Disclaimer
It's important to mention two topics before you dig into the website in depth. These have to do with the accuracy of the information provided. This does not mean that articles aren't providing information that isn't correct. It just means that every situation is unique for each individual. Let us explain. The first item is in reference to the educational requirements deemed necessary by the overseeing agencies of this profession and the second deals with acting on any advice on this website from the standpoint of a person dealing with addiction.
Counseling Education Requirements
For the aspiring counselor, there is quite a bit of technical details to wade through in terms of education requirements. What makes this matter the most complicated is that every one of the current 50 states in the United States has it's own set of requirements you must pursue and complete before being able to serve your community as a certified addiction specialist.
Now, some of the information in our career category, such as the 12 Core Functions will never change. They are the fundamental responsibilities of the job itself. These details you can feel 100% confident that they will guide you in your job performance. However, this isn't the information you need to concern yourself with possibly being misleading. It is those that discuss items such as the degree's allowed, the certifications or licenses needed, the number of observation hours you will need before getting your official stamp from the overseeing agency of your state. It is with them that you need to confirm the exact specifics of what you will need to do before you can officially work as a chemical dependency counselor.
The next thing we need to discuss is the information provided for counselors about individual types of substances, how to deal with them as a counselor and a client, and any responsibility that might be thrusted upon our shoulders.
Addiction Advice On This Site
To put it bluntly, don't trust information on the internet without confirming it with your local medical professional. Find a general practitioner, psychiatrist, psychologist, or counselor to confirm the specifics of any information you find here. You are responsible for your actions and we cannot be held responsible for any actions taken by anyone who had previously read our content.
With that being said, the reasoning for this portion of the disclaimer is that every individual is unique. They have a unique brain chemistry, unique tolerances and thresholds, unique situations in health, life, spirituality, social support system, and any other avenue of the human condition you can consider. Every person is like a rubik's cube where many variables need to come into the proper alignment to make sure everything is safe, and to do this properly you need a medical professional to be involved.
For instance, there is an article on the "cold turkey method" of quitting the use of a specific substance. Depending on the substance of choice and the depth of the addiction, this can be very dangerous. It's not recommended to be done without the supervision of professionals in a detoxification center or at least the constant check-ups of your doctor.
Conclusion
These are the two portions of the disclaimer we felt was appropriate to have featured here on the homepage so everyone sees it. Please make sure you're placing your educational efforts in the right directions to meet the requirements of your state, and please don't apply any advice on ceasing addiction here without first consulting a professional! Always get a second opinion to build confidence on the information you're acting on. Best of luck, everyone!
Conversation and Comments
Lastly, let's try to remember when we comment that there's another real person on the other side of the screen. We need to always be asking ourselves whether or not the next statement we post is supportive and helpful or does it detract from constructive conversation and harm someone in some way.
Like all online communities, we will not tolerate threats or insinuations of harm to another individual. It really doesn't need to be stated on this site for professionals, but anyone can come through and post comments. While we do moderate comments, as they increase in volume it'll be harder to catch everything. But when we do, the comment will be deleted and the individual banned from the website. Please keep this in mind.
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