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Substance abuse counselor skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted experts

Kim Jones Ph.D.,

Dr. Benjamin Jeppsen

Substance abuse counselor example skills

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical substance abuse counselor skills. We ranked the top skills for substance abuse counselors based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 15.9% of substance abuse counselor resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a substance abuse counselor needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 substance abuse counselor skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how substance abuse counselors use patients:

Collaborated with community agencies and Local Management Entity to ensure appropriate linkage to community services to address patients' need.
Restore patients to productive roles by educating them about available community based organizations, social services, and employment services

2. Substance Abuse Treatment

Here's how substance abuse counselors use substance abuse treatment:

Facilitated group and individual substance abuse treatment sessions using evidence-based cognitive-behavioral and behavioral modification curriculum.
Coordinated and conducted intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment, therapy, and counseling services to military personnel and family members.

4. Crisis Intervention

Here's how substance abuse counselors use crisis intervention:

Facilitate crisis intervention-chemical dependency groups.
Maintained a caseload and performed essential counseling responsibilities such as referrals, crisis intervention, patient education, and record keeping.

5. Intake Assessments

Here's how substance abuse counselors use intake assessments:

Conducted initial intake assessment to determine appropriateness for treatment and developed individualized treatment plans based on the needs of each client.
Conduct intake assessments for individuals with substance use disorders and co-occurring disorders, including diagnoses and assigning proper individualized treatment program.

6. Rehabilitation

Here's how substance abuse counselors use rehabilitation:

Participated in policy-shaping rehabilitation committee meetings.
Demonstrated conceptual and applied knowledge of resident's rehabilitation to include need, responsively, motivational interviewing and states of change.

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7. Excellent Interpersonal

Here's how substance abuse counselors use excellent interpersonal:

Possess strong customer/goal orientation, and excellent Interpersonal, communication and PC skills.

8. Mental Health Issues

Here's how substance abuse counselors use mental health issues:

Provided current accurate information and education on substance abuse and related mental health issues.
Conducted client evaluations/assessments for adolescents/families referred for substance abuse/mental health issues.

9. Criminal Justice

Here's how substance abuse counselors use criminal justice:

Provided community outreach and interaction with community stakeholders; including primary care services, housing providers and the criminal justice system.
Participated in weekly clinical staff meeting facilitated relapse prevention anger management and criminal justice groups one on one session.

10. Individual Sessions

Here's how substance abuse counselors use individual sessions:

Deliver educational lectures, conducted individual sessions for those in need of counseling for the homeless population and recently released inmates.
Facilitate therapeutic and didactic groups and individual sessions utilizing the AA/NA Twelve Step model as well as educational information.

11. Treatment Services

Here's how substance abuse counselors use treatment services:

Served as a primary counselor with clinical responsibility for a caseload of clients, performing comprehensive professional treatment services.
Performed in the intake process assisting doctors determine appropriateness for treatment services and effectively utilize 12 core functions.

12. Treatment Programs

Here's how substance abuse counselors use treatment programs:

Liaised with prison and community based treatment programs, implementing streamlined procedures to more effectively refer inmates to treatment.
Assist individuals to identify their need/appropriateness for treatment programs, through SASSI screening/testing and individual assessments.

13. Chemical Dependency

Chemical dependency is a medical condition where a person relies on a chemical or drug in order to continue day-to-day activities. The condition can begin as abuse - where a person displays a clear pattern of substance use, commonly drugs or alcohol - and continue to dependency in which the person continues abusing substances even after problematic events have occurred.

Here's how substance abuse counselors use chemical dependency:

Implement and coordinate culturally sensitive inpatient chemical dependency program using the principles of traditional Native American healing practices and Alcoholics Anonymous.
Provided supervision, emotional support, and encouragement to patients and assists them in resolution of problems related to chemical dependency.

14. Relapse Prevention

Relapse prevention is a therapy, derived by Marlatt and Donovan in 2005, that targets the cognitive behavior of participants. The therapy is conducted to prevent relapses in patients, by helping them understand and predict those circumstances that trigger a relapse. The therapy facilitates people in developing behavioral strategies, also known as relapse prevention plan, which deals with relapse-oriented situations in advance.

Here's how substance abuse counselors use relapse prevention:

Facilitated groups that were educational and therapeutic, which included: relapse prevention, anger management, and family/relationship issues.
Provided individual therapy and facilitated a relapse prevention and recovery group to address substance abuse problems in adolescents and adults.

