Rehabilitation Psychologist - Roles and Career Prospects

Rehabilitation psychologists support people with troubled background to reorganize their lives and lead a positive, healthy and meaningful life. Psychology is a diverse field and involves studying theories and doing extensive research. As the research brings out hidden truth to the fore the information is further added to the body of knowledge and is made use of while dealing with a particular type of patient. A career in rehabilitation includes getting associated with communities and organization, diagnosing and treating people. They also work independently or team up with professionals from varied fields such as, engineers, school personnel, managers, policy makers, lawyers, scientists and physicians. Thus they contribute to every sphere of the society. Many rehabilitation psychologists job responsibilities make them to work in corporate offices, schools and universities, court rooms, laboratories, prisons, hospitals and community health care centers.

There are varied field of specialization one can specialize in. The graduates can join an acute care hospital and treat patients with problems like, depression, anxiety, pain and other health concerns. They may also choose to serve at physical therapy centers, long term rehabilitation centers etc.

The salaries for rehabilitation psychologists range from $45,000 to $100,000 as per individual experience, expertise and knowledge. Rehabilitation psychology as a career has many more opportunities today as compared to past. Greater life expectancy and effects of aging have resulted in incidences of disability, injury, pain and other chronic illness. According to Disabled in Action, New York based advocacy groups nearly 20% of Americans are disabled and more than 10.7 million of them have conditions severe enough to be need of help with their daily chores and day to day living. Situations such as these have led to an increase in the demand for good rehabilitation psychologists. In the meanwhile the field itself is growing fast and has opportunities galore for the ones specialized with doctoral degree in rehabilitation psychology (click here http://www.rehabilitations.org/rehabilitation-psychology.html).   

Types of Juvenile Rehabilitation

When a minor, below the age of 18, commits a crime, then he / she is referred to as a juvenile offender and is sent to juvenile rehab. What these minor offenders undergo in these camps cannot be called as punishment but as rehabilitation programs which are prescribed as per the juvenile rehabilitation procedures.

Drug treatment

One of the common juvenile crimes is drug offence or drug crimes. Such issues are administered in a separate court called the drug court. Here the offender has to undergo certain drug tests, alcohol meetings and attend drug rehab program as sentenced by the court.

Vocational training

Apart from the basic education certain vocational training is given to the minor offenders which will help them find a source of earning. Carpentry, teaching and various other things are taught in these training programs.

Education program

A basic education program is given to the minor with the hope that they will opt for a better life rather than the life of crime. Education teaches them to live a life filled with positive outlook and be a part of the society. School and college level of education is also given.

Counseling

Counseling is a part of any rehab program. Children/teens have various physiological issues that are quite different from adults. There may be some underlying childhood problems which need to be sorted out. Family support is advised here and sometime family counseling may also be required.

Hate crime

This is a program where young people who have committed crime are taught to lead a life without crime through counseling. They are taught to hate crime and are continuously re-educated to follow this healthy path of life.

Criticism of juvenile boot camps

These juvenile rehabilitation boot camps face many criticisms from counselors. Counselors believe that boot camps do not provide a permanent solution in bringing change in the troubled teen’s behavior. After the child comes back home from these camps, parents have to keep an eye on the behavior of their child that if they are showing any more troubled symptoms.

Counselors also believe most parents neither guide nor allow their child in taking important decisions at an early age. Later when these children enter in teen age they are unable to take vital decisions as they have not done any practice before. Parents only expect the child to fulfill their expectations without realizing the facts mentioned above.

I Love Rehabilitation

What is rehabilitation?

Rehabilitation or rehab in more of a modern lingo is the processes of helping or assisting someone recover from various kinds of ailments.

Various set of rehabilitation therapies for people boasting of different sets of attributes is required as every one is a different individual.

Rehabilitation is a huge field in the lucrative field of health that could be given out of humans and animals for promoting recovery generally from spinal cord injury, stroke, traumatic brain surgery, orthopedic surgery, club foot, accidents and accident.

In some cases nowadays, patients diagnosed with the problems of mental health and those wanting to leave alcohol and cigarettes, are also rehabilitated under numerous rehabilitation programs.

Why is rehabilitation required?

Since rehabilitation centers are the places to help improve a patient from above said problems, it provides complete guidance and therapies to recover them efficiently, without any hiccups.

