Troubling Shortage of Addiction Counselors Highlighted by New Demands on System (Part 2)

Catch up with Part 1

A Low Pay, High Stress Gig

As individuals in the treatment community well know, counseling positions can be incredibly rewarding – you are saving and often forever changing lives. But the job is administratively demanding, often requiring long hours, loads of paperwork, as well as stressful work with insurance companies and family members.  It also can be emotionally taxing in that you are actively exposed to clients’ trauma, pain, and costly, preventable relapses. It’s a lot to take on,  and many counselors burn out.

Pay is also lower than average, which sometimes prompts addiction professionals to shift careers when their expenses or family structure changes or when they feel like they’ve plateaued.  Historically, salaries for physicians, psychologists, social workers and counselors in the addiction field have been well below salaries for comparable professionals in other health care specialties that require the same level of education and training.  The average salary for social workers in the addiction field is $38,600, compared to $47,230 in the rest of the health care industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And because the average age of addiction specialists is higher than in other professions, demographers predict a behavioral health retirement boom in the next five years. Between now and 2020, the addiction services field will need to fill more than 330,000 jobs to keep pace with demand, of which more than half are the result of people retiring and switching to other occupations .

The Road Forward

The Affordable Care Act should eventually spur more competitive salaries for behavioral health professionals. But, for now, it seems to be complicating matters.

Workforce development officials at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration indicate that they are aware of the shortage and are working on solutions, including reaching out to high schools and colleges to develop and promote training in the area. Many industry groups are also pushing for tuition reimbursements to increase the number of young people studying to enter the field.

In the meantime, many treatment facilities find that it is up to them to attract and retain bright, dedicated, and passionate counselors based on the ability to work creatively with their finances and keep patient census high. No easy task. But for anyone who has worked in this field knows, when you see clients who find self-respect, self-awareness, and a new way of living, it is hugely important and transformative work. Many say it’s worth more than just a paycheck.