If you’re drawn to helping others overcome one of life’s toughest battles, becoming an addiction counselor might be the calling you’ve been waiting for. With substance use disorders affecting millions of individuals and families, the demand for compassionate, skilled counselors has never been higher. In this definitive guide, we’ll walk you through how to become an addiction counselor, from education and certification to what it’s really like to work in the field, so you can take the first step toward a career that truly changes lives.
Part One: Understanding The Job
Working as a substance abuse counselor requires patience, excellent listening skills, empathy and solid organizational skills. While you certainly will spend a good deal of your time face-to-face working with individuals struggling with a substance use disorder, a certified addiction counselor also must handle a good deal of paperwork.
On a day-to-day basis, drug and alcohol counselors must be able to handle all 12 Core Functions of Addiction Counseling, and these include:
- Patient Screening
- Intake
- Orientation
- Assessment
- Treatment Planning
- Counseling
- Case Management
- Crisis Intervention
- Reporting & Record Keeping
- Consultation With Other Professionals
Part Two: Education Requirements
While some licensed professionals possess a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or even a doctoral degree, you can earn counseling certification without a degree. In fact, you can become a certified alcohol and drug counselor (CADC) with only a high school diploma or the equivalent.
A CADC, also known as a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC) or perhaps as an Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ADC), is a very common type of addiction counselor certification. Although the preferred term for addiction is now substance use disorder (SUD), most of the time, a SUD counselor will be called a CADC or LADC or something similar. For this certification or licensure, you will need to complete 315 hours of addiction studies education.
Part Three: Practicum Experiences
Most states require that you complete at least 255 hours of practicum experience. This practicum is essentially an internship where you work at an approved facility and spend at least 21 hours handling each of the 12 Core Functions. One excellent reason to select Sober College is that your practicum experiences are included in our program, which means you will be able to check off two important components of the certification process.
Part Four: The IC&RC Exam
IC&RC is an internationally recognized organization that provides standardized testing for many types of addiction specialists. For those wishing to become a CADC or the equivalent, you will need to pass IC&RC’s Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ADC) exam. Our curriculum, along with the support of our expert instructors, will provide you with all of the information you need to pass this exam.
Part Five: Work Experience Hours
At this point, you will be ready to begin your true on-the-job training as a new addiction counselor and work toward the completion of your supervised work experience hours. While you are not yet certified, you will be paid for this work and handling all of the typical tasks of certified counselors, you simply will be working under supervision.
The number of required hours varies based on the level of CADC certification you wish to earn. For instance, a CADC-I will need to complete 3,000 hours of work experience, which takes about 18 months to complete, depending on how many hours you work per week. Your 255-hour practicum experience also typically is applied to this total.
A CADC-II must complete 6,000 hours of supervised work experience, and most CADC-I’s will work toward CADC-II certification, as it’s generally the next step on the career ladder. A CADC-III must complete 4,000 hours of supervised work, but this individual also must have earned a bachelor’s degree.
Many people will work toward completion of a bachelor’s degree and eventually earn their CADC-III certification. This can be a good step to take because job candidates with a college degree tend to earn a higher addiction counselor salary over those without a degree. Again, you do not need to have a college degree to earn your CADC-I or CADC-II certification.
Once you’ve completed your educational units, practicum experience, supervised work hours, and passed the IC&RC exam, you will be eligible to apply for certification with your state’s credentialling board. Keep in mind, that to renew your credential (usually every two years), you will need to complete a specific number of Continuing Education (CE) units.
Why Choose Sober College?
Many traditional colleges and universities have programs for those wishing to become a certified addiction counselor, so why should you choose Sober College over another education provider? There are several reasons, including:
1. Easily Accessible Education
At Sober College, we are a CCAPP-approved, NAADAC–approved and IC&RC-approved education provider. This means that students from almost every state (as well as internationally) can use our program to complete the educational requirements for substance abuse counselor certification. The only states where our curriculum cannot be used include Alaska, North Dakota and Montana.
Our program also is 100% online, which allows you to schedule your learning wherever and whenever it is convenient for you. There’s no need to attend scheduled in-person classes, and this can be a perfect fit for busy adults with work and family commitments.
2. Our Program Can Be Completed Quickly
Unlike typical university programs, our program can be completed in just six months. Additionally, we offer rolling admissions, which means you can begin your studies at any time. At a traditional college, you might have to wait for a specific semester to begin or struggle to find open classes, but that is never an issue with Sober College.
3. Our Program Is Highly Affordable
College tuition can be extremely cost-prohibitive, costing tens of thousands of dollars. The total cost for our program (excluding books) is just $4,250 with no hidden costs or fees. Books typically cost an additional $300-$500 in all.
Enroll Today!
Now that you have learned a bit about how to become an addiction counselor, we invite you to explore our website and learn all you can about our program. If you wish to apply or need to ask questions, simply head to the Get Started tab at the top of this page.
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