Post-Masters Certificate in Addiction Counseling

Overview

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is a North Carolina Higher Education Institution providing a graduate degree with an emphasis in addiction counseling. The Post-Masters Certificate in Addiction Counseling provides students with an opportunity to expand their expertise to include professional competency in working with people struggling with the effects of addiction. The certificate program admits practitioners and students who hold a Masters degree in counseling from a CACREP-accredited graduate degree program. The Post-Masters Graduate Certificate is recognition of academic achievement and enhances professional standing.

The Program

The Post-Masters Graduate Certificate in Addiction Counseling is designed to provide students with the coursework (180 clock hours) and a portion of the clinical experiences (300 hours of practical experience) required for licensure as a Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist by the North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice Board. Further information on NCASPPB licensure eligibility can be found at www.ncsappb.org.

Post-Masters Graduate Certificate Requirements

Students must take four of the courses below and complete the required internship in addiction counseling. Three courses are required: CSLG 6160, 6161, and 6162. Students may choose from either CSLG 6163 or 6164 for their fourth course.

The courses are:

  • CSLG 6160 Theories of Addiction*
  • CLSG 6161 Assessment and Diagnosis of Addictive Disorders*
  • CSLG 6162 Interventions in Addiction Counseling*
  • CSLG 6163 Treatment Planning and Relapse Prevention in Addiction Counseling
  • CSLG 6164 McLeod Institute on Addiction (a one-week summer institute offered for graduate credit covering a broad array of topics relevant to addiction counseling)

* Required for completion of certificate

In addition to four of these courses, students must complete CSLG 7435: Internship in Counseling in an addiction counseling setting. This course is three graduate credit hours and entails completing 300 hours of supervised counseling experience. Supervision must be provided by a person with a Master’s degree in Counseling or its equivalent, is a Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCS) or a Clinical Supervisor Intern (CSI) under NCSAPPB, and has at least two years of post master’s degree experience in the field of addiction counseling. The internship experience must be in an agency that primarily treats substance use disorders.

Admission Requirements

Students are required to hold a Masters degree in Counseling from a CACREP-approved program. Students who enroll in the Post-Masters Graduate Certificate in Addiction program, complete the required four courses and 300 hours of internship in addiction counseling are eligible to receive a Post-Masters Graduate Certificate in Addiction Counseling from UNC Charlotte.

The following items are requested for application in addition to the Graduate School requirements:

  • A statement of purpose as to why the applicant seeks admission to the program
  • At least three evaluations from persons familiar with the applicant’s personal and professional qualifications

For more information contact:

Dr. John (Jack) Culbreth
Professor
Cato College of Education, Room 252
jculbreth@uncc.edu

The University Catalog, application forms and materials can be obtained from:

The Graduate School
UNC Charlotte
9201 University City Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28223-0001
704-687-3366
704-687-3279 (Fax)
Graduate Admissions Office Web Site

Note: the University Catalog and current Schedule of Courses are available online.