If there is one single question that gets asked more than any other by people interested in becoming credentialed substance use disorder (SUD) counselors, it’s about experience.
Everyone knows you have to get a college degree or certificate of some sort to qualify for SUD counseling positions even at the lowest levels. And pretty much everyone has a good understanding of what it takes to earn a degree—you’ve already spent most of your life in one kind of school or another, classwork isn’t a big mystery.
But you can’t get a position in addiction counseling in most states without also racking up a certain number of hours of supervised clinical
How you are supposed to get the experience to get a license before you get a license to get the experience is a mystery to many.
This puts you in the classic chicken and egg cycle: you need to get your credential as a counselor to get hired and gain experience, but you can’t get your credential until you have been hired and gained experience.
But take heart! It’s not as mysterious or difficult as it sounds. We’ll walk you through how most people get their required practice experience to qualify for the credentials it takes to become a substance use disorder counselor.
In Some States, Accumulating Your Required Clinical Experience Is No Big Deal
For some students in counseling programs, you’re already asking, “What’s the big deal?”
Well, it’s true that it’s not a big deal for everyone. Some states, by the way they have structured their career ladder, or the typical way that educational requirements are satisfied, don’t present much of a problem when it comes to building supervised experience hours. When becoming a substance abuse counselor in California, for example, most initial certification programs come pre-baked with exactly the number of hours you need to get your first credential. After that, it’s easy to rack up any extra hours you need for more advanced licenses.
In some states, a temporary or provisional credential specifically designed for new graduates gaining on-the-job experience makes the process simple and straightforward.
It’s also the case that students in more heavily populated areas tend to have an easier time and more options lining up experiential placements. Although drug problems are an equal opportunity catastrophe in rural, urban, and suburban areas, treatment centers are more heavily concentrated in the big cities. So the odds are better for finding opportunities to get supervised experience there.
But no matter where you are, here are some words of encouragement: it only seems impossible. The reality is, SUD counselor jobs need to be filled in every state. If the requirements were really so circular to keep people from earning their credentials, they would never license anyone. So no matter where you are, rest assured that there is a path to getting your supervised experience requirements fulfilled.
Your Degree Program Offers Your First Significant Boost Toward Getting Hours In
At least at first, most of these hours will, in fact, come as part of your formal education in substance abuse treatment.
Many associate degree, some certificate programs, and pretty much every substance abuse counseling degree above the bachelor’s level will include practical, on-the-job placements where you will start building your clinical practice and supervision hours as a counselor.
Depending on your state, you’ll need thousands of practice hours and hundreds of supervision hours, so it’s not usually practical to fulfill all requirements during your college studies.
Although these hours won’t be enough to fully qualify you for licensure in most states, they are in fact your best path to lining up the kind of opportunities you will need to complete those hours.
How to Leverage Practicum Classes Into More Than the Sum of Their Hours
Your initial college experience hours will probably happen through practicum placements.
Practicums are a regularly assigned college class that happens to mostly occur in a live clinical environment out in the real world of substance use disorder counseling. You will have an instructor as well as your on-the-job supervisor, and they will coordinate to make sure you learn important lessons in the course of your duties.
But practicums are also going to include active face-to-face counseling sessions as well as direct supervision, all of which will count toward your final requirements.
It’s also true that your school-based experiential learning placements are often the best place to look for post-graduation opportunities.
Many students make a good impression during their practicum placements, establishing a connection that lets them go back after graduating to get an internship or entry-level position at the same organization.
Landing an Internship After You Graduate Offers a Formal Path To Accumulating Clinical Hours
Internships are often available as part of degree programs, too. You can also find internships on your own without assistance from your school. And you can do it simply by checking local job ads or calling around and engaging local substance use disorder treatment organizations.
An internship differs from a practicum in that it is usually longer and more work-focused than instruction-focused. Internships are basically unpaid or low-paying positions that involve performing the same work as certified counselors, but under the guidance of a credentialed supervisor. You are essentially exchanging your time for the opportunity to learn on the job and get priceless guidance from an experienced counselor. And all while also accumulating the hours you need to become credentialed yourself.
In some cases, particularly when earning an advanced degree, like a master’s in substance use disorder counseling, intensive internship placements are often part of your degree program.
Internships usually offer your best path to racking up the experiential hours needed for licensure, however. Because they are set up for students or recent graduates, it’s expected that the employer will be actively supporting your development. They won’t require that you have full licensure to get started.
Finding the Job That Will Allow You To Build Your Hours Along the Way
In some cases, your best path to building your practice hours may simply come through the regular job application process.
Especially in areas where SUD counselors are in high demand, employers routinely hire trained, but not yet fully licensed graduates, fostering real-world learning and imparting valuable guidance as they work toward licensure.
In these positions, you may or may not be called an intern, but you are likely to be paid a lower rate than a full counselor. Your work will be restricted to whatever you are legally allowed to do based on state licensing laws, which often specifically defines the scope of practice for non-credentialed trainees, even while supervised. But your employer has a vested interest in getting your hours built up and helping you along the path to licensure, even as you play an important role in the workforce there.
Sometimes, these positions are advertised as being open to both licensed and unlicensed counselors. That’s a sure sign it’s a good opportunity to build your experience. But in other cases, organizations may be open to this without advertising the fact. It’s worth exploring any job advertisement in your area for entry-level counselors to see if they are willing to hire you and support your learning as you build experience. It’s more common than you might think.
Not every organization is able to accommodate the supervision requirement or take on a counselor without a license, though. But this is also where your networking and prior experience comes into play—they are more likely to hire someone who has worked with them before and made a favorable impression.
At the End of the Day, Experiential Learning is What Makes a Substance Abuse Counselor
There’s a very good reason why supervised experience is part of becoming a substance abuse counselor, even in states that don’t have high education requirements. Getting your required contact and supervision hours is literally where you come face to face with what it means to be a substance abuse counselor. It’s the proving grounds where you apply all the theory you picked up in school, but it’s a lot more than that.
It’s also the gritty reality of bringing people back from the brink, complete with all the ups and downs that come with little gains and big triumphs, as well as relapse and regression.
Just as much as earning your degree or passing the necessary tests, this is not an optional part of the process. It’s key.
Like getting your degree, it can take years to complete. But unlike your degree, you won’t find as much structured help when it comes to finishing up your practice hours. It’s something you really need to own.
But you’re coming to this point in your career preparation with your own experiences behind you, your own motivations, and plenty of formal education too. And that’s a real benefit. A degree in substance abuse counseling doesn’t just come with technical training and a few contact hours of active therapy. It also builds confidence and helps blend your innate compassion with the kind of critical-thinking and problem-solving chops that together make an effective counselor.