Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor: Certification

The mainstay of the addiction treatment workforce is the certified substance use disorder (SUD) counselor. They are more commonly referred to by the certification title their state uses.

Across all 50 states, the titles you’ll find at this level are most commonly:

Forty-six states offer a certification under one of these titles or one very similar to it, more than any other kind of state-certified substance abuse worker. With tough, yet achievable, standards for training and experience, certified alcohol & drug counselors hit the sweet spot: you can get qualified relatively quickly, yet bring a high level of expertise to the job.

When people in any phase of chemical dependency need someone to guide them out of the darkness of addiction, certified alcohol and drug counselors are there to lead the way.

What Is a Fully Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor?

Certified alcohol and drug counselor is used as a blanket term for professionals working at any level of addiction counseling, and a specific, defined position within that profession. That can make it tough to sort out exactly what the role entails, how to qualify for it, and what exactly they do from day to day.

SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, defines the role of certified alcohol & drug counselor as one that requires at least a bachelor’s degree and that involves providing assessment and treatment services under the general supervision of a clinical addiction counselor.

They work under many different titles across the country. What they almost always have in common is that authority-granting word that precedes the title, whether it’s certified, credentialed, or licensed.

Substance use disorder (SUD) has become the preferred term for this kind of condition, but job and license titles may take some time to catch up.

It’s really the level of license they hold that separates the role of certified addiction counselor from the generic use of the term to describe anyone who offers substance abuse therapy. Everyone from psychologists and social workers to substance abuse technicians can be loosely lumped into the broad category of substance abuse counselor… but someone who holds the Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor credential has specific responsibilities and a well-defined scope of practice in the larger world of addiction therapy.

What Exactly Does a Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor Do?

The responsibilities within that scope of practice fall into eight categories according to SAMHSA’s TAP21 guidelines. These eight dimensions of practice are common to almost everyone working at any level in substance abuse therapy. The specific tasks that a certified addiction counselor takes on within those eight dimensions are what make this position different from the others.

Clinical Evaluation - Certified alcohol & drug counselors are authorized to conduct screening, brief interventions, and referrals, including diagnostic impressions and assessments. That does not include full diagnosis authority, however, which typically falls within the domain of the Certified Clinical Alcohol & Drug Counselor credential.
Treatment Planning - Counselors can make plans for initial, ongoing, and relapse prevention treatment, although it must be signed off on by supervisors.
Referral, Service Coordination, and Documentation - These three areas cover the paperwork and coordination work that counselors perform with other human services agencies. It can include case management for patients as well, but notes will be checked and decisions ultimately made by clinical counselors.
Counseling - Counselors are authorized to perform direct counseling to patients and groups of patients using a variety of techniques that offer coping skills, information, and methods that lead to recovery. Again, however, their overall approach and guidance comes from clinical supervisors.
Client, Family, and Community Education - Building positive support networks and giving people close to patients tools to help is also part of the role.
Professional and Ethical Responsibilities - Finally, it’s the responsibility of counselors to maintain patient confidentiality and uphold the highest professional standards in counseling.

ll of these have to be performed under the clinical supervision of a senior counselor. That doesn’t mean direct supervision, though—most certified alcohol & drug counselors do their work one-on-one or in small groups with patients. They consult with supervisors to make sure their course of treatment is appropriate, or to get advice on complicated situations.

Those are the dry, clinical definitions of what makes a certified addiction counselor. When you dive down into the actual job descriptions, you find a much more involved, more intense position waiting for you.

A Deeper Look at Certified Addiction Counselor Job Descriptions

Although people often gravitate toward positions with higher credentials and more clinical independence, there’s a unique benefit to working as a certified addiction counselor: you spend more time working directly with patients, and less time performing administrative and clinical supervision.

