Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors

People in this career often have these skills:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

People in this career often know a lot about:

• Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

People in this career often have talent in:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

People in this career often do these activities:

• Counsel clients or patients with substance abuse issues.
• Maintain professional social services knowledge.
• Develop treatment plans for patients or clients.
• Write reports or evaluations.
• Maintain client records.

• Monitor clients to evaluate treatment progress.
• Intervene in crisis situations to assist clients.
• Collaborate with other professionals to assess client needs or plan treatments.
• Interview clients to gather information about their backgrounds, needs, or progress.
• Lead classes or community events.
• Supervise workers providing client or patient services.
• Modify treatment plans to accommodate client needs.
• Train staff members in social services skills.
• Advocate for individual or community needs.
• Present social services program information to the public.
• Refer clients to community or social service programs.
• Counsel family members of clients or patients.
• Administer drug screening tests.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of counseling or educational programs.
• Plan programs to address community health issues.
• Collaborate with other professionals to develop education or assistance programs.
• Confer with family members to discuss client treatment plans or progress.

• Child, Family, and School Social Workers

• Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists

• Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors

• Social and Human Service Assistants

• Mental Health Counselors

• Health Education Specialists

• Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

• Residential Advisors

• Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

• Directors, Religious Activities and Education