2023 Best Online Substance Abuse Counseling Degrees in West Virginia

If you've graduated with a traditional or online substance abuse counseling degree, you may wonder what job opportunities are available in West Virginia. 

Perhaps the obvious choice is to work as a substance use counselor, providing addiction counseling for clients who've been diagnosed with substance abuse disorders. In this state, a bachelor's degree in substance abuse counseling qualifies you for Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ADC) certification, and a master's degree or doctorate allows you to pursue Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (AADC) certification.

If you're looking for alternative career possibilities that don't involve working with clients face-to-face, you could become a community service worker or a health education specialist at a government agency or nonprofit organization. You can serve your community by developing informative campaigns that raise public awareness of the dangers of substance misuse or by monitoring the outcomes of various treatment programs.

If you'd like to become a substance use counselor in West Virginia, you'll need to work with the West Virginia Certification Board for Addiction & Prevention Professionals (WVCBAPP). This certification board, which is a member of the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC), has established two levels of substance abuse counseling certification.

For the first level of certification — the Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ADC) — you do not need a college degree. However, you will need to complete 300 hours, or about 20 college courses, on counseling, of which one-third need to be specifically on addiction counseling. You'll also need six years of qualifying work experience, up to 300 hours of supervised addiction counseling experience, and a passing score on the IC&RC ADC Exam.

To qualify as an Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (AADC), you'll need a master's degree or doctorate in behavioral science with a clinical focus. Your transcripts also need to show that you've completed 300 hours, or about 20 college courses, on counseling, of which one-third need to be addiction-specific. Additionally, you'll need at least one year of post-master's degree work experience, up to 300 hours of supervised addiction counseling experience, and a passing score on the IC&RC AADC Exam.

If you're thinking about pursuing an online master's degree so you can qualify for AADC certification in West Virginia, you may want to consider some of the options on our ranked lists of the best online substance abuse counseling master's degrees and the most affordable online substance abuse counseling master's degrees. 

Both ADC and AADC certification needs to be renewed every two years. To qualify for recertification, you need to complete 40 hours of continuing education, including six hours of addiction-specific ethics.

Yes, if you're a substance use counselor who has been certified by IC&RC in another state, you can transfer your addiction counseling credential to West Virginia without needing to meet any additional requirements. You can begin the process by submitting an application for reciprocity to your current state's licensing board. However, before you can offer in-person, telephone, or online substance abuse counseling in West Virginia, you must demonstrate that you live or work in the state at least 51% of the time.

Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not provide specific salary range information for addiction counselors in West Virginia, it does indicate that substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors as a group in this state earn a mean annual salary of $46,130. ProjectionsCentral expects the number of substance abuse counseling jobs in West Virginia to increase by 27.9% between 2020 and 2030.