Every day on the job you see firsthand the destructive effects of America’s drug epidemic:
- Families torn apart and separated through abuse and neglect
- Serious healthcare consequences from years of putting poison into human bodies
- Emotional trauma and serious
- Homelessness and mental illness fueled by psychoactive substances
When you’re looking into the grim face of substance use disorder each day, you can’t help but bear some of that pain yourself. It’s measured in the psychological stress you experience seeing and feeling the impact of all of that trauma and suffering.
Addiction counseling is a powerful profession with life-saving outcomes. But it also can exact a powerful toll on those doing the counseling.
That impact can be even more significant given the demographics of people drawn to substance abuse counseling. It’s likely you know this all too well, especially if you have come to a career in substance abuse counseling because either you or someone you know has experienced a mental health or substance use disorder. You’re here to share the wisdom earned through that experience and to give back to the community… but that makes you vulnerable to becoming re-traumatized.
What Sort of Mental Health Risks Do Addiction Counselors Face on the Job?
In many ways, these are ethics issues as well as personal wellness issues. If you’re running at something less than your best, you probably aren’t giving your clients the best counseling they deserve either.
So taking care of yourself and managing your mental well-being is really job one in providing excellent care to your patients.
Compassion Fatigue
Sometimes the risk is less to you personally than to your clients. That’s what happens when you are struck by compassion fatigue in substance abuse counseling.
Compassion fatigue is still a kind of traumatic stress, dropped in a blender with burnout and whirred on high until your empathy is simply rubbed raw: you stop caring.
Compassion fatigue is especially likely to occur in individuals who have themselves experienced a history of trauma relating to substance abuse.
This brings on a kind of avoidance that keeps you from giving the job your best.
Anxiety and Depression
Substance use disorder counselors hold a place of enormous trust for their clients and the families of those clients. Everyone looks to you for solutions to what are often mountainous problems.
That puts a lot of pressure on you, every single day. Blend it together with all the uncertainty that comes with things outside your control, and it can make for absolutely shattering levels of anxiety.
Sometimes related to that and sometimes separate, depression can also eat away at the margins of your soul in addiction counseling. While the wins you experience will save lives and strengthen communities, not every case has a successful outcome. Some counselors experience a darkness that becomes dangerous to their own well-being as a result.
Burnout
Separate from compassion fatigue is just plain old burnout. Burnout as a stand-alone problem for SUD counselors comes through stress response that accumulates over time and develops into an aversion to performing the core parts of the job with passion and effectiveness.
Burnout isn’t an issue that is unique to substance abuse counseling, of course. You can get burned out on any kind of work. But it does tend to be a greater risk for addiction counselors just due to the heavy workloads and the relatively low success rates that are part of the SUD epidemic package.
Relapse
So many people come to substance abuse counseling with substance use disorders themselves there’s even an official role for it: peer counselors in most states can’t even get certified without having come from a background where they or someone close to them has gone through the trauma of addiction.
As you’re no doubt well aware, there’s no cure for addiction—there’s only recovery. Every person with substance use disorder lives with the risk of relapse.
When you’re around other SUD patients constantly, that risk only increases. So guarding against falling back into using needs to be a high priority for any counselor who has already put in the work to make the journey to sobriety.
Professional Addiction Counseling Associations Offer Strong Mental Wellness Supports to Counselors
Fortunately, you are not alone in combatting these mental health and wellness risks. Even as you work to help your patients fight their way back to recovery, there are also powerful forces that are engaged to keep your own well-being stable.
Many of these are from the people who best understand exactly what you are going through: other substance abuse counseling professionals. So both local and national professional associations of addiction counselors may be your first place to turn for resources.
The Association for Addiction Professionals
NAADAC is the 800-pound gorilla in the national addiction professional organizations zoo. With resources including an Online Community, where you can share your stories and receive feedback and affirmation from peers, as well as a wealth of continuing education and online webinar presentations specifically focused on self-care, many of the answers you are looking for can be found here.
National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers
NAATP is an association of organizations that run treatment programs rather than of counselors themselves. But workforce care and retention is a big part of success in the addiction treatment industry, so NAATP works with members and HR experts to create tools to assist staff through coaching and training, including in self-care needs.
National Board for Certified Counselors
NBCC covers counseling more generally, specifically in the area of mental health. But that also makes them the perfect resource for substance abuse counselors in need of assistance or ideas for appropriate self-care routines. The NBCC website offers numerous tips and pointers for mental wellness for counselors, as well as a place to turn if you decide you are in need of professional assistance yourself.
