If you want to become an Alcohol & Drug Counselor (ADC), the process of ADC certification can take some time. At Sober College of Addiction Studies, we can help you complete your educational requirements. Unlike many other addiction studies programs, our program is affordable and can be completed in just six months. Here’s a quick look at our program and the other steps you need to take in order to become a substance abuse counselor.
Our Addiction Studies Program
While ADC certification requirements vary somewhat from state to state, the educational requirements tend to be about the same. This includes completing 315 educational units from a college program accepted by your state’s licensing board or credentialing body.
At Sober College, our curriculum is CCAPP-approved, NAADAC-approved and IC&RC-approved, which means it can be used to complete educational requirements throughout the Untied States. There are only three states (Alaska, Montana and North Dakota) where our program cannot be used.
Complete Your Education In 6 Months
Many addiction studies programs take several years to complete, and they don’t offer any type of flexible schedule. As a working adult, our online program provides you with the ultimate level of convenience. You can listen to lectures and complete coursework according to your schedule.
We also offer rolling admissions so you can begin at any time, and you don’t have to wait for the beginning of a semester or trimester to jumpstart your education. The cost of our entire program is $4,250 with no hidden fees and all class materials are included in that cost, other than textbooks. Textbooks will cost between about $300 to $500 in total.
This is far less expensive than most college and university programs, yet we still offer the highest quality educational experience for our students. All of our instructors are current or former counselors with an abundance of real-life counseling experience, and our professors are always willing to provide support and up-to-date advice about this profession and your coursework.
Practicum Experiences
Practicums are short internships where you get a feel for the day-to-day job of an addiction counselor. During our six-month program, the classes include two supervised practicum experiences. One is a short experience designed to give you are good idea of what to expect in your career as a counselor.
The second practicum (which is essentially an internship) includes a minimum of 255 hours of practical experience and these hours must be completed at a facility approved by your Sober College instructor. This could include an outpatient or in-patient treatment facility or perhaps a hospital setting.
During these hours, you must complete all of the 12 Core Functions of Addiction Counseling and spend at least 21 hours with each of these core functions. These include everything from intake to patient assessment to counseling and more.
Required Work Experience Hours
Once you have completed your educational units and practicum experiences, you will be able to begin supervised work as an addiction counselor. These supervised work experience hours account for the biggest component of the ADC certification process. The number of hours you need to complete varies by state and by the type of certification you intend to earn.
For instance, in California, you will be working toward becoming a certified alcohol and drug counselor (CADC). Different states use different names for this same type of counselor, such as ADC or licensed alcohol and drug counselor (LADC), etc.
In California, we have three different “levels” of CADC. This includes CADC-I, CADC-II and CADC-III. For CADC-I certification, you must complete 3,000 hours of supervised work experience. However, if you have earned an associate’s degree in behavior science or a related subject, this requirement is just 2,080 hours.
A CADC-II must complete 6,000 hours of work experience, and a CADC-III must complete 4,000 hours, but the CADC-III also must have earned a bachelor’s degree. You can become a CADC-I or CADC-II without earning a college degree, you need only have earned a high school diploma or the equivalent. These work experience hours are paid and your practicum hours also count toward completion of supervised work experience.
The IC&RC Exam
Another requirement for ADC certification is a passing score on the IC&RC Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ADC) exam. IC&RC is an international credentialing body that provides six exams for different types of addiction professionals.
In addition to the ADC exam, there is a Criminal Justice Addictions Professional (CCJP) exam, a Peer Recovery (PR) exam, a Prevention Specialist (PS) exam and several others. Many people branch out into specializations such as peer recovery or criminal justice after earning their initial ADC certification. Those are just a few of the options. One also could work toward certifications as a Medication-Assisted Treatment Specialist (MATS), a Women’s Treatment Specialist (WTS) and other interesting options.
Get Started Now!
If you’ve been interested in a career where you truly help others and want to get started earning your ADC certification, you can enroll in Sober College at any time. Just click on the Get Started tab on our homepage, select Apply and download and complete our enrollment application. Once submitted, a member of our admissions department will contact you within 48 hours to complete your enrollment process and answer any questions you may have about our program.
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