We aimed to explore personal factors in use of rehabilitation counseling and mental health services by Māori adults. Participants were three Māori adults (females = 2, residing in major urban settings, age range 45–50 years old; male = 1, residing in a rural setting, age range = 25–30 years old). Thematic analysis yielded the following findings: (a) a preference of Māori service providers who understand whānau culture, (b) an understanding of whakapapa or the family structure as an integral source of social support as counselors are planning for treatment, (c) establishing and maintaining trusting relationships within the Māori community by non-Māori counselors, (d) having financial difficulties when attempting to access rehabilitation resources, (e) limited access to health care facilities and services or lack of information about the services available, and (f) a general mistrust of government operated systems. Rehabilitation and mental health services with Māori should address personal cultural and systemic exclusion factors for better service engagement.

A novel inpatient vocational counseling service (named “In-Voc”) was developed and evaluated in three Australian spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation hospitals, aiming to improve vocational outcomes after SCI. The program provided a trained Vocational Counseling Coordinator who worked alongside the allied health team, medical, and nursing staff at each hospital. The Coordinators were interviewed to examine the role expectations and role behaviors associated with the introduction of their novel, vocationally focused, occupational role. The Coordinators’ descriptions of their role behavior were very similar to those defined by rehabilitation counselors in North America. They reported the novel role to be a productive and satisfying one. Encouragingly, the In-Voc program was associated with significantly higher post-injury employment outcomes.