The global pandemic has sent unemployment rates soaring, and many Americans have had to pivot from their current industries and look for employment in a new industry. Becoming an addiction counselor can be an excellent option to consider. Not only is this job in high demand, but it also offers solid benefits and, best of all, it can be a highly rewarding career to help others fight their addictions and heal.
At Sober College School of Addiction Studies, we can provide you with the education you need to become a type of addiction counselor known as a Certified Drug & Alcohol Counselor, or CADC. Here’s a quick look at what it means to be a CADC.
What Does A CADC Do?
A CADC typically works either in a residential treatment facility or an outpatient facility. As an addiction counselor, you will meet with patients upon admittance to a treatment facility or treatment program for initial evaluations, as well as leading group therapy sessions, family therapy sessions and sometimes individual therapy sessions.
You also help to develop treatment plans, recovery plans and set goals. A great addiction counselor doesn’t just help their patients through those first few weeks of rehab and recovery but helps them create workable long-term goals and helps them to find resources to help them maintain sobriety. This includes helping them to find support groups, therapists and other resources. Creating a solid aftercare plan is crucial, and that’s a huge part of the job as an addiction counselor.
In many cases, your patients won’t just be suffering from drug addiction or alcohol addiction or a combination of the two. Very often, there are co-occurring disorders that also might need to be addressed. For instance, you might have a patient suffering from drug addiction and chronic pain, and you will want to try and find resources so that your patient can address both of these issues.
Other co-occurring disorders might include diseases such as bi-polar disorder, depression, anxiety, ADHD, bulimia, anorexia nervosa, obsessive-compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder or some other mental illness. An addiction counselor won’t actually treat these conditions, but they can help a patient find resources to help with these issues. Treating the whole person is crucial in order for your patients to enjoy long-term sobriety and a happier life.
Types of CADCs
There are actually three levels of CADC, and we can help you become a CADC-I, a CADC-II or a CADC-III. The actual coursework is the same for all three levels and many of the job tasks are the same, but there are some other important differences.
Most of our students come to use to earn their CADC-I credential. One of the great things about changing careers and opting to become an addiction counselor is that you don’t have to have a college degree. A CADC-I and CADC-II only needs to have a high school diploma (or the equivalent) to start our program. A CADC-III needs to have completed a bachelor’s degree.
All three levels of CADC must complete 315 hours of approved education (which you can complete with Sober College), 255 hours of supervised work experience (we also can help find a good match for this requirement) and earn a passing score on the IC&RC written exam.
The main differences come into play when you begin your supervised work experience. To earn CADC-I certification, you need 3,000 hours of supervised work experience. However, if you do have an associate’s degree in behavioral science or an allied mental health profession, you need only 2,080 hours of supervised work experience.
A CADC-II, regardless of any level of education beyond high school, must complete 6,000 hours of supervised work experience. A CADC-III, which again requires a bachelor’s degree, needs to complete 4,000 hours of supervised work experience.
Keep in mind, that while this is “supervised” that does not mean unpaid. It simply means that a person with more experience will monitor your work. This is much like young doctors, who are paid for work as interns and residents, but are still supervised by attending physicians with a greater level of experience.
Other Addiction Counselor Options
While a CADC is a common type of addiction counselor, you also have other options to consider. For instance, you might wish to earn certification as a Prevention Specialist. This is a person who typically works within a community to help prevent drug and alcohol addiction and to help people (often children, teenagers and young adults) make healthy choices.
If you have struggled with addiction and are now in recovery, another option to consider would be a Peer Recovery Support Specialist. For this option, you would need to have been in recovery for two or more years. This option is available to those in recovery for substance use as well as co-occurring mental health disorders. For instance, if you are in recovery for bipolar disorder, but not substance use, you still could consider this job as an option. Your experience with bipolar disorder can be valuable to many people struggling with addiction and bipolar disorder.
Additionally, you would need to have 200 hours of work experience in a peer recovery center or environment. This can be paid or unpaid experience, but it must be signed off by a supervisor. Ethics education classes also are required, and an additional 60 units of education must be completed, as well, in subjects such as basic pharmacology, screening and intake, family education and more. A passing score on the IC&RC Peer Recovery exam also will be required.
There are several other options, as well, and there are many options for people to consider after they have completed their addiction counselor education and training and are certified as an addiction counselor. Once you earn your CADC certification, you will need complete continuing education units in order to renew the certification.
Many people will focus on specific types of continuing education and branch off into other areas of addiction counseling, such as:
- Certified Co-Occurring Disorder Professional
- Certified Criminal Justice Addiction Professional
- Medication-Assisted Treatment Specialist
- Intervention Specialist
- Women’s Treatment Specialist
- Certified Admissions & Marketing Specialist
- Professional Recovery Coach
You can learn more about these areas of specialization on the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals website at https://ccappcredentialing.org/index.php/career-ladder.
This is an organization that supports addiction professionals and where California addiction counselors can renew their credentials. If you are outside of California, just about every state has a similar credentialing organization, and you will find similar certifications specific to your state.
Enroll Now & Finish In 6 Months!
At Sober College, we can provide you with the CCAPP-approved and NAADAC-approved curriculum you need in order to become an addiction counselor. The best part is that you can finish your coursework in just six months, and your classes are all online.
We know that just about everyone is still online these days, but we’ve been online for years, so you’ll find our system to be very user-friendly. We also offer daily instructional support for our students, and our instructors can be reached 24/7 via email and we have 24-hour turnaround time for emails. Additionally, you can schedule appointments by phone when needed.
Our training is specific for those wishing to become a CADC-I, CADC-II or CADC-III, and while those are the terms used in California and several other states, our curriculum also can be used to fulfill educational requirements in most other states, even if the job name is slightly different. In fact, our curriculum is approved in all but three states – Alaska, Montana and North Dakota. If you live in the other 47 states, we can make earning your substance abuse certification as easy as possible.
To learn more about Sober College’s program and how you can become an addiction counselor, go to the Counselor Training section at the top of this page. You also can click on the Get Started tab and fill out our quick contact form. A registration specialist will be in touch to provide you with more information about our program or help you with registration.
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