Drug Abuse Counselors

Schools and Education

What’s Needed:

• Education requirements can range from a Master’s degree to just a high school diploma.
• In many states a licensed drug abuse counselor needs a Master’s degree in Addiction and Substance Abuse.
• Those with more college education have opportunities to provide more services to clients including one-on-one counseling sessions.
• Those interested in this field should check their state’s educational requirements before looking for schools for applicable programs.

The education programs focus on practice theory ethics and research methods of substance abuse counseling. Many of the programs include an internship or a capstone experience.

Many of those seeking a Master degree in Substance Abuse Counseling or Counseling have a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Most Bachelor in Psychology degree programs include specializations; many of those interested in a counseling career select a clinical or health-related specialization.

What you study:

• Patient assessment
• Group counseling techniques
• Treatment planning
• Case management skills
• Crisis intervention
• Individual counseling
• Interviewing techniques
• Types of substance abuse

What courses you’ll take

Below are examples of courses that you’ll likely take as a student pursueing a degree or advanced certificate in addiction or substance abuse counseling.

Video Overview

A Day in the Life

Substance abuse counselors need compassion and a strong desire to help people. One of the major challenges you’ll deal with is controlling your emotions while dealing with clients. You’ll likely experience emotional highs and lows.

You’ll often be involved in crisis intervention. Crisis intervention demands a nonjudgmental sympathetic attitude and a lot of support.

A large number of drug addicts need help in many areas of their lives. Drug abuse counselors refer clients to an array of other services which may provide them a solid platform to deal with their drug addition.

You may have to deal with homeless clients with mental illness. Substance abuse counselors also have to deal with their own sadness and frustration when clients slip back into strong drug abuse. Learning drug addict clients have died is obviously a difficult aspect of the job.

Substance abuse counselors often work with the family members of drug abusers. Some drug abuse counselors specialize in working with post-rehab clients helping them obtain services. Drug abuse counselors sometimes work under the supervision of psychologists physicians and social workers.

You may provide individual and/or group counseling. In group counseling sessions you’ll lead the group guiding discussion and providing feedback and strategies for clients.

Certifications and Licensing

Drug abuse counselors in private practice need a license which typically requires a masters’s degree along with two thousand to three thousand hours of supervise clinical experience. Drug abuse counselors are required to pass a state-recognized exam and complete continuing education requirements every year.

The license and certification requirements for drug abuse counselors not working in private practice varies by the state. For example not every state requires a specific degree but many states require candidates to pass an exam.

Job Flexibility

Full-time versus part-time: Most substance abuse counselors work full-time. In some environments such as inpatient facilities they might work nights or weekends.

Work location: Substance abuse counselors work in a wide array of setting such as mental health centers probation or parole agencies prisons employed assistance programs residential treatment centers outpatient treatment centers. They also work in private practice halfway houses detox centers and juvenile detention facilities.

Recommended Websites

• The American Counseling Association (ACA) provides an array of resources. The website provides information in categories such as Professional Development Online Learning and Ethics. The ACA offers resources to help students become a professional counselor. The American Counseling Association helps students with their personal and professional growth and also provides networking opportunities. The ACA Conference & Expo offers a variety of networking and educational offerings.
• The National Board For Certified Counselors provides important information about certifications state licensure exams and about its services. The website also provides study guides. The National Board For Certified Counselors provides information about the Examination for Master Addictions Counselors.
• The Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs provides important information about accreditation. The website also provides useful tips for selecting a graduate program and provides information about obtaining a license after graduation.
• Occupational Outlook Handbook The US Bureau of Labor Statistics handbook section titled “Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors” provides reference information and data about this career including lists of activities the workplace environment job outlooks and more.
• O*NET OnLine’s summary provides a highly statistical look at substance abuse careers covering many different aspects of the job including its knowledge skills abilities interests values and so on.
  

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  Salaries by City

  See typical salaries and ranges for this career below Shift click to sort by more than one column — for example first shift-click on state and then shift-click on salary to find best and worst salaries in each state.