Thus, in order to completely reinstall the lost vitality in the patients, the viability of the rehabilitation centers loom large.

What are the types of rehabilitation?

With surging needs of catering to a large audience of patients, the need for rehabilitation centers have emerged like never before.

Let’s see some of the pivotal types of rehabilitation

•Hospital Rehabilitation (In patient & out patient)- Most of the hospitals today has a rehab staff to cater to those patients who have recovered from say, physical illness but are mentally not yet out of the trauma they underwent and vice-versa

In order to serve and categorize patients, there are two departments in the hospital like in patient and out patient.

In patient rehabilitation assists victims to recover from respective problems inside of the hospital itself. A physiatrist is generally the person who is assigned of this responsibility. A physiatrist is a medical practitioner who specializes in general medicine and also rehabilitation.

An outpatient rehabilitation center is one that helps to recover patients but while exposing them to outer environments. This type of rehab is given to those patients who have almost or partially recovered enough to go home and to give them a classical conditioning of the same, outpatient rehab is given to help them become a more balanced individual.

•Physical Therapy- Physical therapy is another important and the most common type of rehabilitation. It follows the simple process of medicating a patient and at the same time helps a victim come out of any disturbances, physically. Basically, this therapy is directed to patients who are primarily suffering from physical illness.

•Occupational Therapy- An occupational therapy or OT directs at patients to improve and maintain hygienic conditions like grooming and house hold maintenance. It gives the patient a full dummy of the environment he/she has forgot to use and helps him/her to return to their normal self, like the use of which part for what use and so on.

•Speech/swallowing Therapy- This therapy of rehabilitation helps a person regain his lost order of speech that has now become impaired due to the problem he underwent. Also it makes sure the patient is not having swallowing of food problem. Has this not been corrected, it would become very important for the patient to recover quickly as he won’t be able to swallow food and medicines, making him go down in the process of getting fully treated?

•Balance Therapy- This theory is intended for those patients who have lost their body balance or having partial difficulty in balancing the same. The theory helps them become balanced and manage their daily activities in a more medically correct manner.

•Vision Therapy- Just like a physical therapy is for your body to make it sure it works as desired by it to work under normal conditions, a vision therapy is for your eyes. Under the theory, it is made sure that the patient is able to see properly. A muscle that controls the vision department is made to work efficiently thereby, working on those so that the vision makes normal.

•Classical Conditioning- It is a concept of Psychology. Under this important post, the subject is exposed to a thing for some responses. Upon sight of things, the subject begins to salivate and do his activity to gain the same. A cue is also attached to the thing before arrival. For an instance, a dog is exposed to meat pieces only after the ringing of the bell. Thus, the ring becomes the clue or cue that he is shortly being served with the dish and salivates. However, upon passage of sometime, the dish is withdrawn and even on that account, just by ringing the bell (clue or clue) the subject is able to salivate thereby indicating that he has learned the behavior. Even in rehabilitation theories this is practiced to bring back the patients to the normalcy of life in its correct format.

Various rehabilitation programs are done by various NGOs to help various ill-fated sufferers to come back to the fore of life.

Drug rehab is another center for drug addicts, while alcohol rehab for alcoholic people to get dished out from the same. In other scenarios, addiction rehab and prisoner rehabilitations are for reforming bad criminals and people who are addicted to various stimuli.

So, what are you waiting for? Just take the plunge of these rehabilitation facilities at different places and help someone win his basics of learning the art of living life in full fervor.

Tips for Rehabilitation

Before we take you to the various tips for rehabilitation, let’s put you through a formal info as to what is rehabilitation is all about.

Many people finds it difficult to cope up with the difficulties or trauma they faces during their injuries of different attributes, thus the need for rehabilitation looms large.

It’s the process of bringing back patients who has suffered, say, a chronic attack for an instance back to the basics of normal life. Various rehabilitation therapies and rehabilitation programs at numerous rehabilitation centers are administered to patients, depending on their classes of diseases, etc.

Though the various above mentioned places do provide the victims with the solution, still some tips are required to gain that fit look after an addiction or accident. Let’s see some of them in brief. We have considered drug rehabilitation in this respect as an example.

