Substance Abuse Counselor Requirements in Maryland: Credentials, Hours and Exams

Maryland splits the field into a certificate track and a clinical licence track, both issued by the Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists.

The certificates — CSC-AD and CAC-AD — authorize alcohol and drug counseling: § 17-401(b)(4) says a certificate issued by the Board authorizes the holder to practice alcohol and drug counseling while it is effective.

Practice protection attaches to the clinical side: outside the § 17-301(b) exemptions for students and Board-approved trainees, clinical alcohol and drug counseling requires a licence.

The LGADC is the supervised licence rung; the LCADC is the independent one.

The certified professional counselor–alcohol and drug (CPC-AD) title still appears in § 17-401(b)(1), but COMAR .06 now contains only scope and renewal rules and says the Board may not reinstate a lapsed CPC-AD, so the research treats it as legacy.

The trainee authorization starts at an associate's degree in a health and human services counseling field, or 15 semester credit hours from the alcohol and drug topic areas including ethics (.09C).

The CSC-AD adds an associate's in the field plus a minimum of 24 semester credit hours (37 quarter) of alcohol and drug training covering pharmacology, addictions treatment delivery and ethics, plus any three electives (.08C).

The CAC-AD raises both: a bachelor's in the field plus a minimum of 33 semester credit hours (50 quarter) (.07C).

The licences sit at a master's with a minimum of 60 graduate semester credit hours (doctorate 90), plus a minimum of 39 semester credit hours of alcohol and drug training and 3 graduate credits each in diagnosis and psychopathology and in psychotherapy and treatment of mental and emotional disorders (.04B, .05B).

A master's outside the field can qualify through a program of studies the Board determines substantially equivalent in subject matter, a minimum of 60 credit hours in counseling including the required alcohol and drug coursework (.04B(1)(c), .05B(1)(c)).

Every licence and certificate shares one prerequisite item: an internship in alcohol and drug counseling totaling 6 semester credit hours, or a minimum of 1,000 hours of counseling work completed under an approved supervisor.

The acceptable statuses step up the ladder — as a trainee for the CSC-AD (.08C); as a CSC-AD or trainee for the CAC-AD (.07C); as a CAC-AD, CSC-AD or trainee for the LGADC (.04B(3)); and the LCADC also counts hours worked as an LGADC (.05B(3)).

The CAC-AD then adds not less than 1 year with a minimum of 1,000 hours of clinically supervised experience (.07C).

The LCADC then adds a minimum of 2 years and 2,000 hours of supervised clinical experience obtained after the awarding of the master's or doctoral degree, as a supervisee under an approved supervisor — the statute states the same 2-year, 2,000-hour floor at § 17-302(e).

The LGADC licence expires after 2 years unless extended, up to 6, so plan the hours against that clock (.04G).

Trainee status itself runs a maximum of 6 years (.09J).

Maryland tests twice for every licence and certificate: a national alcohol and drug counselor examination approved by the Board, and a Maryland-specific examination on Health Occupations Article, Title 17 and COMAR 10.58 — the statute calls the second one the law examination on Title 17.

The trainee authorization sets no examination in the rules read.

The rule text read also does not name which national examination the Board approves, so confirm the current exam with the Board before scheduling.

The statute requires both exams before supervised graduate practice: an individual may practice graduate alcohol and drug counseling under supervision only after passing the national examination and the law examination (§ 17-309(c)(2)).

An applicant who fails a licence or certificate exam may retake it within the testing authority's window, or on a Board waiver for exceptional circumstances; otherwise a new application and fee apply (.04D, .07E, .08E).

All supervised experience runs through a Board-approved alcohol and drug counselor supervisor, and the approval list is broad: an LCADC; a licensed health-care provider with 3 years of documented alcohol and drug counseling experience; a CPC-AD; a CAC-AD with 3 years of documented experience; a licensed clinical professional counselor; a licensed clinical marriage and family therapist; or a licensed clinical professional art therapist (.02B(3)).

The definition of supervision sets the floor: counseling-skill improvement for a minimum of 1 documented hour in each 40-hour work week, or not less than 2 documented hours per month on a shorter week (.02B(31)).

Intensity steps with the rung — close supervision for the CSC-AD (.08B) and for associate-degree and high-school trainees, moderate for the CAC-AD (.07B) and bachelor's trainees, clinical supervision for the LGADC and master's-degree trainees.

The certificates and trainees must also be employees of an agency or facility certified or licensed by the State, so a private-practice placement will not qualify them.

The LCADC scope opens with clinical evaluation 'including screening, assessment, and diagnosis for mental health disorders' and closes with supervisory responsibilities for all categories of licensed and certified alcohol and drug counselors or trainees (.05A); the statute generalizes it at § 17-308(b).

The LGADC's scope list is nearly the same — it too covers diagnosis for mental health disorders — but .04A requires every activity under the clinical supervision of an approved supervisor, and the rule flatly says a licensee in this category may not practice independently or provide supervision (.04F).

The CAC-AD performs biopsychosocial evaluation including participating in the development of diagnostic impressions for substance use disorders, and may provide supervision with Board approval, but not practice independently (.07A, .07B); the CSC-AD participates in diagnostic impressions only as confirmed and signed by an approved supervisor (.08A).

For the certificate tiers, the diagnostic work is contributing to someone else's diagnosis, not making it.

The Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists is not an IC&RC member board; IC&RC reciprocity delivers no Maryland credential.

COMAR 10.58.07.10 sets the LCADC endorsement route: an applicant licensed as a clinical alcohol and drug counselor or its equivalent elsewhere must still pass the Board-approved national examination and the Title 17/COMAR 10.58 examination, subject to the waiver quoted below.

For a master's under 60 graduate credit hours, .10E(1)(b) substitutes not less than 3 years practicing as a clinical alcohol and drug counselor with a minimum of 2,000 clinical hours.

COMAR 10.58.07.11 does the same for out-of-state CAC-AD applicants: parallel exams and waiver (.11B), a course waiver that cannot touch ethics (.11D), and equivalent experience of not less than 2 years and 2,000 hours (.11E); COMAR .12 covers the CSC-AD.

Beside the Board sits the Maryland Addiction & Behavioral-Health Professionals Certification Board (MAPCB), a private body and the state's IC&RC member; it certifies the CCDC at the ADC reciprocal level and no AADC, so an AADC holder reciprocates at the ADC level — a private credential, not the state licence.

The renewal term cap covers licences and certificates alike: § 17-504(a)(2) says a licence or certificate may not be renewed for a term longer than 2 years.

Renewal takes the fee, the application and satisfactory evidence of compliance with the Board's continuing education requirements (§ 17-504(d)).

The CE rule sets a minimum of 40 CEUs in each renewal period, of which at least 30 must be Category A activities and no more than 10 Category B — or all 40 may be Category A (COMAR 10.58.05.03A); a renewal period shorter than 2 years takes a minimum of 20 Category A CEUs (.03C).

Renewal works by attestation, but the holder must keep the supporting documentation for 4 years for possible Board inspection (.03D).