matt4x4

It doesnt take much education to become a councellor, however the pay is very low, hours would be normal, stress? who knows I doubt its a stressful job, just got to be caring. The bonus is you would have expirience in the field and you could start-up your own public/private rehab facility and make a ton more cash in the process.

Sasha4

Have you got evidence to support that claim of not much education?

To be a directer of a medical facility - such as a rehab, private or 'public' as you call it, you would have to have medical training?

Have you heard of the NHS i the UK??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You cannot just open your own facility?

Do you think before you post Matt?

Please can you tell me which CREDIBLE source you have gained your information from?
By CREDIBLE I mean is this from an educational institute who offer recognised courses?

Sasha4

Because I am so cross about a post that has been written that just assumes, I have looked at more detail.

Its generally 4 to 5 years to do your foundation course and then a minimum of 100 hours practice.

Some PROFESSIONAL BODIES ask for 450 hours of supervised work and 450 hours of unsupervised monitored work before you can qualify.

The AVERAGE salary in the UK is £19,000.

If you work in a school, hospital, GP surgery, prison etc, you have to have detailed background checks.

If you work with minors, the background checks are even more detailed.

You need to decide which method/approach of counselling you want to practice.

Leeloo

Hi Wolf,

When I lived in London, I looked into Art Therapy before which would have taken me around 5 years of Uni.

However, a friend of mine is currently studying to be a counsellor at Birkbeck which does night classes, so you can keep your day job while you're studying.

Then I think (but not sure) you can also go via the Open University.

Best of luck!

Soberwolf

Sasha don't waste your time or your energy I really appreciate all your input thank you Sasha

Don't waste your time let the website deal with him

Matt you posted after being extremely rude to me and then when I said leave it you carried on

Now your here 2 days later doing it again

If his post wasn't a flame what is

Oh and matt no one agrees with you .... Take your time !

Dee74

I know Matt lives in Canada. I doubt it, but it may different there.

Again I'd like to remind people to either report posts or use the ignore function if there's a post you think breaks the rules, or there's a poster who bothers you.

Personal exchanges that break rule 4 can mean the closure of threads.

Dee
Moderator
SR

NoelleR

I don't know about the UK or Canada, but here in the US drug and alcohol counseling/training can vary by state, but on average, a person with a high school education can get their certificate for drug and alcohol counselor in about 6-9 months, after which there is usually some internship time (again varying by state), and no college degree (BA, BS, MA, etc) is required.....and btw, the average salary (starting out) is approximately $38,000.

(o:
NoelleR

EndGameNYC

In New York State, CASAC certification is required in order to work in addictions counseling -- Certified Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor. I've worked along CASACs for many years, and the first time I was aware of the certification was in 2004 while I was coordinating a study with stakeholders in the Queens Misdemeanor Treatment Court, various treatment centers and other representatives of the criminal justice system.

CASAC Requirements in NY State: https://www.oasas.ny.gov/sqa/credentialing/CASACreq.cfm

I wouldn't assume to discourage anyone from working on their personal or professional goals, but there are realities that need to be taken into account before making such a decision. I've met a few people over the years, usually in their forties, fifties and sixties, who've gone back to school to get certified, and it's not usually been a very good experience. Only a couple were actually able to get work, and the others with whom I've kept in touch considered it a waste of time when considering the outcomes of their efforts.

The market has traditionally been -- and probably still is -- flooded, if only because of the minimal educational requirements to begin training. There are plenty of unskilled, recently recovered alcoholics (all the time; an eternal "graduating class") and other addicts with little or no work history who see CASAC certification as an opportunity to launch themselves into the professional ranks without having had very much experience either in work or in school. I've learned, too, that there are personal qualities (and not always good ones) that often prompt people to pursue the certification, but talking about them here would help no one.

Though one only needs a high school diploma or equivalent to enter an accredited program, the training can be long and costly (most people need to work while going to school and doing the thousands of hours of internship required), and the material rewards are meager. Regardless of what some Web sites tell you about starting salaries, a person who passes the exam following their education and training can generally expect to earn between 18K and 21K in their first year. This is in New York City and the metropolitan area where treatment is available for everything under the sun. The salary bumps are far from generous and infrequent.

The hours are long, and you have to make your own personal rewards where you can. You'll be working with a population that is extremely resistant to change, among much else, and you'll often be in a position to question your own competency, if not your own sanity. Few people like to talk about it, but there is a general, back-room lack of respect for people who've no other credentials but a CASAC, and even those with degrees in social work and other mental health-related fields are not taken seriously, except in rare cases in which someone earns a reputation as being an exceptional counselor.

This attitude, I believe, is as much about the general bias against alcoholics and other addicts in general, as well as what are looked upon as minimal educational requirements to earn the certification, and for those people who provide treatment in this area. This is not to say that this is widespread, but it does happen. There are plenty of people who respect the work done by addiction counselors as well.

My only recommendation would be -- and I recommend this for anyone who's contemplating major life changes and follow it myself -- to seek good and trusted counsel, in particular, people who've been working in the field, and those who've earned the certification and have been both successful and unsuccessful in obtaining regular work.

In the end, if you have the educational requirements for it, I think the best course for people interested in "getting into the field" would be to research the LMHC -- Licensed Mental Health Counselor. You can work in private practice, and not only in addictions, in a group practice, in hospitals and a range of other settings and look forward to a rewarding career that will enable you to do good work that will pay your bills, while also avoiding the necessity of a second job.

soberjuly

Soberwolf is in London so the US info doesn't apply to him. There are so many different avenues. I had a friend, well my ex-BF, and he is an MFT (marriage and family therapist) and has an MA in psychology or therapy, can't remember what it is officially.

