About Us

The Working Group for Disability Justice in Counseling was started in 2023 by a group of students from Oregon State University’s Master of Counseling program after they began to question the lack of disability visibility and competency training in their curriculum. Working in partnership with program faculty, the group has grown in number and widened focus to the field of counselor education, and from there to counseling, with a goal of increasing disability competency and training amongst mental health and school counselors.

Our core focus areas include:

• Counseling Standard of Care: More accessible and visible resources across the counseling field that help counselors provide a better standard quality of care to clients with disabilities.

• Counselor Training: Incorporation of training specifically preparing counselors in training to work with clients with disabilities, both in OSU’s program, and in the wider field of counselor education. 

• Counseling Program Accessibility: Improvement of counseling program accessibility and accommodation to disabled counseling students, both in OSU’s program, and in the wider field of counselor education.

•  Disability Advocacy: Disability is a core part of social justice advocacy that has frequently been missing in the counseling field. We are focused on increasing disability inclusion in counseling social justice advocacy.  

If you are interested in learning more or collaborating with us, please contact us.