Addiction Counselor Master Class
Addiction Counselor Training Academy gives novice and experienced counselors, the evidence-based science, clinical frameworks, skills, tools and ethical grounding to do this work with competence — and with care.📣 ATTENTION COUNSELORS & THERAPISTS!I’m excited to announce my new Addiction Counselor Master Class!✅ Up to 60 hours of CE’s✅ 100% online✅ Accredited training✅ CCS hours also availableThe fee is $97 per year. You'll also get the CE recertification hours plus all your required CCS hours.Invest in your professional growth, strengthen your skills, and make a greater impact in the lives of those struggling with addiction.
Caring about people in recovery is where this work starts. Having the science, the skills, tools, and the ethics to back that care up is where it becomes transformative.
— Dallas Bennett, MSW, CADC-II, CCS
What you'll learn
What you'll be able to do
- Explain the neuroscience of addiction — including dopamine pathways, tolerance, and withdrawal — in plain language to clients and families.
- Apply evidence-based frameworks (Motivational Interviewing, CRAFT, CBT) to real recovery conversations and case scenarios.
- Conduct structured intake assessments and identify co-occurring mental health disorders that complicate recovery.
- Design individualized recovery plans that account for trauma history, social determinants, and relapse triggers.
- Navigate ethics, boundaries, and mandatory reporting requirements as a recovery support professional.
Need CE Credits or Clinical Supervision Hours?
We can provide your CE credits and CCS hours for addiction certification
One annual subscription covers the requirements needed to keep or obtain the credits and hours you need for your certification as an addiction professional with NAADAC or IC/RC
Join our online school
Get familiar with our process and engage with your instructor.
Complete your lessons online and in the classroom
Each lesson is written for your pace and your goal, adjusting as your skills grow.
Join our scheduled Supervision - Zoom calls and individual sessions
Our Zoom calls will be offered at flexible times throughout the year.
The Curriculum - 6 modules @ 10 CE hours = 60 CE Hours
Our curriculum is continuously updated. This is what we offer now for one low annual fee.
6 modules · 30 lessons
Foundations of Addiction Science
Builds the biological and psychological knowledge base professionals need to explain addiction accurately and compassionately.
- 1.1What Addiction Really Is: Definitions and ModelsIncluded
- 1.2The Brain on Substances: Dopamine, Reward, and CravingIncluded
- 1.3Tolerance, Dependence, and WithdrawalIncluded
- 1.4Substance Classes and Their EffectsIncluded
- 1.5Risk Factors, Protective Factors, and the Social Determinants of AddictionIncluded
Assessment and Diagnosis
Equips practitioners to conduct structured intake assessments and recognize co-occurring disorders that shape treatment needs.
- 2.1The Intake Interview: Structure, Rapport, and SafetyIncluded
- 2.2Screening and Assessment ToolsIncluded
- 2.3DSM-5 Criteria for Substance Use DisordersIncluded
- 2.4Co-Occurring Mental Health DisordersIncluded
- 2.5Documenting Assessments and Making ReferralsIncluded
Evidence-Based Counseling Frameworks
Trains practitioners in the core therapeutic approaches proven to move clients toward and through recovery.
- 3.1Stages of Change and Meeting Clients Where They AreIncluded
- 3.2Motivational Interviewing: Core Skills and SpiritIncluded
- 3.3Motivational Interviewing: Handling Ambivalence and ResistanceIncluded
- 3.4Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques for AddictionIncluded
- 3.5Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT)Included
Individualized Recovery Planning
Guides practitioners in designing person-centered recovery plans that account for trauma, triggers, and whole-life context.
- 4.1Trauma-Informed Care PrinciplesIncluded
- 4.2Identifying Relapse Triggers and High-Risk SituationsIncluded
- 4.3Building a Personalized Relapse Prevention PlanIncluded
- 4.4Social Determinants and Whole-Life Recovery NeedsIncluded
- 4.5Goals, Milestones, and Plan ReviewIncluded
Group Facilitation, Peer Support, and Crisis Intervention
Builds the facilitation and crisis-response skills needed to lead recovery groups and intervene safely in acute situations.
- 5.1Foundations of Peer Support: Lived Experience as a ToolIncluded
- 5.2Facilitating Effective Recovery Support GroupsIncluded
- 5.3Harm Reduction Principles and PracticeIncluded
- 5.4De-Escalation Techniques for Crisis SituationsIncluded
- 5.5Crisis Intervention Frameworks and Safety PlanningIncluded
Ethics, Boundaries, and Professional Practice
Ensures practitioners operate within legal, ethical, and professional standards while sustaining their own well-being.
