managing one’s own time
and the time of others
Reading comprehension – Understanding written
sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents
Monitoring – Monitoring/assessing performance
of yourself, other individuals or organizations to
make improvements or take corrective action
Abilities
Oral expression – The ability to communicate
information and ideas in speaking so others will understand
Oral comprehension – The ability to listen to
and understand information and ideas presented through
spoken words and sentences
Problem sensitivity – The ability to tell when
something is wrong or is likely to go wrong; it does
not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there
is a problem
Speech clarity – The ability to speak clearly
so others can understand you
Inductive reasoning – The ability to combine
pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions
(includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated
events)
Deductive reasoning – The ability to apply general
rules to specific problems to produce answers that
make sense
Speech recognition – The ability to identify
and understand the speech of another person
Written comprehension – The ability to read
and understand information and ideas presented in writing
Written expression – The ability to communicate
information and ideas in writing so others will understand
Near vision – The ability to see details at
close range (within a few feet of the observer)
Note: For some of these skills and abilities, reasonable
accommodations may be used to enable people with disabilities
to achieve them. For example, a deaf counselor may
actively “listen” through the use of sign
language; a person who is blind may use assistive technology
to “see” written details.
|
