You probably don’t need anyone to tell you that beating addiction is one of the hardest things that a person can do. While it’s true that no one can do it for them, it’s also true that they can’t do it alone.
That process of recovery takes place out in the real world. And it involves a lot of tough but critically important steps. There’s a lot more than 12, when you start adding them all up… basic things like remembering to engage in self-care, scheduling appointments, taking medications, performing therapy activities.
These are all things that patients can get help with. And for even the most mundane of recovery steps, substance abuse assistants are there to be that help… and light the beacon of hope that comes with it.
What Is a Substance Abuse Technician?
An addiction treatment assistant, alcohol & drug counseling aide, or licensed substance abuse technician is a role found in around 30 different states to take some of the load off of licensed addiction counselors.
Technicians aren’t expected to have high level knowledge of the mechanisms of addiction or the psychological elements of treatment. Instead, they are the people most involved in the mechanics of the process: working directly with patients to implement treatment and recovery plans.
Alcohol and drug counseling technicians help grease the gears to allow addiction therapy to run smoothly. While they don’t take on great responsibility for diagnosis, planning, or therapy, they make sure that patients stay on track with the plans that Substance Use Disorder (SUD) counselors have made for them.
What Do Substance Use Disorder Technicians Do?
According to SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, there are eight common categories of practice associated with substance use disorder treatment. But while SUD counselors have some responsibilities in each of those categories, they can delegate only a few of them to technicians.
Technicians are commonly asked to:
- Perform pre-screening and initial evaluation of potential patients
- Monitor treatment plan compliance for patients currently under care
- Engage in supervised counseling work in both individual and group settings
- Suggest treatment plan steps
- Document treatment and patient status
Although that isn’t a very long list, it does include some of the most intensive and personal parts of the job. Technicians keep patients on track. They work more closely and more frequently with them than counselors themselves do at times, and can be more tuned in to what is happening and how to handle crisis situations when they come up.
Still, the training you get as a SUD technician isn’t nearly as intensive as what substance abuse counselors go through. So while techs make strong connections and develop intuitive understandings of addiction therapy, they are only allowed to practice under the clinical or administrative supervision of SUD counselors above the associate level. They’re also only allowed to practice through a fully licensed facility.
A Day on the Job as an Addiction Therapy Assistant Offers a Lot of Patient Interaction
If you’re looking for a job in substance abuse counseling that is heavy on patient contact and getting to know clients, then this is the spot for you.
SUD technicians may be the first person that potential patients meet. You will often be the one conducting initial intake interviews and making notes toward full diagnosis. You’ll explain the process for your program, handle initial orientation, and answer questions.
Substance use disorder technicians are one of the foundational bricks in the support structure that every recovering patient needs.
SUD techs are usually the people who handle most of the day-to-day oversight and management in addiction treatment programs. They organize activities and schedule sessions, keep records up to date, take patients to appointments, and handle conflicts that come up. Everything from making bed assignments to helping patients fill out assistance forms gives you a ground-level view of what patients are going through every day.
It’s not all process, though. Part of that close contact with patients includes conducting therapy as directed by senior SUD counselors. In line with the treatment program, you offer education, give advice, and generally help create the supportive structure that patients need to beat their addiction.
Where Substance Use Disorder Technicians Work Affects What Their Job Experience Is Like
While the general job duties of a substance abuse technicians will fall in line with the description above, the daily activities and experience from job to job can vary by quite a bit.
Because techs can only work at licensed treatment facilities or agencies, much of their daily experience is shaped by the kind of work that organization provides. Most treatment centers have some sort of specialization focus:
- By culture or population, as with facilities that only handle women or teenagers
- By substance, as with groups that only deal with opioid or alcohol addictions
- By environment, as with agencies that do homeless SUD outreach or work within the criminal justice system
Clearly, your day is going to be a lot different if you’re working in a controlled prison environment than if you’re working in an outpatient juvenile addiction therapy program.
While patient contact and monitoring is always high on the list of things that substance abuse techs handle, your day will also usually include tasks like:
- Record-keeping and documentation of behaviors, treatments provided, and medications distributed
- Talking with SUD counselors to get instruction and deliver information about patient diagnosis and treatments, like discussing relapses or dealing with mental health crises
- Coordinating with other healthcare and service providers to get suitable resources to support patients… anything from making a doctor’s appointment to helping a patient get in touch with social services for housing vouchers may be on the table
Addiction Counseling Technician Salary – How Much Do Substance Abuse Technicians Usually Make?
With very little required in the way of education or other qualifications, you can expect entry-level salaries for addiction counseling technician jobs. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) categorizes SUD techs in a completely different category than other substance abuse counseling jobs. They fall instead into the classification of Psychiatric Technicians and Aides.
For 2023, the median salary for psychiatric technician positions across the country came to $39,610 per year.
Demand in the profession is high, however, with overall job growth expected to come in at 9 percent between 2022 and 2032. So between your growing experience, and any additional education you achieve in the field, you can work your way toward the top salary available in the role, which comes in at $59,990 or more.
