Addictions specialization to be added to counseling program
Central Michigan University’s counseling program will offer a new specialty in addictions counseling certificate starting as early as fall 2016.
The counseling master’s degree has two options: professional counseling and school counseling. Counseling for addictions will be a third option. The program will go from a 48-hour program to a 60-hour program starting in the fall, which counseling faculty John Farrar said aligns with national standards.
“Everybody’s life is touched by addictive behavior,” Farrar said. “There are very few people who can really say, ‘none of my aunts, none of my uncles, no one in my immediate family, nobody I know has ever been negatively touched by addiction.'"
Farrar said because students won’t begin taking courses specializing in addiction until after they complete the core counseling courses, it will be about a year before students will take the new courses.
The specialty will be made up of 15 courses, including the introductory counseling for addictions course that is already offered. Three new courses will be offered and for the remaining credits in the program, students will be required to complete an internship.
The Moving Forward: Treating The Spectrum of Addictions conference will be hosted on Aug. 19 to help promote this change within the program, Farrar said.
