Addiction Counseling Competencies

Counselors who treat people with substance use disorders do life-changing work on a daily basis, amid difficult circumstances that include staff shortages, high turnover, low salaries, and scant program funding. Counselors come to this important work by various paths and with vastly different skills and experience. The diversity of backgrounds and types of preparation can be a strength, provided there is a common foundation from which counselors work. This publication addresses the following questions: What professional standards should guide substance abuse treatment counselors? What is an appropriate scope of practice for the field? Which competencies are associated with positive outcomes? What knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) should all substance abuse treatment professionals have in common?Workforce development is essential to the field of substance use disorder treatment. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has included workforce development in its Matrix of Priority Programs. A major focus of this workforce development strategy is improving the competencies of professionals in the field. This updated edition of Technical Assistance Publication (TAP) 21: Addiction Counseling Competencies: The Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes of Professional Practice (The Competencies) is a key component of that strategyThis guide enhances the competencies of substance use disorder treatment counselors. It discusses patient assessment and screening, treatment planning, referral, service coordination, counseling, family and community education, and cultural competency.

Written by authors with extensive experience as practitioners and educators, this text serves as a straightforward resource for undergraduate and graduate students who have a goal of becoming counselors or therapists in the field of addiction. While many books on the subject follow a similar format (i.e., introduction, classification of drugs, theories of counseling, etc.), Addictions Counseling takes one client and follows her through the entire treatment experience-from referral and assessment, all the way through relapse prevention and discharge planning. In following her through the treatment journey, readers are introduced to theories and techniques for approaching each of the topics discussed. This book is a must-read for anybody interested in pursuing a career as an addiction specialist.

"This book is a unique approach in that it follows a client through the counselling process (intake, assessment, individual, group, family counselling, and then discharge and relapse prevention planning). Along the way, readers are introduced to theories, techniques and hands-on examples of what is required in the counselling process"--