Arizona Education Requirements & Certification for Substance Abuse Counselors

What Are the Job Duties and the Job Description?

An Arizona substance abuse counselor will work in a wide range of medical office and hospital locations. They might work in a rehabilitation facility, at a hospital, or in a private practice. Regardless of where you decide to work, the job duties are relatively uniform across settings. Most substance abuse counselors work directly with patients and play a hands-on role in their recovery process.

Substance abuse counselors provide support to people suffering from drug or alcohol dependence, as well as eating disorders or behavioral issues. This person works with their clients, teaching them how to modify their behavior and ultimately learn to cope with addiction dependencies.

In many cases, a substance abuse counselor will oversee the detox and rehab process, but they also provide ongoing care after treatment. Duties include evaluating the problem, leading group therapy sessions, teaching healthy coping mechanisms, and helping patients find jobs and get their career back on track.

What your counseling job will look like depends on the certification level you obtain before starting your career. A technician, for example functions as a support staff, while a LISAC may choose to open their own practice.

All Substance abuse counselors can expect to assess clients' addictions and behaviors, as well as any other underlying mental health issues. From there, the licensed will develop a plan of action aimed at benefitting not only the client, but their family, friends, and employer.

Drug and Alcohol rehab counselors often work one-on-one with patients in a therapeutic setting. Here, they'll work to uncover the triggers or causes of alcoholism or drug abuse.

Arizona Licensing & Certifications for Associates & Independent Counselors

Substance counesling professionals receive their credentials from a government organization. But, contrary to what you might think, there are actually a few different types of licenses you can get, depending on your goals as a certified professional.

In Arizona, there are three levels of certification, these options differ by education level.

Here is a look at the options:

Each level requires a specific set of coursework, and potentially an internship and supervised practice after completing the formal schooling part of one's education. The two higher levels, LASAC and LISAC require that you have degrees from an accredited institution.

All three licenses are obtained through the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners. This same board issues licenses to all mental health counselors, social workers, and support staff that work within this field.

All three licensees must have an associate's degree at minimum, even if the candidate intends to go for their technician certification only. That said, there are some special cases where the state might waive this condition.

This requirement is different than it is in many parts of the nation. Prospective licensees will take examinations that that you'll see in other states. Bachelor's level candidates may get licensed for an associate position, but will need to obtain a Master's level education if they want to advance further in the profession.

Master’s graduates will get their associate license, but it's something of a pit stop on the way to their LISAC.

With a bachelor's degree, a LASAC credential may be a terminal license, meaning, they'll get the opportunity to work in the field without obtaining the additional degree. However, a bachelor's graduate will not achieve the license for two or more years post-degree.

In order to become licensed in Arizona, you must complete a series of steps.

Education Requirements

We’ve outlined this a bit above, but there’s no single straight answer for what, exactly, the educational requirements are for the profession as a whole. At the technician level, it’s pretty straightforward. You’ll simply need an associate’s degree from an accredited school. Later, you’ll need to pass the licensing exam.

(CACREP) or (CORE) Licensure and Certification

Two types of accreditation are recognized in the United States; institutional and specialized. Institutional accreditation takes the entire institution into account while the specialized focus on professional preparation programs. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) is a specialized accreditation that focuses on master’s and doctoral degree programs in counseling at colleges and universities worldwide. Only already-accredited institutions are eligible for CACREP review. The review for accreditation will center on programs offering graduate degrees in counseling.

Choosing a CACREP-accredited substance abuse addiction program ensures that the program meets the highest of quality standards. Many counseling specialties are accredited bythe CACREP, including addiction counseling. Accredited counseling programs prepare individuals to work with those affected by addictive behavior and their families. Addictive behaviors include alcohol, drugs, food, gambling, sex, and anything else that negatively affects your personal or work life by creating addictive behaviors.

CACREP-accredited programs will focus on treatment models and the phases of addiction including prevention, recovery, and relapse prevention. These 60-semester hour programs will include the application of interventions. When students choose a CACREP-accredited program they can be confident that:

Clinical Supervision Explained

After completing their education, candidates will need to complete 3,200 hours of supervised practice, with at least half of those hours spent working directly with clients.

Additionally, at least 100 hours of supervised practice must be provided by a LISAC. According to the Board of Behavioral Health Examiners, your clinical supervisor must be licensed for the duration of the training period. Should the license be revoked during that period, those hours will need to be completed again with a supervisor who has a valid license.

Counselor Testing & Examination Process

When you’re ready to get your credentials, you first stop should be the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners. (3) The organization is responsible for issuing the exams. These guys will review your supervised hours, issue the ICRC exam and the NAADAC Level II or higher examination and review other requirements.

Renewal and Continuing Education

Participate in at least 30 hours of continuing education on an annual basis. Continuing education may come in the form of seminars, college courses, or online courses.

The AZ State Board of Behavioral Health awards 15 hours of continuing education for each 1 credit hour course completed at an accredited college or university. Or, you can look toward classes provided through the

Potential Counselor Career Path Options

Associations & Organizations

As we've briefly mentioned above, there are a few associations linked to AZ counselor professionals.

Here's a little background on each and the role they play in helping mental health professionals get certified and stay up-to-date in their field.

Pros can become members, which grants them access to 145+ hours annually of continuing education, access to their jobs board, plus a whole host of magazines and books.

In the end, becoming a drug and alcohol counselor isn’t a decision you can make on a whim. We recommend pursuing this career path if you’re truly passionate about helping people. Salaries tend to hover around the $50,000 range, even with a master’s degree.

That said, licensed counselors for drugs and alcohol have the potential to become a force of positive change for their clients, their families, and society, in general.