You bring up a good point that I talked about in the other topic. At SAFE, EVERY child is seen and evaluated by a psychologist. This has to be done in order for SAFE to be paid by an insurance company, for SAFE to be in compliance with the governing authorities, and most importantly for the child to receive the best treatment. Every child who receives treatment at SAFE must have a substance abuse diagnosis. If a child has an additional areas of concern, that can not be handled by the psychologist, then they are referred to someone else. For example, SAFE had a relationhsips with psychiatrists for those kids that needed psychotropic medication.
Regarding the "low level therapy" that the counselors gave, I think you are misinformed. While I was working there, 3 out of the 4 executive staff/counselors, were Certified Addictions Professionals. I go into some detail about that credential here:
I cut and pasted this from the Certification Board of Addicition Professionals website.
CAP
Certified Addiction Professional
This classification is viewed as the title for the addiction treatment professional primarily involved in providing direct treatment services in addictions. The requirements for this classification are as follows:
Degree: Bachelor?s Degree (minimum)
Experience: 6,000 hours of Direct Service
(within past 10 years)
Supervision: 300 hours of Direct Supervision
(A minimum of 10 hours must be documented in each skill area)
Education: 300 hours of Education:
145 hours of Addiction education
125 hours in Counseling education
30 hours must be in Ethics
4 hours must be in HIV/AIDS*
2 hours must be in Domestic Violence*
* Part of the total Education requirement, and counts for either Addiction or Counseling.
Written exam(s): Florida Specific Exam, and International Exam
Oral exam: Yes **
** Oral exam exemption: For applicants applying for the CAP certification with a Master?s Degree in a clinical counseling or counseling-related field (i.e., social work, mental health counseling, marriage and family, psychology), the oral exam may be waived if the following requirements are met:
Degree was received from a fully accredited institution, recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation, AND EITHER:
Have at least one university-sponsored supervised clinical practicum, internship, or field experience in a counseling setting where you provided clinical services directly to clients, OR
Have registered Intern Status through the Agency for Health Care Administration.
A written request to waive the oral exam must accompany your application.
Not quite what you thought, is it. It seems that we can learn from each other. Does this allow me to work with children? 6000 hours of direct service, 300 hours of direct supervision, 300 hours of education, a written and an oral exam. All of this prior to becoming certified. I am qualified or at least I was, I dropped my certification a couple of years after I left the indusry.
Check it our for yourself
http://www.netinstitute.net/CertProcess2.htm#CAP [ This Message was edited by: exsafecounselor on 2004-02-11 13:14 ]
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