By Alyssa Rupp —
Ranked ninth in the nation among the best rehabilitation counseling programs by US News and World Report, University of Wisconsin–Stout’s rehabilitation counseling program is unique to all of its students and staff. Dr. DeLeana Strohl is the director of the online graduate program and is quick to note what the ranking means to everyone involved.
“It’s a verification that what we do is recognized,” Strohl said. “It verifies that the quality and the consistent rigor we like to focus on in terms of the curriculum is meaningful.”
The master’s program has been around since the mid-70’s, and in 2002 an online version was developed. Recently, the online program was also recognized nationally as the 13th best online counseling program out of all online counseling programs.
“Our curriculum is tied into accreditation and the demands of the profession,” Strohl explains. Students can expect courses designed to apply work experiences on a very professional level and constant improvements have led to digging even deeper into things like micro counseling skills.
Strohl notes, “We really require that our online cohort have two years of work experience in the rehabilitation arena or related to rehabilitation because our program is based on experiential learning.”
However, undergraduates can have this three-year program on their radar too. The master’s degree program will build upon the wealth of knowledge accumulated in those first couple of years in the bachelor’s program.
“Our undergraduate program prepares individuals to work in a variety of settings and so does our master’s degree, just at a different level of how they are preparing services and providing services,” Strohl says. “It’s not uncommon for us to get folks who have worked in the field for 30 years. They walk away from our program and are amazed at what they’ve learned.”
The program’s online presence similarly attracts the working individual and is capable of incorporating the same experiences that can be had in the lab setting of the identical on-campus alternative.
“I can actually be on the phone with a student anywhere on the continent, and we can both be watching the same counseling session and I can give supervision as I would if someone were an on-campus learner,” Strohl notes.
With a nationally ranked program in their hands, Dr. Stohl and the rest of the staff pride themselves on continually providing students with skills they can take into any field related to vocational rehab.
For more information on this degree or the vocational rehab area of study, visit Stout’s website under the academics tab or contact DeLeana Strohl at 715-232-4082 (online director) or Michelle Hamilton at 715-232-1895 (on-campus director).