Substance Abuse Counselor

Substance Abuse Counselors help people who are suffering from addiction to drugs or alcohol. A Substance Abuse Counselor can work in private practice, in a drug or alcohol center, or even in a jail. Wherever you work though, your basic responsibilities as a Substance Abuse Counselor are the same—to help rehabilitate your client, and end their reliance on their substance of choice.

You find your clients through referrals, and work with them through counseling sessions. You might have one-on-one meetings with a client or lead a group session. In the latter case, you can bring in family members to stage an intervention, or create a support group that your client can rely on. You use different therapy techniques, such as imagery or talking exercises, to help them develop an understanding of their problem and form a plan to solve it.

Addiction isn’t the only problem you deal with though. When addiction afflicts people, it often gives rise to other issues, including homelessness, unemployment, mental problems, and hunger. This can make recovery seem almost impossible.

But with your help, it’s not. You find programs and organizations that will solve these extra problems, while you and your client tackle the addiction itself.

You should know this is a very hard and emotionally draining job. Addiction is a difficult thing to break away from, and many patients relapse or choose to never get better. It can be especially frustrating after a relapse, because you need to start your counseling from the beginning, and handle problems you’ve dealt with all over again. This frustration, along with anger over patients who refuse treatment, and sadness over those who simply give up (or worse, die), leads to a high turnover of Substance Abuse Counselors.

But it is also this difficulty that makes the job so rewarding. When a patient does get better in spite of the seemingly insurmountable odds, the success is all the more special.