Ralph Crystal, Ph.D., CRC
Emeritus
Dr. Crystal is the Counselor Education Program Coordinator and the Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Pace University (1970), master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from New York University (1972), and doctoral degree in rehabilitation psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1977).
After completing his master’s degree he worked at a facility serving persons with physical, mental, and learning disabilities with regarding to vocational assessment, vocational counseling, job training, and job placement. After completing his doctoral degree he was employed at the University of Michigan where he served as research director of a rehabilitation research institute with a focus on the evaluation of public rehabilitation programs. He was also on the faculty of the rehabilitation counseling program.
In 1981, Dr. Crystal was appointed as coordinator of the rehabilitation counseling program at the University of Kentucky. In 1995, Dr. Crystal was instrumental in establishing a distance education program in partnership with the two state rehabilitation agencies in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This program has evolved into a nationally recognized web based master’s degree program.
Dr. Crystal oversaw the reaccreditation of the Rehabilitation Counseling program in 2013. He is currently leading the faculty initiative to obtain accreditation for the program as a duly accredited Clinical Mental Health Rehabilitation Counseling and Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling program.
Dr. Crystal has published in the area of rehabilitation program evaluation, consumer satisfaction, healthcare and disability, and forensic rehabilitation. Dr. Crystal is a Commissioner with the Council on Rehabilitation Education and reviews Counselor Education programs for accreditation. Dr. Crystal also maintains a private rehabilitation practice.
Research categories: Rehabilitation Counseling, Disabilities