Educational and training requirements for substance abuse counselors

Substance Abuse Counselor

Education/academic Goal (Local or State) level

Earn a Bachelor\'s Degree in the field of behavioral science. With respect to being a substance abuse counselor, there is a great preference for such a degree with a major in Counseling or Addiction Counseling.

Requirements of accomplish Goal?

The requirements for achieving this objective include a certificate showing passing of a state authorized examination acknowledged by the state of California, equivalent to a high school diploma. The other option is attaining an associate\'s degree from an approved institution of higher learning.

How long to accomplish the Goal?

In order to achieve this objective, the minimum duration is two years (Counselor-License, 2016).

Goal

Education/academic Goal (National Goal) level

A Master\'s Degree in Behavioral Science field with Counseling or Addiction Counseling is considered sufficient. Other degrees that are satisfactoryinclude the fields of Sociology, Human Services or Psychology.

Requirements of accomplish Goal?

The requirement to accomplish this goal is attaining the Bachelor\'s Degree in behavioral science.

How long to accomplish the Goal?

So as to achieve this particular objective, it will take a minimum period of 1 year from an accredited institution of higher education (Counselor-License, 2016).

Goal 3

Training Goal (Local or State) level

The training objective at the state level of California is to attain the Certified Addictions Treatment Counselor (CATC) credential.

Requirements needed to accomplish Goal.

The prerequisites in accomplishing this objective encompass surpassing the mandatory educational requirements in the state of California. This implies having completed a college degree. The degree should be obtained from a regionally accredited college by the California Association for Alcohol or Drug Educators (CAADE) (CAADE, 2016).

How long to accomplish the Goal?

The duration required to achieve this objective is 315 hours of approved education (Human Services Edu, 2016). The requirement is the completion of 2,240 supervised internship hours. This is in addition to the four years required to obtain a university degree in behavioral science.

Goal 4

Training Goal (National Goal) level

The training objective at the national level is to attain the Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor certification. This is a documentation mark and acknowledgment as a professional who has attained high national criteria for the practice of clinical health counseling.

Requirements needed to accomplish Goal.

The educational requirement is a master\'s degree and the coursework of this particular gradation of different content areas together with clinical training.

How long to accomplish the Goal?

There is no specified duration for achieving this particular objective. Volunteer work at both the state level and the national level do not have any specific timeline for an individual. Rather, the person volunteers as much as possible.