Addiction counselors at this level spend a lot of time talking to people. Screening requires observation, asking questions, getting to know what’s normal and what isn’t. Similarly, counseling itself is often squarely set around motivational interviewing or cognitive-behavioral therapy, both heavy on the interaction.

There’s plenty of paperwork, both in treatment planning and case documentation. That goes hand-in-hand with networking and making referrals. Most patients have a ton of different support needs, and certified addiction counselors are often the people who line up help so they can be in the right state and right environment for recovery.

Certified addiction counselors may oversee technicians and work with peer recovery specialists, but otherwise they are mostly engaged in hands-on interventions and therapy with the people who need it most. That’s exactly the kind of stuff that makes the biggest difference in SUD counseling. It’s also exactly what people are usually looking for when they get into this field.

What Are Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors?

With the likelihood of co-occuring disorders in substance use disorder cases, it’s rare to just be treating a single diagnosis for addiction. The chicken and egg nature of disorders like anxiety and depression crossed over with substance abuse can make it tough to put a finger on a core issue—is the patient self-medicating for pre-existing mental health problems? Or are those problems symptoms of abuse of dangerous substances?

The lines are similarly blurry when it comes to treatments. The roots of addiction can be behavioral as well as chemical, so SUD counselors often integrate standard behavioral therapies in their treatment plans. Therapeutic methods used in garden variety behavioral and mental health counseling are identical to what SUD counselors use:

Cognitive behavioral therapy
Dialectical behavior therapy
Contingency management
Extinction
Behavior modeling
Token economics

So in some practice settings, there may be few firm barriers between substance abuse counseling and behavioral health counseling. You find this reflected in the official Bureau of Labor Statistics employment category, which combines substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counseling.

You’ll also see more and more SUD counselor job listings that specify experience in either substance abuse counseling, or more general behavioral health services. And many of those job listings are being placed by clinics that offer both kinds of services together, effectively opening their doors to anyone in crisis. These are jobs where helping people is the first priority, and definitions can take a back seat.

Where Certified Addiction Counselors Work Helps Define Their Specialization and Tasks

A lot of the actual day-to-day experience you have as a certified alcohol & drug counselor is dictated by your employer. Certified addiction counselors are authorized to work in primary care or licensed treatment facilities, but in many cases, those will have a specific focus:

So, who you are interacting with, and whether it is in an individual or group setting, is usually determined by where you are working.

The major employers of certified alcohol & drug counselors are often state agencies, nonprofit organizations, or private healthcare and addiction treatment companies.

So while your duties as a counselor will always fall somewhere in those eight dimensions of practice, how you spend your days will revolve around the kind of disorders and the population you treat.

You could spend most of your time behind a desk, offering one-to-one therapy to relatively well-off suburban youth with drinking problems. You might be running group therapy sessions in a privately run prison facility. You could be in a hospital, consulting with medical staff and evaluating patients for signs of substance use disorders. Or maybe you are in charge of overseeing a residential treatment facility or halfway house, and have to be ready for the phone to ring to jump into crisis management mode.

There are many opportunities, and they are available, unfortunately, in absolutely every corner of the country. Where, and how, you want to take up the fight is up to you.

How Much Is the Typical Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor Salary?

Sitting right toward the middle of all addiction counseling jobs, you can expect that certified addiction counselors will come in right around the national average for salary levels. As of 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), that was $53,710 per year.

Like every other kind of job, though, that number will revolve around things like the industry you work in, the part of the country where you are practicing, and the amount of experience you have under your belt.

For example, these are the median annual salaries in the top industries employing certified alcohol & drug counselors in 2023:

Hospitals - $59,090
Offices of other health practitioners - $55,410
Outpatient mental health and substance abuse centers - $51,130
Individual and family services - $51,010
Residential mental health and substance abuse facilities - $46,880

Location matters quite a lot, too, as you can see from some of the median levels from different major urban areas of the country:

New York : $71,180
Los Angeles : $64,930
Chicago : $64,560
Dallas : $58,340
Miami : $57,130
Saint Louis : $59,040
Atlanta : $54,830
Seattle : $65,390

Substance use disorders aren’t just an urban problem anymore, of course. Many SUD counseling jobs are found in rural America. Lower pay rates in these areas are often offset by lower cost of living, however.

