Addiction Counseling Faculty Q&A - SubstanceAbuseCounselor.org

Thanks for agreeing to take part. We're building an interview series on SubstanceAbuseCounselor.org that puts real voices from addiction counseling programs in front of the people trying to choose one.

Prospective students can find a degree plan anywhere. What they cannot get is a straight answer about how practicum hours line up with their state's credentialing rules, what happens to those hours if they move, or how a program prepares someone for a field where medication treatment, harm reduction and telehealth have all shifted underneath it. That has to come from a person teaching in the program.

That is the part only you can answer.

What we're asking for

About 10 to 15 minutes. The questions are grouped by topic. The last group is optional, for anyone who has more to say, so answer what's useful and skip anything that doesn't apply. A short paragraph per group is plenty.

We're after substance, not polish. We're gathering more responses than the series can hold, so we can't promise to publish every one. The ones we do publish appear in their own section under your name, credentials and job title, with a link to your faculty profile, and you'll get a direct link to share.

Filling out the form

Everything marked required needs an answer, and both consent boxes at the bottom need ticking. The Submit button stays greyed out until they are, so if it looks inactive, scroll down to the consent boxes.

There's no save and resume. If you'd rather not do it in one sitting, draft your answers somewhere else first and paste them in. The full question list is below.

What happens after you submit

You'll get an email confirming we received your answers, with a copy of what you submitted for your records.
We read every response. We can't publish all of them, so this isn't a guarantee. If yours is going into the series, we'll send you a direct link once it's live.
If we publish, your answers appear substantially as you've written them. If you want to change something, or you'd rather we didn't publish after all, just reply to your confirmation email. That goes for after publication too.

We may fix the odd typo. We won't change what you've said.

Want to draft your answers first?

See all questions

About you

Your name, exactly as you'd like it published
Your email
Your credentials
Your job title
University
Link to your faculty profile page (optional)
Headshot (optional)
Which programs or concentrations do you teach in
Program formats offered
Which state do you teach in, and which credential does your program line up with

Your students

Beyond grades, what qualities tend to predict an effective addiction counselor?
What do incoming students most often misunderstand about day-to-day counseling work? Examples might be documentation and billing, caseload size, working with court-mandated clients, or how often clients return to use.
How do your students actually pay for this program, and what do applicants tend to underestimate about the cost?

Practicum and credentials

How do practicum and internship placements actually work in your program, including how supervision is handled?
How do those hours line up with your state's credentialing requirements, and where do students most often hit snags?
What should students know if they might move to another state later?
Students are often confused about credential paths: associate vs. bachelor's vs. master's, state certification vs. licensure, and an addiction-specific credential vs. a broader counseling or social work license. What should someone understand before choosing a degree level?

Lived experience

Many students come to this field through a personal or family connection to addiction. What should they know about bringing that experience into their training and their work in a healthy way, including boundaries, dual relationships in a small recovery community, and protecting their own recovery?

A changing field

Treatment is changing. More clients are on buprenorphine or methadone, stimulant and polysubstance use don't have simple medication answers, harm reduction has become politically contested, and more care happens through telehealth and alongside mental health treatment. How is your program preparing students for that?
What should students expect when they enter the field?

If you have more to say (optional)

Burnout and compassion fatigue are real in this field, especially at the pay levels common early in a career. What should someone know from the start about building a sustainable, long-term career?
What questions should a prospective student ask every counseling program, including yours, that they probably wouldn't think to ask?

The questionnaire

Your name, exactly as you'd like it published (required)

Your email (required)

Your credentials (required)

Your job title (required)

University (required)

Link to your faculty profile page (optional)

Headshot (optional)

Which programs or concentrations do you teach in? (required)

Program formats offered (required)

On campusHybridFully online, asynchronousFully online, synchronous

Which state do you teach in, and which credential does your program line up with? (required)

The questions

The questions are grouped by topic. 4 groups are required and the last is optional, so answer what's useful and skip anything that doesn't apply. A short paragraph per group is plenty.

1. Your students (required)
Beyond grades, what qualities tend to predict an effective addiction counselor?
What do incoming students most often misunderstand about day-to-day counseling work? Examples might be documentation and billing, caseload size, working with court-mandated clients, or how often clients return to use.
How do your students actually pay for this program, and what do applicants tend to underestimate about the cost?

2. Practicum and credentials (required)
How do practicum and internship placements actually work in your program, including how supervision is handled?
How do those hours line up with your state's credentialing requirements, and where do students most often hit snags?
What should students know if they might move to another state later?
Students are often confused about credential paths: associate vs. bachelor's vs. master's, state certification vs. licensure, and an addiction-specific credential vs. a broader counseling or social work license. What should someone understand before choosing a degree level?

3. Lived experience (required)
Many students come to this field through a personal or family connection to addiction. What should they know about bringing that experience into their training and their work in a healthy way, including boundaries, dual relationships in a small recovery community, and protecting their own recovery?

4. A changing field (required)
Treatment is changing. More clients are on buprenorphine or methadone, stimulant and polysubstance use don't have simple medication answers, harm reduction has become politically contested, and more care happens through telehealth and alongside mental health treatment. How is your program preparing students for that?
What should students expect when they enter the field?

5. If you have more to say (optional)
Burnout and compassion fatigue are real in this field, especially at the pay levels common early in a career. What should someone know from the start about building a sustainable, long-term career?
What questions should a prospective student ask every counseling program, including yours, that they probably wouldn't think to ask?

Before you submit

Both boxes below need to be ticked before the Submit button becomes active. If the button looks greyed out, that's why.

I'm authorized to speak about this program, and I grant SubstanceAbuseCounselor.org permission to publish my answers along with my name, credentials, job title, university, and a link to my faculty profile. If I've uploaded a photo, I confirm I have the right to use it and grant permission to publish it as well. I understand that submitting does not guarantee publication, that if published my answers will appear substantially as I've written them with only minor corrections to spelling and punctuation, and that I can ask for changes or removal at any time.

I grant permission for short excerpts of my answers to be quoted on other pages of SubstanceAbuseCounselor.org, attributed the same way and linked back to my full Q&A.

Questions about any of this?

Email us at [email protected] and we'll get back to you. You can ask us to update or remove your Q&A at any time after it's published.