The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress
AAETS is a major association of psychological and counseling professionals that deal in crisis trauma and its impacts in general. But the group is also well aware of the impacts of secondary trauma on first responders and on counselors themselves. It offers a frontline assistance program specifically aimed at responders to traumatic events, which can assist substance abuse counselors via local experts across the country.
Anxiety and Depression Association of America
ADAA researches treatments for the flip-side of trauma, anxiety and depression. They offer a number of free professional resources for developing evidence-based treatments for these disorders which you might find valuable, both personally and professionally. It also offers another way to network and make contacts with advice and support for your own well-being, if you hold a SUD clinical counselor license.
Finding Regional Affiliates for Professional Organizations Leads to More Resources in Your Area
While these national organizations are all open to any addiction counselor in the country, and have a wealth of resources for self-care and well-being, sometimes it’s better to look closer to home for comrades to help you through.
Fortunately, many states and even cities have local or regional addiction counseling associations that can hook you up with colleagues nearby to lean on.
A good place to start looking for these organizations is through the NAADAC Affiliates Locator. Many states have local addiction counseling associations that are tied back to the national level. They offer some of the same sorts of resources, but with a more focused perspective on the specific challenges and tools available in your area. They may have in-person self-care workshops or other meet-ups you can attend for a more personal kind of support.
You might also take a look through the International Credentials and Reciprocity Consortium Member Board directory for groups near you. Although IC&RC member boards are more focused on certification than on professional support and resources, they do often have links to continuing education resources for SUD counselors that can include mental health and self-care courses.
Major Government and National Nonprofit Groups That Offer Mental Health Supports for Substance Abuse Counselors
The challenges faced by substance use disorder counselors around the country every day are all part of the major government response to the American SUD crisis. Alongside government agencies that have direct responsibilities in SUD treatment, like the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, many big non-profits have popped up to offer assistance to counselors.
These are the major resources with a deep well of funding behind them and a wealth of expertise in offering mental health advice and treatment resources for free. They are probably going to be your first stop for information and ideas as you engage with the mental health issues that come with the job.
SAMHSA Self Care for Healthcare Workers Modules
SAMHSA is one of the agencies you probably will lean on the most for treatment resources and funding as a substance abuse counselor. They have you covered when it comes to self-care, as well, with this three-module package that offers you a self-guided tour of stress mitigation techniques, ways to dodge compassion fatigue, and how to hone your coping strategies for the most intensive treatment scenarios.
Helping the helpers is the name of the game for the Therapy Aid Coalition. This group of generous therapists has members in all 50 states, each with a mission to support mental wellness among first responders and healthcare professionals. Free and low-cost short-term therapy may be available in your area when you need it the most.
Anxiety Disorders – National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Anxiety and depression are among the most closely associated co-morbidities in substance abuse, and they are also afflictions that prey on SUD counselors. NIMH offers research-backed diagnosis and treatment information as well as links to free resources for anyone experiencing clinical anxiety issues.
American Psychological Association – Stress Management
The APA is another well-established well of expertise to draw from when facing mental health challenges on the job. If there is a consistent challenge that comes with substance abuse counseling, it’s stress. A catalog of resources and suggestions for regular and healthy stress management is available on the APA website to help you keep it under control.
National Alliance on Mental Illness
NAMI’s website offers in-depth research on all kinds of mental illness that you may very well find useful in helping clients manage co-occuring disorders on a daily basis. But their support and education resources go even further, offering links to a video resource library, podcasts and webinars, a toll-free helpline, links to support groups, and a catalog of more than 700 NAMI state and local affiliates that can offer aid closer to home.
American Counseling Association
Although ACA isn’t specifically focused on substance abuse counseling, they take on all the same kinds of self-care challenges found throughout the behavioral healthcare world. With educational opportunities that address self-care and provider mental wellness as well as an extensive membership network, you can count on finding resources and assistance through this organization.
National Institute on Drug Abuse
NIDA is run by the National Institutes of Health with a primary mission of supporting research on drugs and drug addiction. Much of your evidence-based coursework in counseling and treatment will come directly from studies funded here. But the institute also offers online clinical resources and a wealth of training material that can help you deal with common co-occuring mental health issues.
Guarding Against Relapse as a Substance Abuse Counselor or Peer Support Specialist
Because many SUD counselors are coming from backgrounds where they or a loved one may have themselves experienced a substance use disorder, all of the same organizations that you may refer clients to for self-care and ongoing support can be resources for you, too.
