Vocational Therapy
Our Vocational Specialists assist individuals with establishing and achieving return-to-work goals by assessing the individual’s education, training, skills, abilities, interests and financial needs. Once an individualized plan is established, our clients work 1:1 with a Vocational Specialist to address career exploration, academic support, work hardening, community reintegration, job development and job coaching, depending on the client’s needs.
What We Do
Initial Consultation
The initial consultation is a meeting with the client and Vocational Specialist. During the consultation, the Vocational Specialist collects information needed in order to create an individualized return-to-work plan. Our aim is to conduct the initial consultation from a holistic point of view, treating our clients as a whole. During this appointment, our Vocational Specialists collect information to better understand the client’s injuries and challenges, daily routine, education and employment background, transferable skills, and strengths and weaknesses.
Career Exploration
Career Exploration can be a helpful service for individuals involved in motor vehicle accidents. Our Vocational Specialists assist clients with identifying a career within his/her abilities, skills and interests using various tools and strategies, such as a transferable skills analysis, interest testing and labor market search.
Academic Support
Many of our clients’ return-to-work goals include pursuing education, whether it be obtaining a GED/high school diploma, college degree and/or trade school program certification. Our Vocational Specialists work with our clients to compose and implement an individualized education plan. Vocational Specialists can provide the following academic support services:
Research various programs/schools and program requirements
Assist client with contacting the school/program to assist client with asking pertinent questions and getting started
Meet with client weekly to promote the initiation and follow through of school/program requirements
Address issues and challenges as they arise
Work Hardening & Community Reintegration
Our Work Hardening program is modeled after an on-the-job training program that teaches participants work behaviors and job skills in actual workplace settings. Typically, with the assistance of a vocational specialist, our clients obtain a volunteer job. A volunteer job can be a beneficial way for clients to integrate back into his/her community. Participants receive 1:1 job coaching training and gain work experience while refining their job performance and skills. Throughout the program, participants meet weekly with a vocational specialist to address work- and training-related issues. The specialist monitors the participant’s progress and provides job coaching as needed.
Common work hardening goals include, but are not limited to:
Building stamina, endurance, and strength
Community reintegration
Assessing client’s skills and abilities
Improve and maintain entry-level job skills including punctuality, time management, appropriate communication, etc.
Improve and maintain job retention skills, such as initiation and follow through of tasks, ability to take direction and make decisions, abilities to learn new skills and adapt to changes, etc.
Job Development
Once a career path is established and the client is prepared to return to work, our vocational specialists are available to assist with all aspects of obtaining a job. Typical job development services include:
Composing a functional, updated resume
Identifying and applying to job leads
Following up on job leads and networking with employers
Interview preparation and support
Job Coaching
After employment is secured, a vocational specialist can provide job coaching to promote the client’s success with job performance and retention. Job coaching can be on-site or off-site. On-site job coaching is when a job coach visits the client’s work site. During on-site job coaching, a job coach typically addresses the following: implementing strategies for challenges and issues as they arise, identifying and implementing modifications and/or accommodations, advocating for the client, and communicating with the client’s supervisor if needed. Off-site job coaching is not held in the client’s work setting, but is instead a 1:1 meeting between the client and job coach. Off-site job coaching can include discussing issues/challenges and strategies to address them, as well as communicating with the client’s supervisor to advocate for the client’s needs and discuss the client’s strengths and weaknesses on-the-job.