After earning an undergrad psychology degree or online counseling degree, a logical next step to becoming an addiction counselor is to purse an MS in Addiction Counseling. In fact, earning this degree can greatly benefit you in your future addiction counseling career.
Professionals who hold a master’s degree can provide more services, including private counseling sessions, to patients than those without higher education. Additionally, those without a master’s degree require more supervision in their day-to-day work and cannot become licensed; they are therefore unable to work in private practice.2
While earning the MS in Addiction Counseling, you will study many addiction-related topics that will prepare you to enter the addiction counseling field as an effective professional. Some such topics include the following:
- Professional counseling orientation and ethics
- Psychopharmacology and addictions
- Co-occurring disorders
- Family issues and addictive disorders
- Counseling adolescents with chemical dependencies
You will also learn major counseling theories and principles in a blend of classroom instruction and supervised real-world counseling experience. Studying addiction topics in depth while earning this degree will help you feel confident, both as you enter the workforce and when you complete a pre-practicum and a practicum or internship experience.
The MS in Addiction Counseling concludes with supervised fieldwork experience. At Grand Canyon University, students complete the pre-practicum part of the program under the supervision of a faculty member and an approved onsite clinical supervisor. During this experience, students must complete a minimum of 100 hours of counseling-related activities, 40 which must involve direct contact with patients.
After completing the counseling pre-practicum, you will move on to a supervised practicum or internship experience. Through GCU, students further develop counseling skills in a practicum or internship and perform the duties of a professional counselor under the supervision of a faculty member and an approved onsite clinical supervisor. The practicum or internship experience requires 150 documented hours of counseling-related activities, 50 of which must involve direct contact with patients.