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Overview
Drug and alcohol addiction counsellors support individuals and families affected by substance or alcohol dependence through counselling, progress follow-up, advocacy, crisis intervention and group sessions.
In job descriptions, look for addiction assessment, client-centred counselling, behavioural therapy, crisis response, group therapy, social-service records, confidentiality and cooperation with health or social-care teams.
Explore this occupation
Open in Job ExplorerWork context
This counselling work is usually close to people in unstable situations. Sessions may cover substance use patterns, family pressure, relapse risks, housing or work problems, and immediate safety concerns. The counsellor documents progress, coordinates with other social or health professionals, and may lead structured group meetings.
Skills and specializations
Useful strengths include addiction assessment, client-centred counselling, behavioural therapy, crisis intervention, confidentiality and calm communication. Some posts focus on adults in recovery programmes, while others support young people, families or outreach education for groups with higher exposure to substance harm.
Salary context
Salary context is shaped by caseload complexity, crisis responsibility, group facilitation, documentation demands and the level of cooperation with clinical or social-service teams. Roles with evening cover, outreach work or responsibility for programme development may be framed differently from mainly scheduled counselling posts.
Career paths
Experience can lead toward senior counselling, addiction programme coordination, family support, prevention education, clinical social work routes or supervision of social-service cases. Strong practice in risk assessment, records and inter-professional cooperation is useful for later specialist responsibility.
Good to know
Read adverts for the client group and intervention level. Check whether the role includes crisis response, group therapy, home or outreach visits, work with families, youth development, case notes, safeguarding routines or education programmes about substance and alcohol risks.
Editorial note
This guide is editorial career context. It is not official labour-market statistics or role-specific salary data.
Map overview
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O*NET relationships
See occupations connected to this ESCO occupation in the official O*NET–ESCO mapping. The relationship type comes from the source and is not a ranking or recommendation.
O*NET relationships: 3
Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors
21-1011.00
Exact relationship
The official mapping treats the O*NET and ESCO occupations as closely equivalent.
Open in O*NETMental Health Counselors
21-1014.00
O*NET occupation is broader
The O*NET occupation covers a broader field of work than this ESCO occupation.
Open in O*NETMental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
21-1023.00
O*NET occupation is broader
The O*NET occupation covers a broader field of work than this ESCO occupation.
Open in O*NETSource and method
These relationships come from the official European Commission O*NET–ESCO crosswalk.
Relationship direction: O*NET occupation to ESCO occupation.
Several O*NET occupations can point to the same ESCO occupation, and one O*NET occupation can point to several ESCO occupations.
AltoTrail preserves the source relationship type. The order is technical and does not show which occupation is best, most relevant or recommended.
AltoTrail validates and presents the source relationships without adding ranking or recommendation semantics.
Alternative labels
Occupation group
social counsellor (2635.1)
Source facts
| ESCO URI | http://data.europa.eu/esco/occupation/5d758e75-a116-485a-b800-5db08ffd3ba1 |
|---|---|
| ESCO code | 2635.1.2 |
| ISCO group | 2635 |
| Concept type | Occupation |