UNT - Department of Rehabilitation & Health Services

🎉 Surprise Birthday Celebration for Dr. Sharma! 🎂
We surprised the person who keeps us motivated, supported, and moving forward every day. Thank you for being such a great leader and making work a place where we can grow, learn, and laugh together. Wishing you a birthday filled with joy and a year full of continued success! ✨Cheers to another great year! 🥳🎈🎁

The U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is urgently hiring Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors (VRCs) to help Veterans build fulfilling, independent lives after injury, illness, or service-related transitions. These job announcements will close on June 24, 2026.
Learn more about these roles and apply for one of the many open positions in VBA’s four districts.

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC)
Continental District openings: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/872333900
Northeast District openings: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/872334500
Pacific District openings: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/872334000
Southeast District openings: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/872334300
Note: USA Hire Assessments can be long and may take over an hour to complete. Once you begin the assessment, you have until 48 hours after the job closes to complete and submit. Otherwise, your application will be disqualified. Your assessment results are valid for 12 months from the date you submit them.
🔹 Why Consider a Career with VA?
Mission-driven work supporting Veterans
Competitive federal pay and benefits
Student loan repayment and career development opportunities (position-dependent)
Work-life balance and long-term career stability
These positions are well suited for individuals with degrees in Rehabilitation Counseling, Rehabilitation Services, Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling, Counseling Psychology, Mental Health Counseling, Career Counseling, and Social Work.

Vocational Rehab Counselor Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors (VRCs) provide and coordinate a wide range of rehabilitation, counseling, and case management services to disabled veterans and other eligible individuals. The purpose, objectives, services, and outcomes are developed by the VRC during the evaluation. The program...

The RHS Department is excited to announce new episodes of our podcast, Phoenix Fireside Chats! 🎙️🔥

This podcast features interviews with alumni, discussions with department faculty, and other special topics. We hope that this show will give our listeners a look at the work that goes on within our department as well as showcase the work that our alumni are currently doing in the field. Episodes are available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and transcripts for each episode are available on our department's website: https://pahs.unt.edu/rhs/podcast.html

We hope you'll listen in and discover the exciting work happening within our department and alumni community ✨

Dear Students,
Are you interested in studying abroad during your undergraduate or graduate program? Have you wanted to experience Incredible India and visit one of the Seven Wonders of the World? Do you want to learn how trauma and mental health services are provided in a developing nation? If so, we hope you will consider being a part of an upcoming low-cost study abroad course in India being offered by Dr. Sharma in the department of Rehabilitation and Health Services and Dr. Contractor in the Department of Psychology. The course will provide you with 3 credit hours towards a graduate elective (RHAB 5900) or an upper-level undergraduate elective (RHAB 4900). Doctoral students are also invited to apply! The course will be conducted over Wintermester 2026-27 with dates between December 26th to Jan 10th 2027. It is an excellent way to get course credit while traveling to a new country across just 2 weeks of the holiday break.

The course offers a rich cultural learning experiences from touring ancient historic sites, engaging with modern day city learning about prevention and intervention services pertaining to trauma and mental health supports provided by public and nonprofit organizations. Students will observe the impact of cultural and societal attitudes on the experience of trauma, access to services, and the overall process of psychosocial adaptation of trauma survivors. Students will engage in site visits with local governmental and non-governmental groups while visiting three major north Indian cities: Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. This study abroad course will help students develop an understanding of the broad economic, political, social and cultural dimensions influencing mental health in India and allow them to make comparisons with services in the U.S. Students will gain opportunities to investigate factors that impact the help-seeking behaviors of Indian populations with special needs such as women, children, people with disabilities, and the elderly, especially in the context of the cultural and social norms prevalent in India. In addition, students will visit popular historic landmarks in the cities of New Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur (in North India).

Two scholarships/grants totaling approximately $1750 dollars are available to most students who apply through the study abroad portal. While one of these is the $1250 UNT International Scholarship that requires no special eligibility, the other is a need-based grant in the amount of $500 available to students who have a FAFSA on file. Financial aid may also be used towards paying the course tuition! Moreover, children or spousal dependents of active or activated United States military personnel are eligible to apply for the $5000 Gilman McCain study abroad scholarship!

The course is open to undergraduate as well as graduate students in all majors but spots are limited! The deadline to complete your application and make a $100 deposit is September 13th, 2026. The $200 program deposit is due two weeks after that. These two deposits secure your spot in the course. All other program fees are due by the usual due dates for the Spring 2026 semester.

For additional information, please contact Dr. Sharma or Dr. Contractor via email send to [email protected] or [email protected], see the attached flyer and visit the Study Abroad Office’s website for this course by clicking here:
https://mystudyabroad.unt.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgramAngular&id=14268

Thank you!

Join us May 20 from 6-8 p.m. at Wine A Little in McKinney (7560 State Hwy 121 Suite 150, McKinney, TX 75070) for — a monthly event brought to you by the UNT Alumni Association. This month, they're bringing together alumni from our college. We can't wait to see you there! Learn more and register: https://untalumni.com/events/wine-down-wednesday/

UNT program helps student with learning disabilities get a degree Thanks to UNT ELEVAR graduate program, one student will have fulfilled a dream he didn’t know was possible. NBC 5’s Noelle Walker talks to Jaylen Walker about his path to graduation.

, UNTHPS grads! You make us Proud! We're excited to see what the future holds for you.

, UNTHPS grads! You did it! You have your PhDs now!! We can't wait to see the difference you make in this world!