Ongoing Education
In addition to the education required to get certified as an addictions counselor, there are also educational requirements to maintain your certification. Each state varies in their requirements, but most credentials need to be renewed every two years. You will need to complete a certain number of hours or CEUs (Continuing Education Units) during this period. (e.g., in Ohio you must complete 40 hours of continuing education every 2 years to maintain your credential.) You will need CEU’s for every credential that you have, however classes may apply to more than one credential (e.g., a class on co-occurring disorders will
Achieving Excellence in Counseling
There is no such thing as a perfect counselor. Even if you were a perfect addictions counselor, you would still have clients who relapse. You are going to make some mistakes along the way. The good news is that in most situations these mistakes are not catastrophic and they can help us grow and become better counselors. As counselors we tell our clients that relapse is part of the recovery process and we help them learn from these experiences, so that they will be better able to avoid relapse in the future. Mistakes are part of our learning process. While