Addiction counseling can be a rewarding career, and if you are interested in becoming a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Sober College of Addiction Studies can help. We offer CCAPP-approved education for anyone wanting to earn their CADC certification in California.
What Is CCAPP?
As stated above, we offer a CCAPP-approved curriculum, but let’s take a quick look at this organization and how it supports counselors and patients throughout California. CCAPP is the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals. This organization provides counseling credentials for CADCs as well as many other types of addiction specialists in California. This group, founded in 1972, is the oldest credentialing organization in the state.
In addition to awarding credentials to qualified applicants, CCAPP also focuses on advocacy for addiction professionals as well as those struggling with substance use disorders. For instance, CCAPP often sponsors legislation designed to strengthen standards of treatment, access to treatment and professional standards for counselors.
Types Of Addiction Specialists In California
At Sober College, we focus on CADC certification for those wishing to become a CADC-I, CADC-II or CADC-III. This is a common type of counseling certification, although outside of California it might be known as a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC), an Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ADC) or perhaps another name.
One of the perks of CADC certification is that most CADCs (CADC-I’s and CADC-II’s) do not need to have earned a college diploma. If you have earned a bachelor’s degree, you can work toward CADC-III certification. The educational requirements, practicum requirements and testing requirements are identical for all three levels of CADC.
The difference lies in the number of required supervised work experience hours. A CADC-I must complete 3,000 hours. A CADC-II must complete 6,000 hours and a CADC-III must complete 4,000 hours, but, again, the CADC-III also must have a bachelor’s degree. No degree is required for a CADC-I or CADC-II.
However, there are many other types of certification that might be of interest. Some of these do require a college degree, such as a Licensed Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LAADC), which requires a master’s degree.
Other certifications, such as a Prevention Specialist or Intervention Specialist might not require a college degree but do require additional training beyond your CADC certification. These specialty credentials can be a good option to consider once you’ve worked for a while as a CADC and found that you have some specific areas of interest and there are many interesting options.
For example, if you’d like to work with clients who are in the criminal justice system, you might consider specializing as a Certified Criminal Justice Professional (CCJP). This requires an additional 90 hours of education (beyond your CADC educational units) as well as a 300-hour supervised practicum and a passing score on the IC&RC Certified Criminal Justice Professional exam.
How To Earn CADC Certification In California
In order to become a substance abuse counselor in California, specifically a CADC, you must complete several steps, including:
- 315 Hours Of Education (from a CCAPP-approved provider)
- 255 Hours of Practicum Experience
- A Passing Score on the IC&RC Exam
- Supervised Work Experience Hours (as detailed above)
At Sober College, we are a California-based, CCAPP-approved education provider and with our program, we can help you complete your 315 hours of addiction counselor education as well as your practicum experiences, which are internships where you gain clinical experience in all of the 12 Core Functions of Addiction Counseling.
Our program has many advantages over programs at traditional four-year colleges and universities. The first perk of our program is that it takes just six months to complete, whereas most university programs will take several years to complete. Our program also can be completely online, which provides working adults with a higher level of flexibility than in-person classes.
The total cost of our program is $4,250 with an additional $300-$500 for books, and this is significantly less expensive than university programs. All class materials are included in these costs, and there are no hidden fees. We also offer rolling admissions, so you can get started whenever it’s convenient for you, instead of waiting for specific semester dates as you would with traditional colleges.
Sober College’s counselor training program also will prepare you to take the IC&RC Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ADC) exam. In addition to our CCAPP approval, our curriculum is IC&RC-approved as well as NAADAC-approved. This means we offer a curriculum that can be used throughout most of the United States.
Once you’ve completed your education requirements, and practicum and passed the IC&RC exam, the remaining requirement will be the completion of your supervised work experience hours as we outlined earlier in this article. These hours will be paid hours, and you will be handling all of the typical day-to-day tasks of certified drug and alcohol counselors, you will simply be working under a supervisor. Your practicum hours also will be included in your total work experience hours.
Enroll At Sober College Now!
If you wish to earn CADC certification in California, Sober College offers affordable, high-quality education that can help you get started on this career path. CADCs are in high demand, and this is a fulfilling career where you truly help people transform their lives every day.
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