Substance Abuse Counselor

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Substance Abuse Counselor interviewing a woman
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Program Overview

Learn the skills needed to become a Substance Abuse Counselor — at home, at your own pace with Penn Foster Career School.

The Substance Abuse Counselor Program provides entry level education and training that can be applied toward state licensure as a substance abuse counselor. Training can also be used to provide graduates with continuing education hours that can be applied toward the renewal of a state license and/or the application or renewal for a national certification.

As a Substance Abuse Counselor, you’ll help people who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, and/or inhalants. The Penn Foster program will help students develop the skills needed to help patients identify behaviors and problems related to their addiction and offer coping strategies for recovery.

Your courses include:

  • Introduction to Substance Abuse Counseling
  • Substance Abuse and Addiction
  • Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention
  • Counseling
  • Case Management and Professional Responsibility
    ... and more.

Graduates may seek entry-level employment in hospitals, outpatient clinics, treatment centers, and community mental health facilities while they pursue their state licensure credentials.

Here are a few facts about this career:

  • The average salary is more than $37,000 per year. With experience, trained Substance Abuse Counselors can earn more than $59,000 per year.*
  • The U.S. Department of Labor projects the demand for Substance Abuse Counselors to increase 21% — that’s over 18,000 new job openings — in the decade between 2008 and 2018.*
  • Penn Foster's Substance Abuse Counselor Program is approved by NAADAC, the nation's largest membership organization representing addiction professionals. This important recognition assures students that the contact hours or CEUs earned by taking our program will be accepted toward national credentialing by the NAADAC Certification Commission and also by many of the individual state licensing/certification bodies.

Contact Penn Foster Career School Today.

We’ll send you FREE information – with absolutely no obligation! Find out more about Penn Foster's programs that include:

  • All the books, study guides, and learning aids you need
  • Toll-free instructional support
  • Access to student services by phone call, message board, or email

 

* Growth figures represent a ten-year period ending 2018. Source: "National Industry-Occupation Employment Matrix," a publication of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.