With more experience and ongoing training, it’s realistic for even substance abuse counselors to aim for the top tier of salary in the counseling sector. For 2023, that was more than $89,920 per year. Expect more responsibilities and significant administrative duties as you move up that ladder.

How You Can Become a Certified Addiction Counselor

This is a position defined by licensing. Each state that has a SUD counseling role has their own specific requirements for becoming authorized to perform those services.

Even though it’s the most common role in addiction counseling, each state has their own title and their own take on what qualifications are required. That means differences in:

Level of degree required - Although a bachelor is the standard for this level of practice, there’s a lot of variability between states, with some allowing associate’s degrees to qualify, and others with no degree requirement at all.
Number of education hours and on which topics you will need - Usually included with SUD counseling degrees, but also available through certificates and other training programs, anywhere from 150 to 450 hours of training in addiction assessment, therapy, and ethics topics. Specifics vary from state to state.
Number of practice hours necessary - The guidelines for certified alcohol & drug counselor experiential training call for a minimum of 2,000 hours of supervised work experience at the bachelor’s level, with at least 600 of those hours including direct client contact. In practice, though, this can be anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 hours. The number of those hours that have to be in direct patient contact can vary, as well. In many states, degree levels over and above the minimum requirement may count toward a reduction in practice hours needed.
Number of supervision hours required - There are also various requirements for the number of hours of supervision you must receive. While all of your practice is supervised in a general sense by a senior certified addiction counselor, these are hours that you are specifically being mentored and guided by that counselor. States require as few as 96 or as many as 350 hours of supervision.
The standardized tests accepted - Every state requires passing a standardized test to become a certified addiction counselor, but there’s no one single standard test! Most states rely on the International Certification & Reciprocity Consortium’s Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ADC) exam or NAADAC’s National Certified Addiction Counselor I or II exams. Some accept either. And others still have their own homegrown exam. Also, some states require that you pass a separate administrative or jurisprudence examination covering their state rules and regulations in addition to counseling knowledge tests.

The most important differences are in the degree level and the amount of experience required.

Getting the Right Degree To Qualify as a Certified Addiction Counselor in Your State

The model for qualification as a certified addiction counselor calls for a bachelor’s degree in SUD counseling or a closely related psychology or human services major. As you’ve seen, that’s not universal. But what is needed in every state is proof you have the knowledge and skills needed to work with sensitive, traumatized, and vulnerable populations experiencing addiction… and a college degree is almost always the best way to get that.

That means a degree like a Bachelor’s Degree in Substance Abuse Counseling is your path to becoming a certified alcohol & drug counselor.

Those programs almost always come with the required classes to meet certification standards for the state they are offered in. On top of that, they deliver the excellent standard liberal arts background that helps form critical-thinking and problem-solving skills useful in any profession. And substance abuse counseling is a job that needs more problem-solving than most!

You will also find that most states accept related degrees, like a Bachelor of Science in Psychology or a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work. These may not have courses that meet the educational hour requirements for a license, though. You’ll have to catch up through a Certificate in Substance Abuse Counseling or similar program.

Of course, professionals who are already licensed in fields like counseling, marriage and family therapy, or psychology may have other options for adding on SUD counseling credentials. In some states, they may not even require a separate license. So it’s important to check with your state licensing or certification board for the details.

Getting the Hands-on Experience To Handle Any Kind of Addiction Issue

Turning classroom theory into real-world expertise takes time and practice. So you’ll spend several months to several years building up hours working with real patients in closely supervised settings to help you get it right.