Naturally, the challenges of the job will vary in different settings, so you will also see different averages for the job from industry to industry. In the top five industries that employ technicians, that number for 2023 came to:
- Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals - $44,110
- Other Healthcare Offices - $43,510
- General Medical and Surgical Hospitals - $44,510
- Residential Treatment Facilities - $36,810
- Outpatient Care Centers - $40,740
As with any kind of job, there are a lot of impacts from local supply, demand, and economic status. So there are also going to be regional variations in the typical salary range. Some of the average salaries for different cities around the country show the potential:
- New York : $55,850
- Los Angeles : $56,780
- Chicago : $46,760
- Dallas : $40,870
- Miami : $42,120
- Saint Louis : $44,540
- Atlanta : $46,800
- Seattle : $51,720
Building Your Qualifications To Become Licensed as a Substance Use Disorder Technician
College degrees are rarely a requirement when becoming licensed as a SUD technician. A couple of stats require an associate degree, but in most cases there is no listed level of educational attainment, or a high school diploma or GED will be enough.
That doesn’t mean you can just jump in without any education, however. Every state specified a certain number of formal education hours covering substance abuse treatment topics like:
- Crisis intervention
- Counseling diverse populations
- Trauma-focused counseling
- Human services systems
- Group management
- Privacy and ethics considerations
Certificate programs are the most common way to get those hours. Many are offered by community colleges where they may be a subset of full associate degree in substance abuse counseling. In other cases, private training companies and industry organizations provide classes that are focused on specific state license requirements.
It’s never a bad idea to go with a full Associate of Arts in Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counseling to qualify for SUD technician roles if you can manage a two-year program.
In many cases, you’re also required to build a certain number of practice hours before being licensed. This is often in the 300 hour range, but may be over 1,000 in some states. Some states also require a certain number of supervision hours, where you are directly being mentored and guided by senior counselors. This rarely runs to more than 100 hours, however.
A very few states use a test as part of their credentialing, but there isn’t much consistency between them. Some use a unique, homegrown exam; others require one of the more advanced exams like the Alcohol & Drug Counselor examination from the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium, or the National Certified Addiction Counselor Level II (NCAC I) from NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals.
Does the Addiction Technician Role Even Require Certification in My State?
While SAMHSA shows that 31 states offer licensing at the technician level, that’s not really the full story. In some cases, this is a license level that is used for preliminary licensing, so students who are aiming for full SUD counselor or higher level licenses can practice legally while building up their clinical hours. It’s usually pretty easy to tell from the name of the credential what it’s intended for.
In both cases, it’s critical to show up with the right level of educational attainment to meet credentialing requirements.
We’ve compiled a list of every state that offers a technician level license. NA in the Titles column simply means the role doesn’t require any credentialing in the state. Even in those cases, you can be sure that employers hire people to fill this essential role, they just don’t need to go through the process of becoming certified.
State | Titles |
Alaska | Counselor Technician |
Alabama | Association Addiction Professional |
Arkansas | Certified Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Technician |
Arizona | Licensed Substance Abuse Technician |
California | Registered Alcohol Drug Technician |
Colorado | Certified Addiction Counselor I |
Connecticut | NA |
Washington DC | NA |
Delaware | NA |
Florida | Certified Behavioral Health Technician |
Georgia | Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor Trainee/Counselor-in-Training |
Hawaii | NA |
Iowa | Certified Treatment Assistant |
Idaho | Idaho Student of Addiction Studies |
Illinois | Certified Associate Addictions Professional |
Indiana | Addiction Counselor/Professional in Training |
Kansas | NA |
Kentucky | NA |
Louisiana | Addiction Treatment Assistant |
Massachusetts | Licensed Alcohol & Drug Counselor Assistant |
Maryland | NA |
Maine | Alcohol & Drug Counselor Aide |
Michigan | NA |
Minnesota | NA |
Missouri | NA |
Mississippi | Intern Counselor |
Montana | NA |
North Carolina | NA |
North Dakota | NA |
Nebraska | NA |
New Hampshire | NA |
New Jersey | NA |
New Mexico | NA |
Nevada | Certified Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counselor Intern |
New York | Credentialed Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Counselor Trainee |
Ohio | Chemical Dependency Counselor Assistant Preliminary |
Oklahoma | NA |
Oregon | NA |
Pennsylvania | Certified Allied Addiction Practitioner/Certified Intervention Professional |
Rhode Island | NA |
South Carolina | NA |
South Dakota | NA |
Tennessee | NA |
Texas | Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor Intern |
Utah | Certified Substance Use Disorder Counselor Intern |
Virginia | NA |
Vermont | NA |
Washington | NA |
Wisconsin | NA |
West Virginia | NA |
Wyoming | NA |
Of course, the type of work that techs perform still needs to be done even in states that don’t have a formal license for the position. In cases of organizations that only hire credentialed professionals, it may be that the same functions are performed by licensed associate or assistant substance use disorder counselors instead.
In other cases, it may be that under careful supervision, these roles can be performed without any formal license or certification. And in some states, they fall into more general licensing categories as behavioral, mental health, or psychiatric aides or technicians.
Becoming a Substance Abuse Counseling Technician Is Often Just a First Step in an Addiction Counseling Career
Even in states where technician licenses are not designed entirely as part of the gradual ascent to full SUD counselor status, it’s very common for people to get their start in counseling as a tech. So it’s quite likely that you’re not actually stopping at the minimum education requirements, or at this license level. It’s a fast path into SUD counseling work without having a high level of educational attainment. But it’s not necessarily the step on the career ladder where you will hit the stop button, either.
That’s important because folks who have worked as SUD technicians before going on toward more high-level positions in substance abuse counseling bring something extra along with them. The kind of direct interactions you’ll have as a tech will give you a feel for the job you can never get through routine internship placements alone.
It’s that very thing that will make you a better counselor, and better counselors are the key to building a better future for substance use disorder patients everywhere.
2023 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary and employment figures for Psychiatric Technicians and Aides reflect national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed April 2024.