There are good chances that you have already had experience with one or more of these established, national organizations by the time you get your own addiction counseling credentials. But there’s no reason not to continue using them for support even after you become a professional.
There’s no way you work in the addiction treatment community for long without running across what might be the most wide-spread substance use disorder treatment plan of all: the 12 steps of AA. Since 1935, the Adult Children of Alcoholics self-help organization has spread around the globe. Whether you believe in their methodology or not, you know that there is a meeting somewhere near you with people willing to listen and offer their support.
Al-Anon is the flip-side of AA, supporting family members of those who have a drinking problem. Like AA, in-person meetings put you face to face with other individuals who are facing similar challenges in their families, and who offer advice and support for coping even when times are darkest.
NA brings the AA approach to users of drugs other than alcohol. With a similar format, techniques, and benefits, you know exactly what you are getting here and when it can be a lifeline when your own needs become overpowering.
Other Resources Available Online To Improve Your Counseling Self-Care Routine
While there is really nothing that can completely replace the personal touch that a counseling professional can bring to the table, the internet has revolutionized self-care alongside substance abuse treatment. There are hundreds of resources available that offer information, encouragement, and connection in a wide range of niches dealing with self-care and mental well-being.
Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project
Guarding against compassion fatigue is critical to your effectiveness long-term as a SUD counselor, so this is a resource you are likely to keep coming back to. Online self-tests here allow you to establish a baseline and to take note when your compassion levels start to drop. Links to additional resources give you information to help you do something about it before your burnout becomes critical.
With a wealth of self-help and diagnostic information on almost any kind of mental health issue, Mental Help is an online resource you can turn to when you don’t even really know yet what kind of help you need. With a comprehensive catalog of common mental health disorders, as well as a wide range of treatments spanning traditional and alternative approaches, MH gives you something concrete to go on no matter what the issue.
This project of the National Library of Medicine has more than 25 years worth of data on mental health issues compiled in the online mental health information system. If there’s ever a question of the latest research or most effective trials, diagnosis processes, or tests, you can find the answer here.
Self-Care for Therapists: Tools & Counselor Self-Care Plan
One of the great advantages of online tools is that it doesn’t matter where in the world they come from. You can tap into the best resources any time, from anywhere. So this Netherlands-based toolkit with a free three-part Stress and Burnout Prevention Exercise download is a great find. Aimed at mental health practitioners in general, it has helpful real-life self-care strategies, worksheets, and pointers to further reading and references. It’s one of the most comprehensive self-care strategy planning sites available.
The Trauma Therapist Project puts out a weekly podcast showcasing a wide range of therapists, both dealing with addiction and with all sorts of other trauma-related issues. Self-care is a common topic of discussion, but many SUD counselors may find it helpful simply to hear the situations that others face and how they handle difficult cases with poise and composure.
Therapy Chat Podcast – Trauma Therapist Network
Another podcast resources is Therapy Chat, a long-running show that addresses various subjects in trauma and mental health, including emotional well-being and self-care techniques counselors may use.
A range of free resources can be found at the Free Mindfulness Project to help you remain centered and serene. These cover the basics like breathing exercises, body scans, and essential meditation practices.
Counting on Counseling Supervision To Keep You on the Path of Mental Health
While you’ve probably noticed the emphasis that many of these resources place on peer support, you may be overlooking a terrific resource for your mental well-being and balance that is sitting right in front of you (literally!)—your clinical supervisor.
All but the very top tier of independent therapists in any state are required to practice under clinical supervision. That means an experienced, educated, and responsible substance use disorder counselor is regularly in contact, discussing your cases, reviewing your notes, and generally making sure you are on track as a professional each week.
Since supervisors have been in the business for years already and clearly been able to succeed and achieve, they are a tremendous resource for your own health and wellness.
Many competent supervisors will already include some kind of personal check-in as part of providing oversight for your cases—after all, if you’re starting to crash into compassion fatigue or other mental health issue, chances are you’re not delivering very good care to your clients.
But you can also simply ask for help and advice if you find yourself experiencing any of these wellness challenges. Chances are your supervisor will have some words of wisdom to share, or their own resources to point you toward to get you through the rough spots.
Supervision is just one example of the many different supports you will find built-in to your community and the process of becoming a SUD counselor. From training in self-care that comes as part of your substance abuse counseling degree or certificate studies to mandated continuing education that contains a wealth of options for mental wellness, you’ll find a community that takes care of its own.