Recovering from an addiction is never easy, which is why there are addictions counselors to help patients overcome their habits in the healthiest of ways. As an addictions counselor, your duties will revolve around helping people overcome their dependence on drugs, alcohol, and other addictive substances.
These duties include assessing clients' backgrounds, reviewing charts, recommending proper treatment options, and providing counseling. You are also responsible for keeping track of each client's progress by keeping a detailed log of the results of their counseling sessions, treatments, and other steps involved in the recovery process. Moreover, you may also point clients to benefits and other services available to them, such as government aid and community programs.
When hiring for this position, most employers look for candidates with a bachelor's or master's degree in mental health counseling, psychology, social work, and other related fields. You must also have prior experience working with addicted individuals as well as proper certification as required in your state.
When you become an addictions counselor, you can expect an average salary of $46,000 per year. In terms of opportunities, you can find jobs in rehabilitation centers, healthcare facilities, community services, and other places that offer treatment to addicts.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an Addictions Counselor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.12 an hour? That's $37,686 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 13% and produce 52,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many Addictions Counselors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed Communication skills, Compassion and Interpersonal skills.
If you're interested in becoming an Addictions Counselor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 53.3% of Addictions Counselors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 27.2% of Addictions Counselors have master's degrees. Even though most Addictions Counselors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an Addictions Counselor. When we researched the most common majors for an Addictions Counselor, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Master's Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Addictions Counselor resumes include Associate Degree degrees or Doctoral Degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an Addictions Counselor. In fact, many Addictions Counselor jobs require experience in a role such as Internship. Meanwhile, many Addictions Counselors also have previous career experience in roles such as Counselor or Case Manager.