How Do I Become a Drug and Alcohol Counselor?

Alcohol & Drug Counseling
Stratford痴 Drug and Alcohol class trains and educates those who desire to join the in-demand field of addiction counseling. Our Drug and Alcohol class curriculum was created by licensed drug and alcohol counselors who share with you the theories, techniques and strategies necessary to help individuals dealing with substance abuse and dependency. Through our distance learning drug and alcohol education course, you値l learn how to counsel people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol, and help them identify and manage problems related to their addiction. Here is your chance study at home for an enjoyable, meaningful career helping people understand and deal with serious health problems.

Alcohol and Drug Counseling is a profession that is in big demand and as long as drugs are easily accessible and alcohol is still legal. According to the BLS employment is expected to continue to increase for this career by 11% until 2016. A typical starting salary is $57,362 per year.

Alcohol and Drug rehab facilities are in every major city in the United States. The great thing about this career is that you can find employment in so many different areas. Once you have the proper training some decide to open up a half-way house and treat those who have nowhere else to go. The government pays you per patient. You might also find work at homeless shelters as many of the addicted end up homeless without anywhere to go. The treatment and counseling is done onsite. If you are looking at a higher end counseling position then you don稚 have to look any further than your local hospital. Many insurance plans pay for drug treatment and hospitals are always looking for both in and out patient counselors to help with the growing demand.

It is the responsibility of the state and federal government to fund organizations to assist with alcohol and drug addition and supports positions open in jails and federal prisons. A growing concern is our youth and their introduction to drugs and alcohol at such an early age. The result has been a need for counseling as early as 4th and 5th grade. Alcohol abuse is the biggest growing problem among teens today and their exposure to drugs on a daily basis has made it hard to just say no.

Where to work & Job Description

Once you find the school to get your degree or certificate you値l benefit from starting to find work locally while you値l attending school. This is a great opportunity for you to get hands on training and even volunteer at your local rehabilitation center for possible future employment.

Another area we are seeing great growth potential is as hospitals. With more and more cases of addiction the need for qualified counselors is growing at an alarming rate. The reason why we are seeing more job available is the courts are demanding that individuals go into rehab to avoid lengthy prison sentencing.

Locate your local substance abuse certification board in your state and ask them where jobs are available. We have seen people that actually get hired at their local certification board location helping other counselors.

Counselors deal with interventions and it will be your responsibility to:
1. Motivating the patient and make them aware of the treatments available. Ideally you want them to enter into a problem voluntarily but some cases will involved psychiatric commitment against the will of the patient, especially if they are threatening others or themselves.
2. During rehab you値l need to support the patient during the entire recovery process. This is very important as they need support during rehab and without it they could relapse.
3. You値l spend time even working with the family as these times are extremely difficult and their support system will need to be strong once the patient is out of rehab.
4. As a counselor you値l need to make sure the patient is aware of all the problems that got them to the point of going to rehab.