Pairs assessment and counseling skills across the full alcohol-and-substance spectrum. Day-to-day blends individual sessions, group work, and steady coordination with referring courts, employers, or medical teams.
Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor pay typically runs $47K–$78K at this level. The next title up is often Senior Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor.
A normal week typically includes intakes, group sessions, individual counseling, and the regulatory paperwork that keeps a program licensed. You'll often see clients across stages — pre-contemplation, early sobriety, long-term recovery — and need to flex your approach accordingly. Walk-ins and crisis calls reliably reshape the day.
The systems work can surprise newcomers — court reports, employer EAP communication, custody-related documentation, and insurance reviews. Coordinating with medical staff for withdrawal management or MAT is routine in many programs. The emotional labor of repeated relapse is often the part that wears people down, more than caseload size.
People who do well here usually balance warmth with clear professional limits and don't mistake a client's good week for a finished story. Comfort with ambiguity and slow progress matters more than belonging to any one therapeutic camp.
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Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Social Services roles →Pairs assessment and counseling skills across the full alcohol-and-substance spectrum. Day-to-day blends individual sessions, group work, and steady coordination with referring courts, employers, or medical teams.
Median pay for an Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor is about $60K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $39K to $101K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Speaking, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Social Perceptiveness, and Writing.
Most people in this role hold a master's degree.
Closely related roles include Senior Alcoholism And Substance Abuse Counselor, Youth and Family Director, and Drug Counselor.
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