In a degree program, you’ll get a head start on building those hours. Bachelor’s degrees routinely include real-world placements through practicum or internship courses. These put you out in active treatment facilities and working with patients directly as experienced clinicians walk you through assessment and treatment.

College-driven experiential training works to your benefit in many states beyond just the actual hours you build.

Often, if you have a degree above the minimum, you can also shave off some of the practice hours that are required for a license. For example, while Alaska doesn’t require a degree for certified addiction counselor licenses, your practice hour requirement gets chopped in half if you have one!

After graduation, however, you’ll have to find other ways of accumulating your practice hours. Because this is how the licensing system works, though, you’ll find many employers who are willing to hire you before you’re certified to help you build those hours.

In some cases, you’ll need a lower level of license to do that work. In other cases, a certified alcohol & drug counselor license itself will be the credential you need to get as you build hours toward an even higher level of practice.

State-by-State: Degree Requirements for Certified Addiction Counselors in Your State

Whether you genuinely need a bachelor’s degree in your state or can get in with an undergrad certificate and a high school diploma represents a huge spread in terms of state-level education requirements. So we’ve listed the certified addiction counselor job titles and degree requirements for every state here.

States that do not have an equivalent license with the same scope of practice show NA. And while a degree isn’t mandatory in some states, those that offer a reduction in practice hour requirements for applicants with higher level degrees are marked with an asterisk.

State	Titles	Degrees
Alaska	Chemical Dependency Counselor I	None*
Alabama	Qualified Substance Abuse Professional II	Bachelor
Arkansas	Alcohol & Drug Counselor/Licensed Associate Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Counselor	Degree Level not Specified/Bachelor
Arizona	Certified Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counselor/Licensed Associate Certified alcohol & drug counselor	Bachelor/Bachelor
California	Certified Alcohol Drug Counselor II	Bachelor
Colorado	Certified Addiction Counselor III	Bachelor
Connecticut	Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor	Degree Level not Specified
Washington DC	Certified Addiction Counselor I/Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor	Associate/Degree Level not Specified
Delaware	Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor	Associate
Florida	Certified Addiction Professional	Bachelor
Georgia	Certified Addiction Counselor I/Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor I	High school
Hawaii	NA	NA
Iowa	Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor	High school
Idaho	Certified Alcohol-Drug Counselor	High school
Illinois	Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor	High school
Indiana	Licensed Addiction Counselor/Certified Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselor II/Indiana Certified Addiction Counselor Level II	Bachelor/None/Bachelor/Bachelor
Kansas	Licensed Addiction Counselor	Bachelor
Kentucky	Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor	Bachelor
Louisiana	Certified Addiction Counselor	Bachelor
Massachusetts	Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor	High school
Maryland	Certified Associate Counselor-Alcohol & Drug/Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor	Bachelor/Bachelor
Maine	Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor	High school
Michigan	Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor	Degree Level not Specified
Minnesota	NA	NA
Missouri	Missouri Associate Alcohol Drug Counselor II/Registered Alcohol Drug Counselor-Provisional	High school/High school/Bachelor
Mississippi	Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor I	Bachelor
Montana	NA	NA
North Carolina	Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor	High school
North Dakota	Licensed Addiction Counselor	Bachelor
Nebraska	Provisionally Licensed Alcohol & Drug Counselor	High school
New Hampshire	NA	NA
New Jersey	Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor	High school
New Mexico	NA	NA
Nevada	Certified Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counselor	Bachelor
New York	Advanced Credentialed Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Counselor / Credentialed Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Counselor II	Bachelor/Associate
Ohio	Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor II	Associate
Oklahoma	Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor	Bachelor
Oregon	Certified Alcohol Drug Counselor II	Bachelor
Pennsylvania	Certified Associate Addiction Counselor	High school
Rhode Island	Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor	High school
South Carolina	Certified Addictions Counselor I	Bachelor
South Dakota	Certified Addiction Counselor	High school
Tennessee	Level I Licensed Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counselor	High school
Texas	Alcohol & Drug Counselor	High school
Utah	Alcohol & Drug Counselor/Certified Advanced Substance Use Disorder Counselor	High school/Bachelor
Virginia	Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor/Certified Substance Abuse Counselor	Bachelor/Bachelor
Vermont	Certified Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counselor	Bachelor
Washington	NA	NA
Wisconsin	Substance Abuse Counselor	Degree Level not Specified
West Virginia	Alcohol & Drug Counselor	High school
Wyoming	Certified Addictions Practitioner	Bachelor

