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College of Humanities and Social Sciences 
School of Social Work

Addiction and Recovery Certification

Prepare and get a head start on earning your Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist credential!

Overview

The School of Social Work offers an Addictions and Recovery specialty, which is a set of electives, practicum, and certification supervision for MSW students interested in becoming a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist (LCAS), credentialed by the North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice Board (NCSAPPB). Completing this curriculum will prepare the student to apply for the LCAS Associate from under Criteria C upon graduation.

Why should you take part in this “Criteria C” curriculum?

  • Receive outstanding, relevant instruction that will prepare you as an addiction specialist
  • Job opportunities shortly after graduation
  • Earn your LCAS after only one year of supervised clinical practice

Eligibility

The requirements for the Addiction Recovery Specialty include:

  • Enrollment in our MSW Program
  • Completed and approved Addiction and Recovery Application (See important Links on top section of this page)
    • Placement in an approved Practicum which provides a minimum of 300 hours working in the area of counseling of those with substance use disorders.  Please note that there is a limited number of SUD placements.
  • Completion of 12 credit hours of electives in addiction and recovery electives. This represents six additional credit hours to the standard MSW coursework.
    • Advanced Standing students will follow the below schedule:
      • Summer II- SW 516 Addiction Recovery and SW 595 Pathology, Diagnosis and Treatment of SUDs. If you have already taken SW 516, you will substitute it with the alternate SUD Elective being offered.
      • Fall- SW 595 Community Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders or SW 595 Best practices in Opioid Use Disorders
      • Spring-SW 595 Addiction Treatment Theories and Models
  • Traditional students will follow the below schedule:
    • First Class:  SW 516-Addiction Recovery (Fall, Spring, Summer II)
    • Second Class: SW 595 Pathology, Diagnosis and Treatment of SUDs (Spring, Summer II)
      • The above classes must be taken before SUD Practicum placement.
      • If the student has already taken SW 416/516 as a student at NC State, another elective from the below list can be substituted.
    • After the above classes, the student will complete two of the three classes below:
      • SW 595 Best practices in Opioid Use Disorders (Summer II, Fall)
      • SW 595 Community Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders (Fall)
      • SW 595 Addiction Treatment Theories and Models (Spring)
  • All Addiction Recovery Specialty Students will take a specialized section of SW 653 and 654 which will provide supervision for the practicum by a board approved Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCS).  Homework will include completion of modules to provide Board required education in HIV and Bloodborne Pathogens, Supervision Methods and Ethics
Request information here

For additional information regarding the Addiction and Recovery Certification, feel free to contact Dr. David Fitzpatrick at dcfitzp2@ncsu.edu.