  State	City / Region	Typical Salary	Salary Range	Job Count	% of All Jobs
  AK	Anchorage	$44510	$34K – $68K	120	0.07%
  AL	Birmingham – Hoover	$39720	$32K – $57K	240	0.05%
  AL	Huntsville	$26670	$18K – $37K	50	0.03%
  AL	Mobile	$35900	$26K – $69K	70	0.04%
  AL	Montgomery	$43560	$36K – $56K	50	0.03%
  AR	Fayetteville – Springdale – Rogers	$51150	$32K – $60K	30	0.02%
  AR	Fort Smith	$30960	$26K – $43K	40	0.04%
  AR	Little Rock – North Little Rock – Conway	$35710	$21K – $56K	110	0.03%
  AZ	Phoenix – Mesa – Glendale	$38150	$21K – $67K	1000	0.06%
  AZ	Prescott	$31440	$19K – $47K	30	0.06%
  AZ	Tucson	$35940	$26K – $51K	470	0.13%
  CA	Bakersfield – Delano	$46020	$28K – $57K	110	0.04%
  CA	Chico	$34050	$23K – $54K	90	0.13%
  CA	El Centro	$43930	$31K – $68K	40	0.08%
  CA	Fresno	$33010	$26K – $54K	290	0.09%
  CA	Los Angeles – Long Beach – Glendale (Metro Area)	$28960	$18K – $47K	2830	0.07%
  CA	Modesto	$50050	$25K – $60K	160	0.10%
  CA	Napa	$32260	$25K – $46K	70	0.11%
  CA	Oakland – Fremont – Hayward (Metro Area)	$41290	$30K – $82K	580	0.06%
  CA	Oxnard – Thousand Oaks – Ventura	$35170	$21K – $48K	200	0.07%
  CA	Riverside – San Bernardino – Ontario	$35930	$26K – $59K	830	0.07%
  CA	Sacramento – Arden – Arcade – Roseville	$33950	$24K – $57K	580	0.07%
  CA	Salinas	$41990	$32K – $60K	230	0.15%
  CA	San Diego – Carlsbad – San Marcos	$33850	$23K – $54K	590	0.05%
  CA	San Francisco – San Mateo – Redwood City (Metro Area)	$40820	$30K – $58K	510	0.05%
  CA	San Jose – Sunnyvale – Santa Clara	$38430	$29K – $68K	260	0.03%
  CA	Santa Ana – Anaheim – Irvine (Metro Area)	$30910	$24K – $55K	470	0.03%
  CA	Santa Barbara – Santa Maria – Goleta	$33900	$26K – $55K	160	0.10%
  CA	Santa Cruz – Watsonville	$29320	$21K – $46K	120	0.14%
  CA	Santa Rosa – Petaluma	$34820	$26K – $61K	180	0.11%
  CA	Stockton	$51110	$26K – $65K	140	0.07%
  CA	Vallejo – Fairfield	$34390	$25K – $59K	N/A	N/A
  CA	Visalia – Porterville	$41360	$23K – $70K	90	0.07%
  CA	Yuba City	$26620	$21K – $42K	50	0.14%
  CO	Boulder	$44310	$29K – $59K	110	0.07%
  CO	Colorado Springs	$40380	$26K – $52K	N/A	N/A
  CO	Denver – Aurora – Broomfield	$39500	$22K – $59K	730	0.06%
  CO	Fort Collins – Loveland	$37100	$25K – $59K	60	0.04%
  CO	Pueblo	$29880	$21K – $49K	170	0.31%
  CT	Bridgeport – Stamford – Norwalk	$45270	$34K – $66K	200	0.05%
  CT	Danbury	$49180	$31K – $67K	30	0.05%
  CT	Hartford – West Hartford – East Hartford	$45760	$32K – $67K	790	0.14%
  CT	New Haven	$39160	$27K – $67K	240	0.09%
  CT	Norwich – New London	$39350	$33K – $70K	80	0.06%
  CT	Waterbury	$44340	$27K – $69K	190	0.31%
  DC	Washington – Arlington – Alexandria (Metro Area)	$49330	$32K – $78K	1020	0.04%
  DE	Wilmington (Metro Area)	$38340	$32K – $56K	260	0.08%
  FL	Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach	$43190	$27K – $62K	80	0.05%
  FL	Fort Lauderdale – Pompano Beach – Deerfield Beach (Metro Area)	$36280	$21K – $62K	540	0.08%
