About the Presenter 

Vilia M. Tarvydas, Ph.D., LMHC, CRC

Dr. Tarvydas has had more than 30 years experience as a rehabilitation educator and practicing rehabilitation professional. Currently, she is a Professor and Program Coordinator of The Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation at The University of Iowa. Dr. Tarvydas is an Obermann Scholar at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, and a Senior Research Scientist at the UI College of Law’s Center for Law, Health Policy, and Disability. Together with several prominent authorities she is in the process of forming the UI Institute for Ethics in Disability Policy and Rehabilitation Practice. This Institute is intended to provide research, education and consultation on ethical issues that affect people with disabilities and the rehabilitation services in which they participate.

Dr. Tarvydas holds a B.A. in Sociology from Northwestern University, an M.A. in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her clinical practice has emphasized traumatic brain injury and physical medicine rehabilitation. She has served as a clinician and as the Program Director of a medical neurobehavioral unit and as a psychologist for acute rehabilitation units. Her scholarly works and presentations have concentrated on the areas of ethics, ethical decision-making, professional standards, and traumatic brain injury. She has published extensively in these areas, and her most recent textbook (2003) is Ethical and Professional Issues in Counseling which is currently being revised for its third edition.

Dr. Tarvydas has been prominent in the leadership of the major professional organizations in rehabilitation counseling, most recently serving as the President of the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association, and chairing the committee that developed Code of Ethics for Professional Rehabilitation Counselors and was involved in its most recent 2001 revision. She has chaired several ethics committees in medical facilities and for the profession including the CRCC Ethics Committee. Currently, she is Chair of the Iowa State Board of Behavioral Science Examiners and President of the National Council on Rehabilitation Education. In addition, she is a member of the Ethics Committee and Ethics Code Revision Taskforce for the American Counseling Association.