Intro

One of the smartest decisions I ever made as a clinical supervisor is when I agreed to supervise a Family Life Coach for the Certified Prevention Specialist credential. At the time, I didn’t know all that much about the certification. As an addiction specialist, I figured it was equivalent to a Peer Support Specialist. Oh boy, was I wrong!

The first thing that got my attention is when the supervisee, Tiffany, told me that other clinical supervisors had declined her request. Just so you know, that’s exactly the kind of thing that tics me off. I’ve always been a little contrarian, so when I hear that some of my peers aren’t willing to do something, that’s when I jump in feet first. I mean, how hard could it be? I accepted her on my caseload right away, after telling her I didn’t know anything about the credential. She laughed, confirmed that she didn’t know either. It was easy to meet her where she was at!

The Certified Prevention Specialist

The first place I go whenever I need information on a credential, is my state’s credentialing board site. Here in North Carolina, that’s the North Carolina Addictions Specialist Professional Practice Board. That’s quite a mouthful, so we just refer to it as the NCSAPPB, or “The Board” for short. With a little bit of navigation, I was able to find the page we needed to start figuring things out, which is thoughtfully named Certified Prevention Specialist. For those of you living outside the great state of North Carolina, I think you will find information on the Prevention Specialist credential on your individual state’s addiction counseling board.

The Certified Prevention Specialist credential is for people who have an interest in addictions and substance abuse, but don’t want to go through the process necessary to diagnose and engage clients in group or individual counseling. This is a really important distinction: Prevention Specialists do not and cannot provide addiction treatment or advice. As the Board puts it, “…it is offered to those persons who identify and work with people in high risk categories and/or in alcohol and drug education settings (i.e.: human service agencies, drug and alcohol educators, high school guidance counselors, etc.)

Why You Should Be a Prevention Specialist

The more I look into and learn about the prevention specialist profession, the more I’m convinced that it’s an extremely underutilized and undervalued certification. I’m also starting to believe it is functionally more important, more vital to your community, than those of us licensed to treat actual addictions. Preventing the problem is always more effective than treating it.

In my short time supervising a Prevention Specialist, I’ve become overwhelmed with the possibilities of this credential. Teachers, instructors, social workers, are just the start. Human resources, managers, and business leaders would all benefit from the training and education. Anyone involved in any field that involves human interaction, leadership, instruction, community organization, I could go on and on.

But there’s one “profession” that I have particular interest in: Life Coaches. I have never seen a profession so riddled with deception, self interest, and dis-information than the Life Coaching field. And I’m a life coach!

The ugly truth about Life Coaching is that it’s an unregulated industry. There is no board of ethics, there is no legislation that guides the profession, there is no unified and evidence-based training that I can see. Julie wrote an excellent article dealing with Life Coaching, titled Swing a Cat, Get a Life Coach.

The Certified Prevention Specialist credential is an excellent way to not only feel credible, but to gain practical credibility. It is a fully developed discipline, based on science and evidence-based material comprised of “Best Practices.” Read on to the next section for more details on what it takes to become fully certified as a Prevention Specialist.

Certified Prevention Specialist Requirements

I can’t honestly tell you that this is easy, but the process itself is fairly simple. The following steps apply directly to the state of North Carolina. Your individual state requirements, and the order in which you do things, may vary. Consult your local counseling or addictions board for more information. In the meantime, here are the things you need to have and do:

• A minimum of a high school diploma or GED. You read that correctly, you do not need any college in order to be a Certified Prevention Specialist. (In the spirit of full disclosure, a lot of the material you’ll need to digest, especially the assessment tools, are going to be easier for someone with a bachelors degree. It’s not impossible with a high school diploma, but you might need to put a lot more work into basic interviewing, assessment, and strategic planning skills.
• A Supervision Agreement with a Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCS), CCS Intern (CS-I) or a fully Certified Prevention Specialist (CPS) with three or more years of fully certified experience. This can be tricky, but you can do a Supervisor Search here, after you register with the Board.
• Signed agreement to the Ethical Principles of Conduct
• Three clock hours of Ethics Training
• Submit your resume and job description
• Submit the Registration Fee
• Complete a Background Check

A Breakdown of Fees:

Certified Prevention Specialist (CPS)**

Application Fee $25

Background Check Fee $38

Registration Fee $200

Exam Fee $150

That probably looks like a lot of money, and I admit it’s not chump change. But compared to the absolutely ridiculously exorbitant prices that Coaches charge you to learn how to Coach Coaches, it’s a bargain! It’s also credible, professional, and 100% respectable. You also need to be aware that Clinical Supervision is not free. Your employer might cover the cost, but if you’re doing it on your own, there is usually an hourly fee that you negotiate with your Clinical Supervisor.

Here’s a link to the actual brochure with more detailed information, here.

Do You Want to Be a Prevention Specialist?

If so, great!

If you care about the issues in your community surrounding substance abuse and addiction, and you want a great starting point, this could be the credential for you. In working with Tiffany, I’ve learned that teachers, lawyers, nurses, human resources representatives, music therapists, parents, administrators and life coaches could all benefit and apply the skills learned as a Prevention Specialist.

Of course, if you have a personal history a substance use or misuse, you might want to consider the Peer Support Specialist credential, which you can read about here.

Hopefully, by now, you want even more information on being a Prevention Specialist. Let me introduce you to Nicole M. Augustine, and her company, Rize Consultants. Nicole LITERALLY wrote the book on the Prevention Specialist profession. Check out her video below:

Stay tuned on this site for more information. Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss my upcoming interview with Nicole herself!

Until next time, thank you so much for reading. It really means a lot to us, and we have more material planned over the next couple months. Be sure to leave a comment, and share your experience or interest in the Prevention Specialist credential!