What Degrees Do I Need to Get to Work in Rehab/addiction?
Question by : What degrees do I need to get to work in rehab/addiction?
I am going to be a freshman in college this fall. I want to help people with addiction in rehab but I’m not sure how I would go about getting into that profession. I want to be able to prescribe the drugs that help people detox as well as help through counseling. I would like to at least get my bachelors in psychology and double major if possible. Any help would be great!
I am going to be a freshman in college this fall. I want to help people with addiction in rehab but I’m not sure how I would go about getting into that profession. I want to be able to prescribe the drugs that help people detox as well as help through counseling. I would like to at least get my bachelors in psychology and double major if possible. I am planning on continuing school after my bachelors, I just don’t know what path I need to be on. I really admire Dr. Drew (Celebrity Rehab, etc.) and would absolutely love to have his job or one similar (without being on TV) Any help would be great!
Sorry about posting twice, I’m new to asking questions.
Best answer:
Answer by Andrea
If you want to prescribe drugs then you have to go to medical school, only doctors can prescribe meds……. takes a LOT more than a bachelors. So to do both counseling AND prescribe drugs you would need to become a psychiatrist.
Answer by raysny
Someone else asked the same question recently:
Over 90% of rehab centers in the US are 12step based, AA/NA. Most of the rest are Narconon, a Scientology based program, or heavily religious. Courts, government agencies, and employee assistance programs mandate 12step rehabs.
Almost everyone who works at a 12step rehab have had their own problems with alcohol and/or drugs and are AA/NA members. I’m sure you don’t want to go out and become an alcoholic or addict to qualify. The pay isn’t very good, and there is a huge turnover due to relapses, but many of the people who work in rehabs have a spotty employment record and some sort of arrest record so it’s the best they can do.
Rehabs employ more psychiatrists that psychologists because psychiatrists can write prescriptions. (And yes, most of them work for rehabs because of their own problems with alcohol and/or drugs.) A competent psychologist would earn far more working elsewhere.
What you can do is take some courses in Human Services and first of all, see if that’s what you really want to do.
In the past twenty years or so, the courts governing 16 states have ruled that AA is “religious in nature” and mandated 12step treatment to be a violation of the Establishment Clause. Hopefully, more to soon follow. What this means for you, is that there are more treatment opportunities that are not 12step based over the coming years.
I’m a mental health care worker, I work for an ACT program (Assertive Community Treatment), primarily with those who have coexisting substance abuse problems. We use Motivational Interviewing with our clients. About half of all people with mental health disorders have substance abuse problems and about half the people with substance abuse issues have a mental illness. Integrated Treatment, treating both problems, is a growing field. It has been found to be counterproductive to use two different treatment methods, especially when they are often at odds with each other.
Feel free to email me.