You’ll notice that some states have multiple credentials for certified addiction counselors. That’s because some states have multiple tracks to becoming licensed.

In some cases, a state agency directly offers licensure and maintains standards in the profession. In other cases, they delegate that authority to an independent professional board, which issues a certification. And some states have both! This can lead to different titles and even qualifications, relying on various background paths.

Certified Addiction Counselors Sometimes Come by Other Paths From Other Human Services and Counseling Professions

There are also sometimes alternate routes to getting a certified addiction counselor credential for professionals who are already licensed in other human services or psychology jobs. In some cases, this also results in a different title and standards, since they’re coming in with a specific background. Other times, they may get the same license, but with reduced practice hour or educational requirements.

You’ll also notice that in some states, a license at this level carries a provisional or associate label (even though associate alcohol & drug counselor is a different role!), or have a level I or II. That’s because substance abuse counseling is a ladder that is unique from state to state. The kind of practice authority that defines these licenses in some cases is just a step up or down from other credential levels in those states.

Earning a Professional Certification in Addiction Counseling Can Boost Employment Options

It’s not a requirement, but earning a national certification in substance use disorder counseling can sometimes offer a quick path to licensure as a certified addiction counselor, too. This is particularly true if you are coming in from another state where you have already become certified.

There are two organizations that offer this kind of certification, although each works a little bit differently.

NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals, offers the National Certified Addiction Counselor Level II (NCAC II) credential for substance abuse counselors. This corresponds to the NCAC II exam, the same one that many states use for licensing, but also carries additional, stiffer qualifications than many states require:

Education - A bachelor’s degree in addiction counseling or related counseling fields is required, even if your state doesn’t mandate it
License - You already have to hold a license as a SUD or other professional counselor
Experience - You need at least 3 years or 6,000 hours of supervised experience on the job
Training - At least 450 contact hours of SUD specific training are required, with at least six hours each of HIV/pathogen training and ethics training

The other organization, as you might have guessed, is the International Certification & Reciprocity Consortium, which is behind the other most common qualifying test, the ADC. The Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor credential, though, is only awarded by individual state member boards. They use the same minimum qualifications and the test from IC&RC, but otherwise set their own standards. However, just like the NCAC II, the ADC is broadly accepted from state to state.

These major certifications are a mark of professionalism in the field. In states where they aren’t already required, they set you apart. It can give you an edge in:

Both state and national certification require ongoing continuing education. So you’ll find that your skills continue to expand over time… maybe leading toward higher level degrees and licenses that offer more independent practice opportunities.

Get Started in a Career That Is Part of the Bigger Solution to America’s Social Challenges

According to BLS, this is a profession that is set to grow at a rate of 18 percent between 2022 and 2032. As the country starts to realize how many social issues are fallout from substance use disorders, American know-how and a can-do attitude will see both public and private organizations stepping up to deal with them.

Substance use disorder counselors are going to be the largest part of the turnaround that’s coming. New funding is on the way, courtesy of a $28 million grant from the Biden administration aimed squarely at expanding SUD treatment services.

Getting the right education, the right experience, and the right license to be part of that workforce is your first step in being part of the solution. It’s also often the first step toward even more important roles in SUD treatment.

You can find specific steps on how to become a certified addiction counselor along with details for your state.

2023 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary and employment figures for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors reflect national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed April 2024.