Frequently Asked Questions
	Can any previous experience count toward the certification requirements? answer I'm a certified chemical dependency counselor from a different state. What do I need to do to be certified in Washington State? How many hours of experience do I need for certification? answer What competencies must I become proficient at during my experience? answer How much of the experience requirement needs to be under supervision? answer Who may act as an approved supervisor? answer What does NAADAC Certification or ICRC International Certification do for me? answer How many hours of AIDS prevention and information education do I need? answer What happens if my certification expires? answer How often do I need to renew and what are the costs for certification? answer How much money can I expect to make? answer

1. The Department of Health will consider experience up to seven years prior to the date of application.
2. Accumulation of the experience hours is not required to be consecutive. Experience that will count toward certification must meet the requirements outlined in WAC 246-811-046 through 246-811-049.
3. Supervised experience is the practice as referred to in RCW 18.205.090 (1)(c) and is the experience received under an approved supervisor. A practicum or intership taken while acquiring the degree or semester/quarter hours is applicable.

1. Two thousand five hundred hours of chemical dependency counseling as defined in RCW 18.205.020 (3), for individuals who possess an associate degree; or
2. Two thousand hours of chemical dependency counseling for individuals who possess a baccalaureate degree in human services or a related field from an approved school; or
3. One thousand five hundred hours of chemical dependency counseling for individuals who possess a master or doctoral degree in human services or a related field from an approved school; or
4. One thousand five hundred hours of chemical dependency counseling for individuals who are lecinsed as advanced nurse practitioners under RCW 18.79; or
5. One thousand five hundred hours of chemical dependency counseling for individuals who are licensed as a psychologist under RCW 18.83.

1. It is the intent that individuals become competent in addiction counseling competencies, as defined in WAC 246-811-010 (5), through the experience requirement.
2. Individuals must experience the addiction counseling competencies listed in (a) through (i) of this subsection.
   (a) Two hundred hours of clinical evaluation. One hundred hours of the two hundred must be face-to-face contact hours.
   (b) Six hundred hours of face-to-face counseling to include: individual counseling; group counseling; counseling family, couples, and significant others.
   (c) Fifty hours of discussion of professional and ethical responsibilities.
   (d) Transdisciplinary foundations: understanding addition; treatment knowledge; application to practice; professional readiness.
   (e) Treatment planning.
   (f) Referral.
   (g) Service coordination.
   (h) Client, family, and community education.
   (i) Documentation to include: screening, intake, assessment, treatment plan, clinical reports, clinical progress notes, discharge summaries, and other client related data.

   Eight hundred fifty hours of experience are designated to subsection (2)(a) through (c) of this subsection, the remaining experience hours must be divided among subsection (2)(d) through (i) of this subsection as determined by the supervisor.

1. All of the experience must be under an approved supervisor as defined in WAC 246-811-010 (1). The first fifty hours of any face-to-face client contact must be under direct observation of an approved supervisor or a chemical dependency professional. Supervision shall be based on assisting the person being supervised in acquiring proficiency in the addiction counseling competencies as defined in WAC 246-811-010 (5).
2. Approved supervisors shall attest to the department of the supervised person's satisfactory progress in becoming proficient in the addiction counseling competencies as listed in WAC 246-811-047 (2)(a) through (i) on forms provided by the department.

1. An approved superviser is a certified chemical dependency professional or a person who meets or exceeds the requirements of a certified chemical dependency professional in the state of Washington, and who would be eligible to take the examination required for certification; and
2. An approved supervisor has at least 4000 hours of experience in a state approved chemical dependency treatment agency. The 4000 hours are in addition to the supervised experience hours required to be eligible to become a chemical dependency professional. Twenty-eight clock hours of recognized supervisory training may be substituted for 1000 hours of experience; and
3. An approved supervised is not a blood or legal relative, significant other, cohabitant of the supervisee, or someone who has acted as the person's supervised's primary counselor.

1. A person who is certified through the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) or the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (ICRC) is considered to have met the experience requirements, and half of the educational requirements, of WAC 246-811-046.
2. Certification verifies the forty-five quarter or thirty semester hours of topics listed in WAC 246-811-030(2)(a) through (w). Because certification in one of these organizations verifies your experience, verification forms are not required. However, transcripts will need to be sent to the department to verify the additional forty-five quarter or thirty semester credits in courses covering the subject content described in WAC 246-811-030(2). Please request NAADAC or ICRC to forward verification of your certification directly to this office.

1. If the certification has expired for five years or less the individual must meet the requirements of chapter 246-12 WAC, Part 2.
2. If a certification has lapsed for more than five years, the applicant will be required to demonstrate continued competency and shall be required to take an examination if an examination was not taken and passed for the initial certification. In addition, the requirements of chapter 246-12 WAC, Part 2, must be met.

1. Certificates must be renewed every year on the practitioner's birthday as provided in chapter 246-12 WAC, Part 2.
2. The following nonrefundable fees will be charged for certifying chemical dependency professional:

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Funding provided by the Washington Department of Social and Health Services - Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse.