Master of Counselling, Rehabilitation and Mental Health

La Trobe University

Australia, Melbourne

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Home/Australia/Melbourne /La Trobe University/Master of Counselling, Rehabilitation and Mental Health

La Trobe University

Australia , Melbourne

Key Facts

Program Level

Master by Course Work

Study Type

Full Time

Delivery

On Campus

Course Code

114007A

Campuses

City

Program Language

English

Start & Deadlines

Next Intake DeadlinesMarch-2026

Apply to this program

Go to the official application for the university

Duration 2 year(s)

Tuition Fee

AUD 43,000 / Yaer

Next Intake March-2026

Master of Counselling, Rehabilitation and Mental Health

About

If you'd like to build a career that makes a meaningful difference, La Trobe's accredited Master of Counselling, Rehabilitation and Mental Health will give you the foundations for a rewarding career that supports others through huge life changes.

Develop your professional knowledge, skills and expertise with this unique combination of rehabilitation counselling and mental health subjects.

You'll get hands-on experience and will graduate prepared to work in rehabilitation counselling, as well as broader counselling settings such as mental health and Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counselling.

Explore a diverse range of workplaces and cultures. You'll learn how to support individuals and communities through disability, disadvantage and injury – helping them to reach their full potential and reintegrate into work and the community.

You'll learn:

Professional counselling practice
- Acquire skills that are essential for effective counselling practice through examining professional, ethical and legal issues that affect counselling practice in Australia.
Mental health counselling
- Understand the different types of mental health conditions and how they're diagnosed. Learn how to effectively treat clinical and sub-clinical mental health conditions.
Rehabilitation counselling
- Understand the interpersonal helping process, especially as it applies to rehabilitation and behaviour change. Explore different counselling models and techniques (e.g. Motivational Interviewing).

Employee Assistance Program counselling
- Develop specialised skills to work effectively and ethically as a counsellor in workplace settings.

*Please be aware that this course includes mandatory in-person placement requirements. Students are expected to complete these placements in Australia.

The qualification awarded on graduation is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) as Level 9 - Masters Degree.

Requirements

Entry Requirements

Successful completion of an Australian bachelor degree (or equivalent).

Specialisation - recommended: Health Sciences, Psychology, Behavioural Sciences or other relevant field.

Applicants with industry experience will also be considered.

Students who have completed Graduate Diploma in Rehabilitation Counselling (PHG0001CI) can enter the course via Cognate pathway and receive up to 120 credit points (1 year).

Core requirement

Students must be able to manage their own responses and behaviour to work effectively in a range of learning environments with diverse people and tasks. This includes the capacity to be receptive and respond appropriately to constructive feedback. Students should also be able to work with others in a team or group environment and make and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of individuals in order to complete tasks or for professional practice.

See also Student behaviours policy for more information.

Course-specific requirement

Master of Counselling, Rehabilitation and Mental Health must demonstrate strong interpersonal and interpersonal communication skills that will allow them to continuously develop their communication and counselling skills throughout their careers.
Students must be able to manage personal responses, beliefs or preferences in order to work in an ethical and socially responsible manner with diverse groups , for example to be able to work with people from ethnically and religiously diverse backgrounds.

Core requirement

Students must be able to locate, acquire, retain and apply knowledge as part of their learning and for assessment. They must have the ability to sustain their attention over a designated period, maintain their focus in a variety of learning environments and remember information long enough to complete tasks in a reasonable and safe timeframe.

Course-specific requirement

Master of Counselling, Rehabilitation and Mental Health students must be able to use retained knowledge to determine safe and appropriate care decisions. Students must be able to notice, focus their attention and process information in order to respond in an ethically and socially responsible manner that recognises the perspectives of multiple stakeholders and legislative requirements. For example, for a client in a return to work setting they must be able to focus on and respond to changing information from clients in order to respond in an appropriate manner that recognises both the duty of care for the client and the client's rights and responsibilities as stipulated by legislation.

Core requirement

Students should possess the ability to interact with visual, auditory or tactile inputs sufficiently to manage their learning environment and to meet professional performance needs.

Course-specific requirement

Master of Counselling, Rehabilitation and Mental Health students must be able to process visual and or auditory information and monitor the broader environment for client safety, including observing multiple people and events simultaneously. Students must be able to detect changes in client voice, vocal content, posture, movement and other responses to clinical treatments.

English Program Requirements

6.5 IELTS (Academic) with no individual band less than 6.0.

Career

After graduation, you could work across a wide range of industries, including allied health, education, government, sports, and more.

Possible roles include:

Rehabilitation counsellor
- Support people who are injured or experiencing disability or disadvantage, through the counselling process, to reintegrate into work and/or the community.
Counsellor
- Work with individuals who are experiencing personal difficulties and help them to make meaningful and helpful changes geared toward promotion of wellbeing in their lives.
Mental health counsellor
- Promote individual and/or community mental health and wellbeing through helping individuals, families, groups and/or communities to process difficult emotions, and through assessment and treatment of mental health disorders and trauma.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counsellor
- Assist employees, through the counselling process, with personal problems impacting their work performance, health and/or wellbeing.
Student wellbeing coordinator
- Provide welfare support, through the counselling process and coordinate development and wellbeing programs for students.