•Don’t Binge the Booze- Before going for the rehabilitation, don’t over do the drinks the night before. If you do so, you not only threaten your life by being vulnerable to accidents as more drinks impair the memory and decision making process.

•Don’t stop your dose either- Just like doing an overdo for the first tip, you shall also not at all come to a grinding halt when it comes to taking your dose of cigarettes, alcohol or drugs and make the rehabilitation theory process complicated and make yourself get deprived of the facilities while being medicated.

•Take proper rest- Make sure you take care of yourself and take adequate rest too before going to a drug rehab, alcohol rehab, addiction rehab or even prisoner rehabilitation, respectively for that matter. Eat tight and right. As at these rehab centers, detox process can easily take a huge toll on you, so, starting full tank never seems to be a bad idea.

•Prepare yourself physically- Before you head out for a rehabilitation centers, It would be better to make a list of things you want to carry there. Never take a thing that’s prohibited over there. It would be better to relax yourself and be in a positive mood that you are going there for becoming completely treated or cured.

•Prepare yourself mentally- Mind is such a complex thing that it hinders us to take a step towards any good thing, as we are mostly surrounded by evil things more than good ones. Thus, think that whatever has happened is past and you are going to the rehab to resurrect and clean myself and by doing so, I shall be able to live life more vehemently. Be in a positive frame of mind. In order to so, you can also take things that remind you of good times with family and friends. This shall help you infuse in yourself the much needed self energy to combat with all the rigorous process of rehabilitation.

Just adhering to these important rehabilitation tips for various aspects of illness shall help you become a polished and much more improved individual. If you are going to make your way to a rehab, keep in mind the suggested tips and come out resurrected fervently.

Alcohol Rehabilitation

Alcohol rehabs are made to create a caring environment where a person can overcome their psychological and physical addiction to alcohol. The rehabilitation process includes detoxification, counseling and sometimes also group therapy where other persons recovering from the addiction can help one another.

Usually a person tends to be uncertain of the rehab program, but those who have an idea about the rehab programs and the steps he/she will take for recovery, tend to be better in accepting the program when they enter the rehabilitation centers.

In this post you will find an overview of the different steps of the alcohol rehabilitation program. Though every person has a different program designed depending on their addiction level, the basic steps are same for almost all the programs:

Alcohol Detox

This is the very initial step of the alcohol recovery program. Detox involves slowly stopping the consumption of alcohol and giving the body time it needs to get used to the absence of alcohol, as well as cleanse it of all the harmful substances which are associated with any type of alcohol. During this rehab program a person might experience many withdrawal symptoms. Listed below are a few of them:

• Anxiety and depression
• Sudden and extreme mood swings
• Sweats or chills
• Going back to alcohol consumption
• Being always irritated
• Blackouts

This stage usually lasts approximately up to several days or even two weeks. The withdrawal symptoms listed above usually are experienced after the first few days of this process.

Counseling

This is the heart of the rehabilitation of alcohol. It includes sessions with a counselor or a therapist where a person is taught relapse prevention skills, education on alcoholism and also finds out the cause of their unwanted behavior. Counseling includes two forms:

• Individual counseling: During regular individual counseling sessions, a person has a one-to-one therapy between him and the therapist.
• Group counseling: These sessions are taken once or twice in a week. This involves the addict to meet other addicts enrolled in the program. Here they share their stories and learn to break down the walls of isolation that were built because of alcohol addiction.

Aftercare

Once a person completes his alcohol rehabilitation program, he is ready to face the world. This is not easy and the addict might face many problems like:

• Temptation: Meeting his old friends might make him return to his old behavior.
• Stress and distraction: Usual daily routine like work or school can get stressful as the person tries to catch up his/her missed time due to the condition. This can cause the person to turn to relapse behavior.
• Lack of understanding: People around the person who has gone through the alcohol rehab, may not be able to understand the processes going on in the rehab centers. Hence, they might find it difficult to communicate with the person who has gone through it.

Prisoner Rehabilitations

The number of criminals is increasing day by day. Although there are new prisons built every year, the authorities are making an effort to accommodate these prisoners. Because of this, many people’s criminal record are being ignored and they are allowed to mix with the common people.

