Addiction counseling can be a rewarding career, and it’s in high demand. If you are considering making a career change and heading into this field, it’s smart to learn all you can about the different types of licensing and certification, including LADC, CADC, ADC, AOC and others.
What Is An LADC?
LADC stands for Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor. This is an option in several states, including Alaska, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Minnesota and several others. In many cases, a bachelor’s degree is required for this license, but this does vary from state to state.
Let’s take Minnesota as an example. In this state, in order to earn your LADC license, you must have a bachelor’s degree as well as 270 hours of approved alcohol and drug coursework. You also will need 880 hours of practicum experience at an approved counseling facility as well as a passing score on a written exam, likely the IC&RC Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ADC) exam or a similar exam.
What Is A CADC?
CADC stands for Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, and if you are looking at options to earn counseling certification without a degree, this can be a great option to consider. Typically, one needs only to have earned a high school diploma or the equivalent for certification.
CADC certification is available throughout the country, but it often is known by another name. In some cases, these counselors might be known as LADCs, but often they are known as Alcohol and Drug Counselors (ADC), Alcohol and Other Drug Counselors (AOD) or perhaps as a Certified Addiction Counselor (CAC).
While the terms vary from state to state, most of the requirements are similar. Using Minnesota again as an example, they offer ADC certification, and the requirements include 270 hours of approved education, just as with LADC certification, as well as 300 hours of direct supervision and a passing score on the IC&RC ADC exam. However, unlike an LADC, there is no requirement to have earned a bachelor’s degree.
In California, where Sober College of Addiction Studies is based, the requirements include 315 hours of education from an approved provider, 255 hours of practicum experience and a total of 3,000 hours of supervised work experience, as well as a passing score on the IC&RC ADC exam. The 255 hours of practicum experience will be counted toward that 3,000-hour total, and the remainder of your supervised work experience will be paid work.
Your First Step – Study Your State Requirements
While learning about the day-to-day tasks of addiction counseling is crucial, your first step should be to do some research about your state’s specific requirements for different levels of substance abuse counselor certification. As you can see from above, every state is unique both in its requirements and even the actual terminology given to each type of counselor.
How Sober College Can Help
At Sober College, we are an approved education provider for addiction counselors in most states. Whether you wish to earn your LADC or CADC certification, we can help! Our program is NAADAC-approved and IC&RC-approved, which means it can be used to complete your educational requirements in most states.
Sober College is an approved provider of addiction studies curriculum in California, Arizona, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Florida. Additionally, if your state is a member of IC&RC (International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium), our curriculum should be acceptable to your state credentialing or licensing boards.
The only states currently without IC&RC reciprocity include Alaska, Montana and North Dakota, which means students in these states must find another source to complete their educational units.
Our program includes 315 classroom hours and 255 practicum hours. Some states may require fewer hours of education (Example: 270 hours in Minnesota); however our curriculum includes everything you need to know in order to pass the IC&RC exam.
When it comes to practicum hours, most states require a candidate to complete a minimum of 21 hours handling each of the Core Functions of Addiction Counseling, which equals 252 hours, and our program includes an additional three hours of practicum. Some states might require more hours, while 255 might fulfill the requirement in other states. Again, we encourage you to check with your state licensing board before beginning any educational program or practicum.
As a side note, you also have the option of earning national certification. You can earn this on top of your state certification, and this can be a good option if you are likely to move out of state at some point but want to stay in the substance use disorder counseling profession. Substance use disorder counselor, or SUD counselor, is the preferred terminology for counselors, although states have different official names, such as LADC or CADC, etc.
To become a National Certified Addiction Counselor (NCAC), you will earn certification through the National Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC). NAADAC requires 270 hours of education and 6,000 hours of supervised work experience, as well as a passing score on the NCAC Level One exam or the IC&RC ADC exam.
Our curriculum, as stated above, is NAADAC-approved, which means you can use it to earn your NCAC-I certification. Many counselors will earn their state certification and work toward NCAC certification as they gain experience. This additional certification adds another layer of professionalism to your resume, so it’s a step that many people will choose to take.
Why Sober College?
We make it as easy as possible for students to earn their substance abuse certification online. Our program is 100% online and was designed to provide quality addiction studies education for busy, working adults.
Unlike most college or university programs, our program can be completed in just six months. We also offer rolling admissions, so you can get started at any time rather than waiting for a traditional semester or quarter to begin.
Our program also is significantly less expensive than most college programs. The total cost for our tuition is $4,250 with no hidden fees. Books will cost an additional $300 to $500 in total.
Whether you are working toward LADC licensing, CADC certification or the equivalent, Sober College can be an excellent and affordable option for addiction counseling education. To enroll at Sober College or to ask any questions about our program, head to our homepage and select the Get Started tab.
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