- 6.1Scope of Practice for Recovery Support ProfessionalsIncluded
- 6.2Professional Boundaries and Dual RelationshipsIncluded
- 6.3Confidentiality, HIPAA, and 42 CFR Part 2Included
- 6.4Mandatory Reporting and Duty-to-Warn RequirementsIncluded
- 6.5Preventing Burnout and Sustaining Compassionate PracticeIncluded
Who it's for
Is this you?
Peer support specialists
You have lived experience and a powerful story, this program gives you the clinical language, ethical grounding, and structured frameworks to turn that story into a sustainable profession.
Aspiring addiction counselors
You're entering the field with passion but want evidence-based tools and skills to back your instincts with real skill from day one. This will help you.
Licensed counselors & social workers
You hold a clinical license but haven't had deep addiction-specific training, this curriculum fills that gap with neuroscience, DSM-5 assessment, and treatment frameworks built for SUD work.
Healthcare professionals
As a nurse, case manager, or community health worker, you encounter substance use regularly and need the screening tools, referral pathways, and communication skills to respond effectively.
Family advocates
You love someone in active addiction or recovery and want to move beyond helplessness — CRAFT, trauma-informed principles, and an honest understanding of the brain will change how you show up for them.
Community helper or Pastor
You're already in the trenches, maybe a pastor, a community organizer, a volunteer, and you want the professional competency to make your support safer, more structured, and more effective.
Questions
Frequently asked
Your Instructor & Clinical Supervisor
A note from your instructor
Dallas Bennett, MSW, CADC-II, CCS
If you're reading this, you probably already care deeply about people in recovery. Maybe you've watched someone you love struggle with addiction and felt the frustration of not knowing how to help. Maybe you're already doing this work — sitting with people in their hardest moments — and you want to feel more equipped, more grounded, more certain you're doing right by them. Or maybe you're earlier in the journey, drawn to this field and looking for a rigorous, but simple place to start.
Wherever you're coming from, I want you to know something: the gap between caring about someone and knowing how to effectively support them is real, and it's doable. That's what Addiction Counselor Training Academy exists to do.
This program was built on a simple conviction: that recovery support professionals deserve training that is both scientifically honest and deeply human. Too much addiction education either drowns people in clinical jargon or skims the surface with platitudes. Neither serves the person sitting across from you. Here, we go into the neuroscience, the dopamine pathways, the mechanics of tolerance, what withdrawal actually does to a brain and a body, but we explain it in plain language, because you need to be able to explain it to a client's frightened family member, not just pass a test on it.
The frameworks we teach, Motivational Interviewing, CBT, CRAFT, trauma-informed care, aren't buzzwords. They are tested, research-backed approaches that change outcomes when applied with skill and genuine regard for the person in front of you. I'll walk you through not just what these frameworks are, but how to use them in real conversations, with real ambivalence, and real resistance. Because that's where the work actually happens.
I also want to be honest about the hard parts of this work. Ethics aren't just paperwork, they're the architecture that keeps you and your clients safe. Burnout is real, and it's not a personal failing; it's what happens when people pour themselves out without the structures to be replenished. This program takes both seriously, because I want you to still be doing this work, and doing it well, years from now.
If you're ready to move from caring about recovery to being genuinely skilled at supporting it, I'd be honored to walk that path with you. Come in, look around, and let's get to work.
— Dallas Bennett, MSW, CADC-II, CCS
About your instructor and supervisor
Dallas has been a professional counselor for over thirty-two years. During this time, he has worked in mental health hospitals, drug and alcohol treatment centers, and a licensed faith-based addiction rehabilitation program. He is a board-certified alcohol and drug counselor, certified clinical supervisor, EMDR trauma certified and a Christian Social Worker. He also provides continuing education for professional licensed and certified counselors.
He also served as a part-time prison chaplain and church pastor for over ten years. He attended Liberty University and North Florida Christian College and earned a bachelor’s degree in Christian counseling and a master’s degree in Christian social work.
His passion is helping people find freedom from anxiety and addiction through biblical principles and professional skills. And he enjoys teaching others to do the same.
Dallas is also the author of three books about Addiction Recovery, Marriage, and Biblical Serenity. They can be found on Amazon.
His website is: dallasbennett.com
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- 6 modules, 30 lessons
- AI-adaptive lessons tuned to your level
- Quizzes & checkpoints to lock in progress
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- Learn on any device, at your pace
- Full access for as long as you're subscribed