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What is an addiction therapist and how to become one
Avg. Salary $53,271
Avg. Salary $59,228
Growth rate 9%
Growth rate 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.86%
Asian 4.56%
Black or African American 11.43%
Hispanic or Latino 15.39%
Unknown 4.56%
White 63.21%
Genderfemale 64.63%
male 35.37%
Age - 37American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 37Stress level is very high
7.1 - high
Complexity level is advanced
7 - challenging
Work life balance is good
6.4 - fair
Addiction therapist career paths
Key steps to become an addiction therapist
Explore addiction therapist education requirements
Start to develop specific addiction therapist skills
Skills Percentages Patients 20.39% Social Work 15.27% Chemical Dependency 9.23% Continuous Improvement 7.90% Client Care 5.87% Complete relevant addiction therapist training and internships
Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New addiction therapists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an addiction therapist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real addiction therapist resumes.Research addiction therapist duties and responsibilities
- Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
- Conduct psycho-educational support groups on addictive behaviors, patterns and relapse prevention and perform psycho-social assessments on patients.
- Provide individual and group therapy to chemically dependent and mental health patients in a residential setting.
- Perform initial evaluations and intakes, make eligibility determinations, conduct rehabilitation planning and problem solving, and counseling.
Prepare your addiction therapist resume
When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your addiction therapist resume.
You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an addiction therapist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.
Choose from 10+ customizable addiction therapist resume templates
Build a professional addiction therapist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your addiction therapist resume.
Apply for addiction therapist jobs
Now it's time to start searching for an addiction therapist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
How did you land your first addiction therapist job
Are you an addiction therapist?
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Average addiction therapist salary
The average addiction therapist salary in the United States is $53,271 per year or $26 per hour. Addiction therapist salaries range between $39,000 and $71,000 per year.
What am I worth?
How do addiction therapists rate their job?
Addiction therapist reviews
Stressful, dangerous neighborhoods, sometimes parents are dangerous as well. Work life balance isn't good. Documentation is very time consuming and you will bring that home to finish. If your agency requires that you do your app recorded time sheets then that will prove ardously time consuming constaint that cuts right into your work/home life balance...it's terrible. Wear and tear on your car, no shows from parents upsetting children and paid mileage is horrible. Get ready to barely have a life.
Making a difference in someone's life. Seeing positive changes.
Late hours after 9 pm or before 9 am
The over documentation required by DHS that robs the quality time needed in intervention and treatment. This lopsided demand makes the term “best practices” mere bureaucratic lip service without the means to actually deliver quality hands on services.
Updated January 8, 2025
