Overview

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) is one of five North Carolina Higher Education Institutions providing a graduate degree with an emphasis in substance abuse counseling. The graduate certificate in Substance Abuse Counseling provides students with an emphasis in addictions counseling within their master’s or doctoral degree in professional counseling. The goal of the program is to prepare students to work as substance abuse counselors. The program also meets the needs of students who have completed the academic requirements for licensure, but who have not yet met the requirement for experience to be licensed as a substance abuse counselor by the state of North Carolina.. The certificate program admits practitioners and students who either hold or are currently enrolled in a CACREP-accredited graduate degree program. The Graduate Certificate is recognition of academic achievement and enhances professional standing.

The Program

The Graduate Certificate in Substance Abuse Counseling is designed to provide students with the coursework (180 clock hours) and a portion of the clinical experiences required for licensure as a Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist (under Criteria C) by the North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice Board. Students who hold a Master’s degree and who have completed four courses from the list below  in addition to a 600 hour internship/supervised work experience in a substance abuse counseling setting are exempt from 1) the written portion of the NCSAPCB licensure examination and 2) a portion of the experience requirement for licensure. [Note:  Successful completion of the written exam is required for international reciprocity of licensure.] Further information on NCSAPPB  licensure eligibility can be found at www.ncsappb.org.

Certificate Requirements
Students must take four of the courses below and complete the required internship in substance abuse counseling.  The following courses are offered to students in the certificate program:

• CSLG 6160 Theories of Chemical Dependency *
• CLSG 6161 Chemical Dependency: Assessment and Diagnosis*
• CSLG 6162 Chemical Dependency: Counseling Individuals, Families, and Groups*
• CSLG 6163 Chemical Dependency: Treatment Planning and Relapse Prevention
• CSLG 6000 McLeod Institute on Substance Abuse (a one-week summer institute offered for graduate credit covering a broad array of topics relevant to substance abuse counseling and prevention)

CSLG 7435 Internship* in substance abuse counseling (6 graduate hours-600 hours of supervised experience).  Supervision must be provided by a person who 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 year’s of post master’s degree experience in the field of substance abuse counseling.

* Required for completion of certificate

Students are required to be enrolled in either the Master of Arts in Counseling program or in the Substance Abuse Certification program. Courses for the certificate program are relevant to both school counseling and community counseling. Students who enroll in the Substance Abuse Certificate program and take four courses and 600 hours of internship in substance abuse counseling are eligible to receive a Graduate Certificate in Substance Abuse Counseling from UNC Charlotte.

Additional Admission Requirements

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.  Pam Lassiter
Department of Counseling
UNC Charlotte
9201 University City Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28223-0001
(704) 687-8972
E-mail Dr. Lassiter

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.