Who We Are: Professional Identity for CRCs

If you work in rehabilitation counseling long enough, you’ll hear the phrase “best kept secret” used to describe this profession. While it is true that the impact of Certified Rehabilitation Counselors is a treasure chest waiting to be unburied by employers, consumers, and the public, CRCC is working to help share this “best kept secret” with the world. Professional identity is a key part of that.

Following the delay of our Symposium, we announced a series of Town Halls that will begin to address how we can collectively establish a clear calling card for an important question: Who are we, and what do we stand for?

What is Professional Identity?

That discussion begins with an audit of our professional identity. The professional identity of a profession refers to the collective understanding of who we are as a profession, shared among its members and recognized by others outside the field.

It embodies the shared values, norms, ethics, competencies, roles, and purpose that define a profession and differentiate it from others. In other words, it’s the profession’s collective self-concept in society and the workplace.

This question is important for Certified Rehabilitation Counselors because to remain viable, valued, and visible, we must understand how we identify our impact.

Taking time to define our professional identity:

• Clarifies the Role of CRCs in the Broader Landscape.
• Promotes Advocacy and Recognition.
• Builds Public Trust and Professional Credibility.
• Supports Professional Growth and Sustainability

For CRCs, a unified professional identity means that certified rehabilitation counselors collectively understand, embrace, and present themselves to clients, employers, policymakers, and the public as members of a distinct and cohesive profession.

In Your Words: How Certified Rehabilitation Counselors Describe What They Do

When it comes to tackling the development of a professional identity, we invited CRCs who attended our July Town Hall sessions to answer a few key questions:

• What is a CRC?
• What do CRCs do?
• Why does the work of a CRC matter?
• What sets CRCs apart from other similar professionals (social workers, mental health counselors, etc.)?

We plan to review the answers to all of these questions in our fall Town Hall sessions. Still, we would like to share a collective statement on the first question we compiled from all the responses. Utilizing phrases and terms that appeared most frequently in responses, here is one way CRCs can answer the question, “What is a CRC?”:

Certified Rehabilitation Counselors (CRCs) are nationally credentialed disability experts who blend ethical practice, interdisciplinary collaboration, and person-centered care to empower individuals with disabilities. With deep knowledge in rehabilitation and employment, CRCs guide clients through complex systems to achieve independence, self-sufficiency, and meaningful life goals.

Does this statement include every single skill a CRC has? Of course not, that’s what a Scope of Practice is for. That said, the above statement, when coupled with other scripts, phrases, and examples of how to explain the work of a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, can be instrumental in our ability to take the profession from a “best kept secret” to a well-known field that is uniquely qualified to serve individuals with disabilities.

Soon, we’ll have a Professional Identity Toolkit that utilizes the feedback we received from CRCs. In this toolkit, you’ll be able to find professional bio templates, elevator scripts for networking, resume action statements, and more coordinated approaches to collective advocacy across the over 14,000 certified professionals in this field.

Have feedback or thoughts on this topic? Reach out to us here.