  FL	Gainesville	$36260	$26K – $58K	130	0.11%
  FL	Jacksonville	$41380	$29K – $60K	170	0.03%
  FL	Lakeland – Winter Haven	$48680	$26K – $59K	N/A	N/A
  FL	Miami – Miami Beach – Kendall (Metro Area)	$45470	$22K – $74K	290	0.03%
  FL	North Port – Bradenton – Sarasota	$44160	$23K – $63K	90	0.04%
  FL	Ocala	$38380	$22K – $58K	90	0.11%
  FL	Orlando – Kissimmee – Sanford	$37480	$26K – $58K	380	0.04%
  FL	Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville	$36070	$22K – $53K	140	0.07%
  FL	Panama City – Lynn Haven – Panama City Beach	$23300	$18K – $37K	160	0.22%
  FL	Pensacola – Ferry Pass – Brent	$36450	$29K – $53K	230	0.15%
  FL	Port St. Lucie	$33120	$20K – $62K	150	0.12%
  FL	Tallahassee	$44540	$35K – $58K	50	0.03%
  FL	Tampa – St. Petersburg – Clearwater	$45680	$25K – $75K	470	0.04%
  FL	West Palm Beach – Boca Raton – Boynton Beach (Metro Area)	$44770	$34K – $68K	350	0.07%
  GA	Atlanta – Sandy Springs – Marietta	$38730	$26K – $59K	890	0.04%
  GA	Augusta – Richmond County	$36680	$29K – $47K	90	0.05%
  GA	Columbus	$42660	$32K – $49K	30	0.03%
  GA	Macon	$45200	$31K – $60K	N/A	N/A
  GA	Rome	$31250	$26K – $52K	30	0.09%
  GA	Savannah	$35300	$25K – $56K	130	0.08%
  GA	Valdosta	$32320	$26K – $46K	40	0.09%
  HI	Honolulu	$41580	$25K – $67K	230	0.05%
  IA	Davenport – Moline – Rock Island	$34230	$27K – $59K	40	0.02%
  IA	Des Moines – West Des Moines	$47680	$34K – $67K	110	0.03%
  IA	Iowa City	$54240	$35K – $69K	N/A	N/A
  ID	Boise City – Nampa	$42150	$30K – $49K	510	0.20%
  ID	Coeur d’Alene ID	$26090	$16K – $37K	60	0.12%
  ID	Idaho Falls	$40860	$32K – $56K	60	0.13%
  ID	Pocatello	$40590	$30K – $56K	110	0.32%
  IL	Chicago – Joliet – Naperville (Metro Area)	$38580	$27K – $59K	1260	0.03%
  IL	Lake County – Kenosha County (Metro Area)	$44350	$32K – $71K	70	0.02%
  IL	Peoria	$29990	$25K – $43K	110	0.06%
  IL	Rockford	$34130	$23K – $44K	80	0.06%
  IN	Anderson	$29470	$26K – $54K	N/A	N/A
  IN	Elkhart – Goshen	$39610	$24K – $52K	50	0.05%
  IN	Evansville	$30200	$17K – $56K	70	0.04%
  IN	Fort Wayne	$37090	$24K – $62K	40	0.02%
  IN	Gary (Metro Area)	$31410	$20K – $44K	120	0.05%
  IN	Indianapolis – Carmel	$40690	$27Kr”>$36570	$28K – $52K	40	0.03%
  IN	Terre Haute	$29010	$26K – $39K	30	0.05%
  KS	Lawrence	$40890	$32K – $55K	40	0.08%
  KS	Topeka	$38170	$29K – $46K	40	0.04%
  KS	Wichita	$32780	$25K – $45K	190	0.07%
  KY	Elizabethtown	$32230	$17K – $42K	50	0.11%
  KY	Lexington – Fayette	$28640	$17K – $77K	40	0.01%
  KY	Louisville – Jefferson County	$36210	$25K – $62K	420	0.07%
  LA	Baton Rouge	$33640	$18K – $54K	120	0.03%
  LA	New Orleans – Metairie – Kenner	$37480	$21K – $49K	120	0.02%
  LA	Shreveport – Bossier City	$36020	$26K – $57K	60	0.03%
  MA	Barnstable Town	$	$31K – $55K	100	0.10%
  MA	Boston – Cambridge – Quincy (Metro Area)	$43230	$32K – $57K	1270	0.07%
  MA	Brockton – Bridgewater – Easton (Metro Area)	$47310	$29K – $74K	90	0.10%
  MA	Framingham (Metro Area)