15. Community Resources

Community resources are a set of resources that are used in the day to day life of people which improves their lifestyle in some way. People, sites or houses, and population assistance can come under the services offered by community resources.

Here's how substance abuse counselors use community resources:

Facilitated client's utilization of available support systems and community resources to meet needs identified in clinical evaluation and/or treatment planning.
Collaborated with multidisciplinary treatment teams consisting of mental health and medical professionals and coordinated referrals to various community resources.

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What skills help Substance Abuse Counselors find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on substance abuse counselor resumes?

Kim Jones Ph.D.

Professor, Chair of Clinical Concentration, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

The necessary skills for today's market include the ability to implement evidence-informed mental health approaches, the ability to display empathy, knowledge of crisis intervention models, organizational skills, good work ethic, both verbal and written communication skills, cultural competence, and the ability to adapt to changing technology.

What hard/technical skills are most important for substance abuse counselors?

Dr. Benjamin Jeppsen

Associate Professor, Augustana University

Obviously, mastering the technology used in teletherapy and virtual counseling is essential. Further, the use of computer programs for therapy notes, documentation, and diagnosis is also important. Assessment and psychometric abilities are also important as psychotherapy research has been very clear about the important role of outcome measurement and objective assessment in psychotherapy. When prospective clinicians demonstrate the ability to work with numbers (and the software needed to make them useful), they show an openness to the objective assessment of their work.

What soft skills should all substance abuse counselors possess?

Michelle Kelley Shuler Ph.D.

Department Chair: Human Services, Austin Community College

I would refer to this skill set as "essential" and consist of compassion, empathy, teamwork, the ability to listen, a sense of humor, and most importantly, the ability to practice self-care. I include self-care in this list because working in the human service field can be exhausting and emotionally overwhelming. Taking care of ourselves helps to prevent burnout and possibly leaving the profession.

What substance abuse counselor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Emily Goodman-Scott Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Assistant Chair, Graduate Program Director, and School Counseling Coordinator, Old Dominion University

Getting experience working/volunteering in schools, and other capacities working/volunteering with youth: learn the culture of education, build rapport and be in relationship with youth and their families.

What type of skills will young substance abuse counselors need?

Samantha Fletcher Ph.D.

Executive Director, National Association of Social Workers, New York State

The core skills of social work do not change over time. These skills include empathy, active listening, critical thinking, assessment, intervention, evaluation, advocacy, policy analysis, and adaptability. Social workers also need to evaluate the organizations they work in to assess for oppressive practices and policies. One of the profession's core values is social justice, which directs social workers to "pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social workers' social change efforts are focused primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and other forms of social injustice" (National Association of Social Workers, 2017). As a profession, social workers aim to dismantle racist, sexist, heterosexist, xenophobic, ableist, classist, and religiously biased systems and structures.

What technical skills for a substance abuse counselor stand out to employers?

Madeline Lee Ph.D.

Associate Professor, California State University San Marcos

There are technical skills that may stand out to employers, but as social workers, I think those technical skills together with "soft skills," can make an applicant really stand out to employers; social workers can combine their research skills with evidence-informed care and organizational quality improvement efforts, while being able to lead, build relationships, and think critically. In the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, our graduates will need to be able to fluidly navigate between employing telehealth methods to performing their work safely in-person when engaging and helping clients. To be effective, social workers will also need to understand the reverberating effects of the deep-seated roots of racism in our country and be willing to honestly confront and address those issues in whatever role they assume. Social workers are needed now more than ever.

Do you want to know more?

List of substance abuse counselor skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a substance abuse counselor resume and required skills for a substance abuse counselor to have include:

Patients
Substance Abuse Treatment
Social Work
Crisis Intervention
Intake Assessments
Rehabilitation
Excellent Interpersonal
Mental Health Issues
Criminal Justice
Individual Sessions
Treatment Services
Treatment Programs
Chemical Dependency
Relapse Prevention
Community Resources
Drug Abuse
Methadone

Family Sessions
Discharge Summaries
Discharge Planning
Substance Abuse Issues
Clinical Documentation
Drug Screens
Group Therapy Sessions
Mental Illness
ASAM
Eating Disorders
Psychosocial Assessments
Family Therapy
Community Agencies
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Individual Therapy
Substance Abuse Education
Group Facilitation

Anger Management
Community Services
OASAS
Core Functions
IOP
Dual Diagnosis
Referral Services
Mental Health Professionals
Treatment Plan Reviews
Domestic Violence
Substance Abuse Problems
DUI
Substance Abuse Assessments
Intake Interviews
DWI
Substance Abuse Clients

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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