My mother was a social worker and she didn't finish college initially. She got divorced and had to work to support us kids. She did find employment as a social worker but always wanted to finish college but used to say it wouldn't make a big difference in salary.

She worked at a battered women's shelter, she worked with brain injured adults, she worked for The Minnesota Sioux Tribe. She worked with alcoholics and drug addicts. She work at getting people back on track with their lives, work, housing and etc.

Her boyfriend of the past, well over 25 years, is a former addict. He's also 18 years younger than her and we never thought it would last but it did.

She did finally finish her degree, like a couple years ago. She just turned 71. Of course, that was a different time and maybe they are more stringent now and I am also talking about the US. She is actually working on a master's degree now...(it's never too late!)

Also, people throw out salaries and it makes a huge difference, in the US, what city you are talking about. The cost of living in Cleveland is not what it is in San Francisco. The cost in even LA is far cheaper than SF but the salaries here are higher.

Alas, Soberwolf is in London so don't know how helpful this info is. I wish you luck. Also, this sounds like a calling, so salary is not the driving force.

RobbyRobot

Being an addictions counselor and being an addict all in one is no easy feat. Clients and other professionals readily put one under additional scrutiny, and why not? Expectations are higher and results are more indicative of speaking to the worth of the counselor. Having said that, many clients couldn't care less about credentials of the counselor who has helpful first-hand experiences to share and offer counsel. It really depends on the target population. If one gets out of their depth as a counselor, clients will soon enough make it known, and this can have dramatic challenges for the counselor who is also addicted in their own right.

EndGameNYC

Your comments are very helpful for anyone interested in pursuing a career in this field (as I imagine many who read here are), and that's what I was attempting in my comments, including offering a specific and alternative "avenue" for the OP and others. I was essentially addressing universals for this type of work without regard to setting, since those universals generally hold across geographical boundaries.

In NYC, where everyone knows the standard of living is very high, the salaries in this field are very low. As with most everything else, the salaries are likely higher in places where there is high demand and low supply. You might be able to start out with a salary of 25K somewhere in the middle of Idaho (nothing personal against Idaho), but how many people are willing to make that move? In this day and age, and unless you're single and with very little debt, or married to someone who also has a career, the salaries available for addiction counselors are generally unsustainable. Again, here, in London and in parts of the world that attract people as at the very least acceptable places to live their lives, salaries for addiction counselors are very meager, with supply greatly overwhelming demand in virtually every case.

Suffice it to say that there are good reasons why so many people in this field need and/or seek out additional work to supplement their incomes from counseling, no matter what country they live in. And the population and the demands of the job don't change based on geography. If you have money set aside, are living comfortably in your retirement, have extra income from any source, than this will be less of an issue. But for people who are hoping to carve out a sustainable career, there are hard questions to ask and problematic realities to address, regardless of their location on a map.

Soberwolf

My mum done a lot of similar work soberjuly wow !!

And your more than right money is not the driving force !!!

It is definatly a calling

Thank you soberjuly and everyone else who posted thoughtful helpful suggestions and iinformation

Means a lot to get feedback

EndGameNYC

I want to add that the larger majority of CASACs with whom I worked were hard-working professionals who were very good at their craft. What impressed me most was their generally outstanding human skills, an "undocumented" but extremely necessary attribute for doing good work in this field.

The same was true of those counselors who helped me along the way. Following my relapse, I committed to a full year of IOP and traditional outpatient treatment in my first year of sobriety. I took the recommendation that I needed a great deal of help and at first begrudgingly cooperated with people who had experience, training and generosity of heart to guide me where I needed to go.

Risking a huge generalization from my experience, it seems that the most reluctant patients are often the same people who make the best progress. I understand that for this statement to make sense in any comprehensive way I would need to define my terms more fully, but for reasons of brevity and simplicity, I won't do that...for the time being.

matt4x4

Every place is different, here they didnt need much to become a "counsellor", a certificate I believe which is the lowest you can get. Now a director is totally different. I visited many rehabilition centres for countless sponsees, one used to be a pharmasist, his treatment plan was a price of $25,000 a month or about $2,000/day, was featured in the press a few times, I am sure his prices have increased since I visited.

Dee74

Not to harp on this, but this would seem to suggest you might be mistaken, Matt.

Certification Requirements | Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association

I try to stick to subjects I have direct experience in.
Less embarrassment that way?

D

matt4x4

Counselling Programs at Ontario Colleges | ontariocolleges.ca

It states "Adictions Councellor" Period of 1 year in length = 8 months!!!!!!!

MelindaFlowers

I always thought that it would take a bachelor's degree and probably a master's in social work. I've always thought about going into counseling too. I imagine there would be quite a lengthy internship.

Dee74

If you look into it a little deeper, they're postgrad courses tho, Matt

D

MelindaFlowers

Yeah, it's graduate school. And that year? As someone in grad school right now, I can tell you that the one year is a whopper!. I have a friend who received her master in counselling and it was a year of many, many hours of internship counseling. It must have been at least 1,000 hours. After the long days at the clinic she would spend all her evenings writing papers, studying, etc. The one year program is a ton or work. I almost forgot about her thesis.

Dee74

I didn't do grad school in psychology but yeah it was rough...only the strong survive