Research indicates that after carrying out criminal activities, almost 70% of the released prisoners are jailed within a few years. The main motive of prisoner rehabilitation is to keep the prisoners away from crime and helping them in living a normal responsible life. This is helpful not only for the prisoner’s well being but also the society they live in.

We have the misconception that criminals can not be reformed, and they eventually return to their old habits. But it is not so, after undergoing rehabilitation programs, many prisoners return to their normal lives.

In the rehabilitation of prisoners, faith is an important key. Such rehab programs are offered by different religious organizations. The prisoners meet them regularly and clergies counsel them with religious teachings.

Some social organizations also offer rehab programs for prisoners to help them avoid and alter their criminal activities. These programs find out the skills and potential of the persons and give them training to improve their skill so that they can use them in earning a livelihood. The prisoners also get basic education, so that they do not remain illiterates.

Another problem with prisoners is addiction to drugs or alcohol. Mostly all criminals indulge in criminal activities due to these addictions. These programs create awareness amongst the prisoners about drugs and its effects on the society in which they live in. They also offer counseling and treatment for health recovery.

Although there are many organizations that offer rehab for prisoners, their rehabilitation techniques depend on the nature of the prisoner, the type of the crime committed, and the institution providing it. There are different techniques of educational and vocational training to help the prisoners know and master their skills in order to use them to earn a living in the outside world. Psychological rehab is also provided so that they can deal with the problems they are experiencing.

Prisoners who are addicted to drugs receive treatment for their condition. The rehabilitation process takes place inside and outside of the prison in cases when the prisoner has been released. The help given by such organizations is continued to be provided in situations of early release or to ease the transition into the community. The rehabilitation taking place inside the prison is often not successfully integrated into the prisoner’s lives because of the attitude of other prisoners.

The initial step in rehabilitation is the accurate assessment of individual prisoners when the prisoner enters the prison.

Like a patient entering a hospital is assessed completely for his/her needs, a full assessment of the prisoner’s needs and risks are made.

To know more about rehabilitation, Click here.

Drug Addiction

This term, drug rehab or drug rehabilitation, is used for the processes of psychotherapeutic or medical treatment for addiction of any kind of drug. The main aim behind this process is to enable the patient to discontinue excessive or improper use of a substance.

Drug rehab is gaining more and more importance in the world today, as the numbers of such cases are rising, in all age groups of men and women. Drug addiction is a mental disorder wherein a person cannot survive without a narcotic drug. This addiction starts with him/her taking drugs, which later on becomes compulsive and all the actions are controlled by the drug.

There are a lot of methods used for rehabilitation. Medicating, counseling, therapies, etc are the common ones. Every individual reacts differently to the treatment, thus the treatment is given according to the persons need.

Drug rehabilitation includes two types of drug dependencies, they are:

• Psychological dependency:
  This is used in various drug rehab centers to teach the patient how to live in a completely drug free environment. During this treatment span, the patients are not allowed to be associated with friends who are still using the addictive substances.
• Physical dependency:
  This includes removal of all toxic substance from the patient’s body, so as to cope with the drug abuse withdrawal symptoms from daily drug usage.

The most addictive drugs are cocaine, heroin and nicotine. During these programs, the addict is observed, in spite of being under the effect of the drug. Due to high usage of drugs, the sudden halt in the intake of drugs could lead to withdrawal symptoms and the body may take many weeks or months to go back to normal.

Drug addiction is a major problem, all over the world. Hence, the rehab centers are located in every city and town to help addicts get rid of their addiction. The treatments for the addicts usually include awareness education, treatment and counseling about the drugs. Some centers also focus on the mental attitude and proper nutrition of the addict as well. All these programs basically depend on the length of the inpatient or outpatient treatments and also on the costs of such treatments.

Though there are outpatient programs available in the rehab centers, the doctors prefer the inpatient programs for the patient as it is the first step in recovery. Within just twenty-eight days of such a program the patient experiences relief from drug usage. After completion of inpatient program, the centers suggest an aftercare program. This program includes individual or group meetings taken twice or thrice a week, to ensure that the addict is on the course of recovery. This aftercare program is helpful for the addict to return to daily life overcoming his/her anxiety or fear of going back to drug usage after the treatment. Thus, the addict is given all the support needed to complete his/her recovery programs.

For more information on rehabilitation you can visit on Rehabilitations.org/.