Working in addiction recovery and management is a job suited for empathetic and informed individuals. You should also have a strong understanding of how addiction can affect clients and their families. If you’re interested in this field, you can now learn how to become a certified addiction counselor.
Assess Your Skills and Abilities
Evaluating your skills and experience can help you to determine if you’re the right fit for this job. As an addiction counselor, you will need to listen to clients’ stories in a nonjudgmental fashion. Many of your clients will share personal information with you, and you must follow confidentiality protocols. Also, keep in mind that many addiction counselors are recovering addicts themselves. If you have struggled with and overcome an addiction in the past, do not feel as though you’re precluded from becoming an addiction counselor in Loveland. You may be able to offer the level of support and understanding that many clients need.
Choose Your Level
Early on in the process, you must choose your desired level of training. Through Colorado Counseling Training, you can take courses to become a certified addiction technician, a certified addiction specialist or a licensed addiction counselor. Do note that in order to become a licensed addiction counselor, you need to have a clinical degree from graduate school.
Enroll in and Commit to Classes
Once you’ve decided upon the level of certification you want to achieve, enroll in the required courses. You should speak with a staff member to make sure you are clear on how much time you have to complete all of the courses. For example, when you enroll in Colorado counselor training, you will typically have a certain amount of time in which you must finish all of the coursework in order to earn your certificate. Therefore, make sure that you will have the ability to dedicate yourself to the program.
Be an Active Learner
An important part of being a certified addiction counselor in Colorado is working directly with patients. You need to have both the knowledge and the hands-on ability to successfully do so. In your classes, don’t be shy about asking questions or asking for further information about a particular topic. Also, if you get the opportunity to participate in an internship or any hands-on work, take advantage of these possibilities.
Maintain Your Certification
Once you’re certified as an addiction counselor in Loveland, you may need to take further classes to keep your certification updated. After all, as time goes on, the field is sure to develop additional methods of working with clients. Taking continued Colorado counselor training helps you to learn this information and to stay relevant in your practices. Even if you are not required to enroll in further courses, consider the benefits of doing so.
Becoming an addiction counselor allows you to nurture and motivate clients on their personal roads to recovery. To get started on this journey to a fulfilling career, contact our team at Colorado Counselor Training today.