Addiction Counseling Specialty

Addiction counseling includes, but is not limited to, professional and ethical treatment and intervention in substance use disorders, process addiction, co-occurring disorders, clinical evaluation, assessment & diagnosis, treatment planning, documentation and clinical supervision of addictive disorders found in individuals, groups, families, couples and communities.

The Addiction Counseling program prepares students to work in a wide range of addiction counseling, treatment, and prevention programs as well as in a mental health counseling context. Upon completion of the counseling program, graduates meet the academic requirements to take the NCE (National Counselor Exam) and to be LPC license eligible in the state of Colorado. *Additional requirements for licensure as an LAC (Licensed Addiction Counselor) in the state of Colorado and may include: passing the NCE (National Counselor Exam offered through NBCC); current LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) license; Three years of documented supervised experience (6,000 hours) -- two-thirds of which must be post-master's degree; passing the MAC (Master Addiction Counselor Exam offered through NAADAC); any additional requirements set forth by the state regulatory board.

**If students outside of Colorado desire to pursue licensure in their state specific to the practice of addiction counseling, the student must contact the state in which they wish to practice in order to determine educational requirements for the legal practice of addiction counseling in that state (see http://www.naadac.org/certification).