As more agencies compete for state and federal dollars, they are moving toward hiring professionals that are trained both as Licensed Professional Counselors as well as Certified Addiction Counselors. In many agencies, being a certified addictions counselor can increase your rate of pay between $1.50 and $3 per hour or $3000 to $6000 per year, and make you eligible for a variety additional positions in addictions counseling.
The Florida Certification Board, for example, has certification programs for Certified Addictions Counselors (CAC), Certified Addictions Professionals (CAP), Certified Online Counselor, and Certified Mental Health technician. Many of these certifications have different levels based on your education. For example, persons in Florida who are already licensed professional counselors, licensed mental health counselors, or licensed clinical social workers through the Florida Board of Mental Health Counseling can take online training in addiction counseling from a FCB or NAADAC approved provider in order to become a Certified Addictions Counselor. AllCEUs provides affordable online continuing education credits for counselors, and NBCC approved continuing education and online training for addictions and mental health professionals.
In Iowa, people are allowed to get all of their certified addiction counselor training hours online; however, once you are certified, you can only get up to 50% of your continuing education courses from online resources.
Want to get certified? You can get all of your required training through AllCEUs click here to go to our addictions counselor training portal.
Check with your state addiction counselor certification board to see what their requirements are. In many cases, the hours you have already worked in community mental health can count towards your contact hours for certification.
Continuing Education Approvals
(1) For purposes of renewing or reactivating a license, credit is approved for the following:…
(e) Continuing education programs offered and approved by the following entities as long as such entities impose requirements similar to or more stringent than those imposed by the Board in subparagraphs 64B4-6.004(2)(a)1.-5., F.A.C.:
1. National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC);
2. American Association of Sex Educators Counselors and Therapists (AASECT);
3. American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH);
4. National Association of Social Work (NASW);
5. American Psychological Association (APA);
6. Clinical Social Work Federation (CSWF);
7. Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB);
8. American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP);
9. American Psychiatric Association;
10. International Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Counselors (AMFC);
11. American Association of State Counseling Boards (AASCB);
12. American Counseling Association (ACA);
13. American Mental Health Counseling Association (AMHCA);
14. American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT); and
15. Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB).
Thankfully, there are only a few states such as Ohio and California that require providers to have their particular state certification even if they have national certifications.
Awesome Resources
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
DBT Skills Manual for Treating Adolescents
Here is an awesome DBT manual for working with adolescents: https://www.box.com/shared/jbbu7c4xc7
For other similar resouces, please visit the following website: http://practicegroundprojects.wetpaint.com/page/DBT+Handouts,+Protocols+%26+Client+Learning+Activities
