The Professional Counselor | Volume 13, Issue 1 57 3. In your view, what can be done, or needs to change, to address or overcome these challenges and barriers? Specifically, there has been a push in more recent years for addiction counseling to require graduate-level training. How does this help or hinder the profession and the clients we serve? I want to start by saying, I am grateful for my formative years I had at Kings County Hospital. Working as an addiction counselor in the trenches gave me my foundation in addiction counseling. This is where I knew I was called to do this career. What I think needs to happen is that there needs to be more incentives for counselors who are working in addiction, especially those who transition from working as a non–master’s-level counselor to a master’s-level counselor. There is a significant difference in pay when working as a non–master’s-level counselor, as opposed to being a master’s-level counselor working in mental health. While in graduate school, there were not as many conversations about working in addiction as there were about working in mental health once you became a fully licensed counselor. I understand that when you complete graduate school, many students have debt and they are eager to become recognizable therapists. Working in the trenches with people is very hard. However, if there was more emphasis on the rewards of working in addiction as opposed to the war stories, there may be more of an interest for clinicians coming into the field. The rewards of working in addiction are helping the families, not just the identified client, and creating safety in communities. When people get sober, they commit fewer crimes and this reduces recidivism. It creates a better economy. When we diminish drug use in communities, those sober individuals return to the work force. I think it would be great if there was more of an emphasis on addiction counseling in graduate-level training. A higher level of course work brings value. I believe this would allow the retention level of staff to be more consistent. Being a master’s-level counselor also allows insurance companies and consumers to invest in treatment that has higher skilled professionals, and this increases that monetary value of the job—another component that supports staff retention. 4. You also have a strong background in the field of criminal justice and corrections. In your opinion, how do drug reformation and policy changes to criminalization impact the criminal justice system and addiction counseling? Have you seen any advancements in care and rehabilitation as a result of these changes? Drug reformation and policy changes for the use of marijuana and the continuing rise of opioids impact the criminal justice system greatly. Drug addiction impacts a myriad of things. It impacts the individual, their family, the community, the judicial system, and health care, just to name a few. The local criminal justice system is designed to protect and serve the community. In the past, professionals in law enforcement and the criminal justice system lacked education and knowledge about addiction and mental health, which has caused many problems, especially in minority communities. I do believe today that many law enforcement agencies and criminal justice agencies are improving. They are hiring more professionals with knowledge of addiction and mental health and establishing collaborative relationships. SAMHSA offers a training for the criminal justice community, “How Being Trauma-Informed Improves Criminal Justice System Responses.” Several community supervision and corrections departments are now training their staff to be trauma informed. On a local judiciary level, because drug reformation has become an issue, many marijuana laws are being reviewed and how these will be managed legally. This continues to be an ongoing concern.
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