Activities	Counsel and advise individuals with alcohol, drug, gambling, and eating disorders. They counsel individuals who are addicted to drugs to help them identify behaviors and problems related to their addictions. They hold counseling sessions for one person, families, or groups of people to assist them in dealing with their problems.
Outlook	Faster-than-average-job growth
Median Income	$38,120 per year in 2010
Work Context & Conditions	Counselors usually work indoors and spend a great deal of time in contact with others (face-to-face and by telephone). They work in a variety of public and private settings. These jobs usually require sitting for long periods of time. They are often in situations involving conflict.
Minimum Education Requirements	Master's Degree
Skills	Persuasion, Social Perceptiveness, Learning Strategies, Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Instructing, Active Listening, Writing, Service Orientation, Negotiation, Time Management, Active Learning, Complex Problem Solving, Coordination, Reading Comprehension, Speaking
Abilities	Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Speech Clarity, Inductive Reasoning, Oral Comprehension

Job Category		Community & Social Services
Job Description		Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors help people who have problems with alcohol, drugs, gambling, and eating disorders. They counsel individuals who are addicted to drugs to help them identify behaviors and problems related to their addiction. They hold counseling sessions for one person, for families, or for groups of people to assist them in dealing with problems.
Working Conditions		Substance abuse counselors usually work a standard 40-hour week. Self-employed counselors and those working in mental health and community agencies, often work evenings to counsel clients who work during the day. Counselors must possess high physical and emotional energy to handle the array of problems they address. Dealing daily with these problems can cause stress. Because privacy is essential for confidential and frank discussions with clients, counselors usually have private offices.
Salary Range		The median annual wage of substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors was $38,120 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $24,690 and the top 10 percent earned more than $60,400. In 2010, the median annual wages for substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors in the industries employing the most substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors were as follows: Hospitals; state, local, and private - $45,160 Local government - $44,280 Individual and family services - $37,020 Outpatient mental health and substance abuse centers - $35,670 Residential mental health and substance abuse facilities - $33,570

Education Required		Requirements range from a high school diploma and certification to a master’s degree. However, workers with more education are able to provide more services to their clients, such as private one-on-one counseling sessions, and they require less supervision than those with less education. Those interested should research their state’s educational requirements.
Recommended High School Courses		Biology, English, Communications, Sociology and Anthropology
Postsecondary Instructional Programs		Psychology, Education and Training, Therapy and Counseling, Customer and Personal Service, Education and Training
Certification and Licensing		Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors in private practice must be licensed. Being licensed to work in this setting requires a master’s degree and 2,000 to 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience. In addition, counselors must pass a state-recognized exam and complete continuing education every year. Contact information for your state's regulating board can be found through the National Board for Certified Counselors. The licensure or certification criteria for substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors outside of private practice vary from state to state. For example, not all states require a specific degree, but many require applicants to pass an exam. Contact information for your state’s licensing board can found through the Addiction Technology Transfer Center.

Interest Area		Social Involves working and communicating with, helping, and teaching people.
Work Values		Achievement Get a feeling of accomplishment. Independence Work alone.
Skills		Persuasion Persuade others to approach things differently. Social Perceptiveness Be aware of others' reactions and understand why they react the way they do. Learning Strategies Use multiple approaches when learning or teaching new things. Monitoring Assess how well someone is doing when learning or doing something. Critical Thinking Use logic and analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. Instructing Teach others how to do something. Active Listening Listen to what other people are saying and ask questions as appropriate. Writing Communicate effectively with others in writing as indicated by the needs of the audience. Service Orientation Actively look for ways to help people. Negotiation Bring others together and trying to reconcile differences. Time Management Manage one's own time and the time of others. Active Learning Work with new material or information to grasp its implications. Complex Problem Solving Solving novel, ill-defined problems in complex, real-world settings. Coordination Adjust actions in relation to others' actions. Reading Comprehension Understand written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. Speaking Talk to others to effectively convey information.
Abilities		Oral Expression Able to convey information and ideas through speech in ways that others will understand. Problem Sensitivity Able to tell when something is wrong or likely to go wrong. This doesn't involve solving the problem, just recognizing that there is a problem. Speech Clarity Able to speak clearly so listeners understand. Inductive Reasoning Able to combine separate pieces of information, or specific answers to problems, to form general rules or conclusions. This includes coming up with a logical explanation for why seemingly unrelated events occur together. Oral Comprehension Able to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Related Jobs		Physician, Family and General, Social Worker, Child, Family, and School, Therapist, Physical, Therapist, Recreational, Nurse, Registered, Therapist, Occupational, Social Worker, Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Job Outlook		Employment of substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors is expected to grow by 27 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations. Growth is expected as more people seek treatment for their addictions or other behaviors and drug offenders are increasingly sentenced to treatment rather than jail time. In recent years, the criminal justice system has recognized that people committing crimes related to drugs are less likely to offend again if they get treatment for addiction. As a result, sentences for drug offenders often include treatment programs. This practice is expected to increase the use of substance abuse treatment programs and the demand for addiction counselors. Also, over the projections period, more people are expected to seek treatment for problems with addiction or other problems. As the population grows, the number of individuals entering therapy is expected to increase as well. This is expected to cause a continued demand for counselors in mental health centers, halfway houses, and detox centers. Employment of substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors in residential mental health and substance abuse facilities is expected to grow by 44 percent from 2010 to 2020. As more individuals seek treatment, there will be an increase in demand for counseling services in residential facilities.
More Information		American Counseling Association, Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, American Counseling Association, National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc.
References		Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition, Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/substance-abuse-and-behavioral-disorder-counselors.htm O*NET OnLine, on the Internet at http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/21-1011.00