Concepts, Challenges, Barriers, and Opportunities Related to Evidence-Based Practice in Rehabilitation Counseling

Evidence-based practice espouses that all healthcare professionals should provide their clients with the most effective clinical services based on sound research evidence. This philosophy of practice has since permeated to an array of health care and human service disciplines, and the rehabilitation counseling profession is no exception. Although the evidence-based practice movement is not without its controversy and critics, this movement also presents a window of opportunity for the rehabilitation counseling profession to promote and support a systematic agenda for theory-driven rehabilitation counseling research. The use of scientific evidence derived from theory-driven research to inform rehabilitation counseling practices could contribute to higher employment rates and better quality of employment outcomes for people with disabilities. In this article, we provided an overview of the key concepts related to evidence-based practice, critical issues and challenges that surround the evidence-based practice movement, and the implications and opportunities of this movement for the rehabilitation counseling profession.