How To Become A Rehabilitation Therapist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a rehabilitation therapist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Meredith Bertrand

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a rehabilitation therapist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $32.35 an hour? That's $67,287 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 600 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a rehabilitation therapist?

Dr. Meredith Bertrand

Chair of Education; Associate Professor of Education, Elms College

History is ever-changing, and teachers must clarify how current events are just as much a part of the study of history as any other socio-political period or event. If you are not comparing the civil rights movement of today to the ongoing civil rights movements of the past, and if you are not supporting the campaign against oppression and institutional racism upon which our nation was built, then you are doing continuous harm to those who need you to act and disrupt the cycle. History teachers better be ready to be activists, not just teachers, or else you are perpetuating the status quo.

ScoreRehabilitation TherapistUS Average

Salary

5.3

Avg. Salary $67,287

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.6

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.77%

Asian 3.27%

Black or African American 6.53%

Hispanic or Latino 10.21%

Unknown 4.49%

White 74.73%

Gender

female 71.58%

male 28.42%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.8

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a rehabilitation therapist

Explore rehabilitation therapist education requirements

Most common rehabilitation therapist degrees

Bachelor's

64.3 %

Master's

22.5 %

Associate

8.3 %

Start to develop specific rehabilitation therapist skills

Skills	Percentages
Rehabilitation	21.74%
Patients	20.09%
Mental Health	12.17%
Social Work	7.31%
Patient Care	4.48%

Complete relevant rehabilitation therapist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New rehabilitation therapists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a rehabilitation therapist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real rehabilitation therapist resumes.

Research rehabilitation therapist duties and responsibilities

Provide PSR services to clients with mental illness in order to help them achieve the highest standard of living possible.
Administer cognitive rehabilitation therapy to traumatic brain injure patients through exercises design to improve memory and other global functions.
Maintain documentation of patients' participation and strength-base progress within group and individual therapy in accordance with regulatory standards.
Write patient assessments, and develop patient rehabilitation programs that better monitor the patients progress by including individualize treatment goals/objectives.

Prepare your rehabilitation therapist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your rehabilitation therapist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a rehabilitation therapist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable rehabilitation therapist resume templates

Build a professional rehabilitation therapist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your rehabilitation therapist resume.