How to become a Substance Abuse Counselor: education, training and skills.
What occupation experts surveyed by O*NET report about the job's education, experience and training, the skills to build first, and the stepping-stone roles that lead in.
- 33% Master's Degree
- 21% Some College Courses
- 21% Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree
- 12% Bachelor's Degree
- 8% High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 4% Post-Baccalaureate Certificate
Among occupation experts O*NET surveyed about substance abuse counselors, 33% report that the job needs a master's degree, the most common answer. O*NET places the job in Job Zone 5 of 5 (extensive preparation). The most common answer for related work experience was “over 6 months, up to and including 1 year” (33%), and for on-the-job training “over 1 month, up to and including 3 months” (29%).
Data Government data groups this job as Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors (O*NET-SOC 21-1011.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
Six steps to becoming a Substance Abuse Counselor
Data Steps 1 to 5 summarise O*NET data for the role; step 6 is advice.
- EducationPlan for a master's degree
33% of occupation experts report it as required. 29% report no college degree needed.
- TrainingExpect on-the-job training
Most common: over 1 month, up to and including 3 months.
- ExperienceRelated experience
Most common: over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (33% of occupation experts).
- SkillsBuild the core skills
Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Speaking are rated most important.
- ToolsLearn the tools
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook.
- CredentialsCheck licensing where you live
Many occupations need a state license or certification. Requirements vary by state, so confirm with your state's licensing board.
What occupation experts report
Data Share of occupation experts giving each answer, O*NET.
O*NET Job Zone 5 (Extensive Preparation Needed): Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Related roles that need less preparation
Data O*NET related occupations in a lower Job Zone with a skill match of 65% or more.
How this page is built
Education, experience, training and Job Zone come from O*NET 31.0 survey data for the occupation. O*NET answers with low-precision estimates are not shown, and an answer is called the most common only when no hidden answer could be larger. Stepping-stone roles use our skill-match score: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- Licensing rules in your state.
- Requirements at a specific employer.
- How long the path will take you personally.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
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