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BOPC : alcoholoverview

Board of Professional Counselors

Overview of Certification Process

 

1. Application Process – In order to qualify for alcohol and drug certification, an applicant shall complete and return the Board application. All questions on the application must be answered. The applications for alcohol and drug counseling are on the website click on  Applications.
2. Fees – Application Fee of $75.00 must be submitted with the application.  At the time of approval, $100.00 certification fee is required.  Fees are non-refundable
3. Professional References – Three professional references are required.  At least one of the references must document the supervised clinical experience in #5 below.
4. Education – Official transcripts from an accredited college or university must be included with the application.  There are 3 tiers for certification:
  • CPC-AD – Master’s degree (60) graduate credits or 90-quarter credits or Doctorate (90) graduate credits or 135-quarter credits in Health and Human Services counseling field from an accredited college.  27 credits in alcohol and drug counseling and 3credits in ethics with a focus on alcohol and drug counseling.  (Note:  27 alcohol and drug credits and ethics course may be at the undergraduate level) 

  1.     Pharmacology of Psychoactive Drugs

  2.      Individual Counseling

  3.     Group Counseling Techniques

  4.     Abnormal Psychology

  5.     Addictions Treatment Delivery

  6.     Topics in Alcohol and Drug Dependency

  7.      Family Counseling

  8.     Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy

  • CAC-AD - Bachelor’s degree in Health or Human Services counseling field from an accredited college.  20 credits in alcohol and drug counseling from the list above and 1 -credit in ethics with a focus on alcohol and drug counseling.

  • CSC-AD – Associates degree in Health or Human Services counseling field from an accredited college.  15 credits in alcohol and drug counseling  from the list above and 1- credit in ethics of alcohol and drug counseling.

5. Required Supervised Clinical Experience –

  • CPC-AD – 3 years with 2,000 hours, 2 years after awarding of the Master’s or Doctoral degree

  • CAC-AD – 3 years with 2,000 hours, 2 years after awarding of Bachelor’s degree

  • CSC-AD – 2 years with 2,000 hours, 1 year after awarding of Associate’s degree

6. Examination – CPC-AD Applicants must pass the Examination for Masters Addiction Counselors (EMAC) and the State Law Test.  The law test is given on the same day as the EMAC.  The EMAC is given four (4) times during the year:  January, April, July and October.

CAC-AD and CSC-AD Applicants must pass the examination developed by International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium/Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (ICRC/AODA) and the Maryland Law Test. The ICRC is given 4 times a year: March,June,September and December; The Law test is given twice a month at the Board’s office. You must pass the ICRC before taking the Law Test.   

7. Eligibility to take the exam, applicants must:

  • Be of good moral character

  • Be at least 18 years old

  • Meet the education requirements in #4 above.