At the heart of Rehabilitation Counseling is a simple but powerful belief. When we combine rigorous scholarship with deep compassion, we can expand access to care, strengthen communities and change lives in lasting ways.

This issue of our newsletter reflects that commitment in action. From innovative research partnerships to expanded clinical training and student-driven community engagement, our work continues to evolve in response to real needs across Virginia and beyond.

One powerful example is our work on Life Between the Lines: A Writing Workshop for the Family Members of Veterans and Active Military Personnel. For this project, our faculty and graduate students are studying how structured, non-clinical writing programs can help veterans process lived experience. This work reminds us that healing does not always happen in traditional clinical spaces – and that with the right evidence and care, effective models can be responsibly scaled to reach many more who need support.

We are also responding to emerging challenges. As gambling and gambling-like features move into smartphones and everyday digital spaces, our faculty and students are helping educators, families and communities recognize risks early. Through prevention-focused outreach via the Virginia Partnership for Gaming and Health, we are working to change trajectories before harm takes hold – especially for young people navigating increasingly complex digital environments.

At the same time, we are strengthening the foundation of our training programs. The addition of a clinical placement coordinator allows us to support a growing number of students while expanding access to high-quality community placements across Virginia. Certainly, these placements prepare future counselors, but they also increase access to mental-health and rehabilitation services in communities that need them most.

Our students continue to be at the center of this work. Whether supporting youth through life-skills programming, reflecting on their experiences during placements or celebrating milestones at graduation – sometimes virtually, thanks to a well-timed snowstorm – they embody the values of service, resilience, and professionalism that define our field.

Finally, we are proud to share that recent federal awards totaling $5.6 million further reinforce our department’s role as a national leader in rehabilitation counseling education. These investments will help prepare more than 100 scholars across degree levels, strengthening the nation’s vocational rehabilitation workforce and improving services for individuals with disabilities.

None of this work happens in isolation. It is made possible by the dedication of our faculty, staff, students, alumni, community partners and supporters. Your engagement and generosity help ensure that Rehabilitation Counseling at Virginia Commonwealth University continues to educate with purpose, research with integrity and serve with impact.

Thank you for being part of this important work.

Jared Schultz, PhD, CRC, LVRC, HS-BCP
Professor and Chair, Department of Rehabilitation Counseling
Virginia Commonwealth University