How To Become A Substance Addiction Specialist
Drug and alcohol treatment facilities are specialized treatment centers which offer programs that help addicted clients to recover. In order for this program to become successful patients need skilled health professionals to assist them in their journey to recovery.
Alcohol and drug treatment counselors are integral parts of the society to be physically and mentally healthy. They give alcohol and drug therapy to patients who suffer from this substance abuse. Unfortunately, many of our therapy centers do not have enough counselors in their office. This makes drug and alcohol treatment counselor a good choice of a profession. It does not just benefit the patients but also the counselor. There are many job opportunities which await them.
To become a part of the drug and alcohol treatment as a counselor is easy. The interested candidate would only take 270 hours of lecture and training to complete the course. This could be finished through regular classroom settings or you can choose to study online depending on what your state education program provides. The needed hours to finish the course could vary from 150 to 300 hours depending on the state.
The subject you need to take up includes drug pharmacology where the patient studies the information of drugs including negative effects and its adverse reaction, guidance abilities, Ethics, AIDS training and drug and alcohol abuse prevention. You could obtain an associate degree in chemical dependency, or a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in alcohol and drug counseling. Whatever your choice your opportunities to land on a career is secured.
After finishing the course, all students should join the internship program before they could be a professional counselor. This will assure the clients in the drug treatment centers that their health care providers don’t only have the knowledge but also the skills that will guide them to their choices of recovery. The number of hours allocated for this on-the-job training depends on the state requirements.
A test given by the NAADAC Association for Addiction Professionals after the course and internship will be finished. There are many helpful materials and review classes which will help the aspirant to pass the licensure examination. This includes manuals and exercise test. You can ask your substance abuse adviser of your college. For latest updates on drug and alcohol treatment programs the counselor needs continuing education classes every year.
