Alcohol and Drug Counselors work to prevent drug and alcohol abuse and deliver treatment to those who have encountered devastation of such abuse. Counselors assist people with personal, family, educational, mental health, and career decisions and problems. Their duties depend on the individuals they serve and on the settings in which they work. Counselors provide special services, including alcohol and drug prevention programs and conflict resolution classes.
A current state certificate or license as a substance abuse counselor.
270 contact hours of substance abuse counseling training- including 6 hours of ethics training and 6 hours HIV/ AIDS training.
3 years full- time work experience or 6,000 hours of supervised experience as a substance abuse counselor
National Certified Addiction Counselor- Level 2
Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
Current state certificate or license in your profession.
450 hours of substance abuse education and training and 6 hours of HIV/ AIDS training.
5 years full- time experience or 10,000 hours of supervised experience as a substance abuse counselor.
Master Addiction Counselor (MAC)
500 hours of education and training to include a masters degree in the healing arts- counseling, social work, family therapy, nursing, psychology, or other human services.
Current state certificate or license in your profession, such as LPC or LSW.
3 years supervised experience- 2/3rds of which should be post masters degree award.
For more information regarding National Certification and Training:
Licensing and certification requirements for drug and alcohol counselors in any state in the U.S. On the homepage just select the state, territory and organization desired.
The current job outlook for substance abuse counselors is very high although the salary isn't as great as other fields in counseling. On average a yearly salary of $30,000 to $40,000 is found, but with different credentials and background this number may fluctuate.
Employment for Counselors in general should increase through the year 2014, especially as many in the field now retire. Substance abuse counselors, especially, should "experience excellent prospects". There is a high demand for drug/alcohol counselors and substance abuse counselors because drug offenders and those being affected by these offenders have increased in numbers drastically.
Counselors held about 526,000 jobs in 2002. 67,000 of which were substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors. Counselors held about 601,000 jobs in 2004. 75,000 of those jobs were substance abuse counselors.
Demand is expected to be high for substance counselors for a number of reasons. Many states, like California, made it a law that substance abuses must go through treatment/counseling instead of jail time. There is also an increasing availability of funding for students who need help in these areas and insurance agencies are suggesting counseling rather than psychologist or psychiatrist visits because of lower cost.
Job outlook information may be found on the additional websites:
This website presents a list of necessary links for a future in substance abuse counseling. They give a brief overview, tasks, skills needed, education and knowledge of the profession. Some information begins to involve behavior disorders, but factors different behavior disorders in with addictions.
The association for addiction professionals- "we help people recover their lives"- serves addiction counselors and professionals that specialize in prevention, treatment and education
Also provides numerous links for additional help
NAADAC is an organization of substance abuse counselors. The overall goal of this organization is to promote unity and be able to share new information learned to achieve the best results with patients or clients
Different attempts can be taken to treat patients with alcohol or substance addictions. The following website shows the different steps needed to take place in order to treat addictions. They follow a psychotherapeutic and skills-training approach and explain the goals, overviews and expectations of the program.
This site was originally developed by: Sarah Trance, Tina Mentzel and Kristen Curley for a course in Psychology in the Schools taught by Dr. Margaret Anderson at SUNY Cortland in Fall 2006.
