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

Virginia does not run its substance abuse credentials as a single ladder.

A bachelor's-level track under 18VAC115-30 certifies a CSAC-A and then a CSAC.

A separate graduate-level track under 18VAC115-60 licenses a Resident in Substance Abuse Treatment, defined as 'an individual who has a supervisory contract and has been issued a temporary license by the board to provide clinical services in substance abuse treatment under supervision,' and then the full LSATP licence.

A CSAC does not automatically advance into the Resident/LSATP track; LSATP has its own graduate-degree requirement.

The statute exempts a wide range of salaried settings, but 'any person who ... engages in an independent private practice shall not be exempt' from licensure.

CSAC-A only requires 'a high school diploma, a general educational development (GED) certificate, or a post-secondary degree,' plus 120 clock hours of didactic training in substance abuse education.

CSAC requires 'a bachelor's or post-baccalaureate degree' plus 240 clock hours of didactic training, of which at least 120 hours must come before supervision is registered.

LSATP sits on the separate graduate track and requires a completed graduate degree — 'a master's degree in substance abuse or a substantially equivalent master's degree' from a program meeting 18VAC115-60-60 A's accreditation criteria — plus 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours of graduate study, a 9-area core curriculum, and 12 graduate semester hours across five substance-abuse-treatment competency areas.

A graduate degree meeting the LSATP program requirements also satisfies CSAC's lower bachelor's-degree floor, though the reverse is not true.

CSAC-A takes 180 hours of experience in a practicum or internship performing specified client tasks under supervision.

CSAC takes 2,000 hours of supervised experience in substance abuse counseling services, including a minimum of one hour and a maximum of four hours of supervision per 40 hours of work, totaling 100 hours, of which no more than half may be group supervision.

LSATP residency is separately defined: at least 2,000 hours of face-to-face client contact and a minimum of 200 hours of in-person supervision on the same schedule, completed in not less than 21 months.

On top of those totals, the resident must also complete at least 1,000 hours of face-to-face client contact and 100 hours of supervision within the two years immediately preceding the licensure application — an added recency requirement, not a lower-hour alternate route.

CSAC-A candidates sit the Virginia State Constructed CSAC-A exam, an open-book test the Board emails to approved candidates.

CSAC candidates take the NCAC-I exam, administered through NCC AP with NAADAC under the code '!VA327' and the selection 'Virginia Board of Counseling – CSAC.'

LSATP applicants take the Master Addiction Counselor (MAC) exam with the Co-Occurring Disorder Component, through the same NCC AP/NAADAC system.

The MAC exam 'is waived for an applicant who holds a current and unrestricted license as a professional counselor issued by the board' — a Virginia LPC can become an LSATP without sitting the MAC.

A CSAC-A's practicum supervisor must be an LSATP, another Department-licensed mental health professional, or a CSAC (§ 54.1-3507.2 C); once certified, an exempt-setting equivalent or facility compliance is added (§ 54.1-3507.2 B).

A practicing CSAC has the same five options minus the CSAC one (§ 54.1-3507.1 B).

Under 18VAC115-30-60 C, a CSAC applicant's board-approved supervisor must be an LSATP; an LPC, licensed clinical psychologist, LCSW, LMFT, physician, or RN with a board-recognized national certification, a CSAC certification, or one year of substance-abuse-counseling experience plus 100 didactic hours in the 30-50 B 2 areas; or a CSAC with two years of post-certification experience.

Approval after February 19, 2021 also needs a 3-credit-hour or 4-quarter-hour supervision course, or 20 CE hours in supervision (18VAC115-30-60 D).

LSATP resident supervisors must hold an active, unrestricted LPC or LSATP license where supervision occurs, and document two years of post-licensure substance abuse treatment experience, 100 hours of didactic instruction in substance abuse treatment, and a 3-credit-hour or 4.0-quarter-hour supervision course, or 20 CE hours, from an approved provider (18VAC115-60-80 D).

The LSATP is qualified 'to perform on an independent basis' and 'to diagnose and select appropriate remedial treatment,' and may 'supervise, direct and instruct others.'

By contrast, 'certified substance abuse counselors shall not engage in independent or autonomous practice,' and a CSAC-A 'shall not engage in counseling with either individuals or groups or engage in independent or autonomous practice' at all.

While on the temporary resident license, a Resident in Substance Abuse Treatment also 'may not call themselves substance abuse treatment practitioners,' 'directly bill for services rendered,' or otherwise represent themselves as independent or autonomous practitioners, and clients must be told in writing that the resident is under supervision (18VAC115-60-80 C 7).

LSATP endorsement (18VAC115-60-50 item 4) offers three routes: (a) an out-of-state substance abuse treatment license by equivalent standards; (b) a board-acceptable mental health license based on a master's with 60 graduate semester hours in mental health, plus one of: a board-recognized national certification; two years' experience if the master's was in substance abuse treatment; five years' experience plus 12 credit hours of competency coursework if not; or a current Virginia CSAC certification or specialty designation with two years' experience; or (c) education and supervised experience that met the initial licensing jurisdiction's requirements, plus post-licensure clinical practice for 24 of the last 60 months.

Item 5 waives the exam for a current, unrestricted Virginia LPC.

CSAC endorsement (18VAC115-30-45 items 6-7) needs an out-of-state license, certification, or board-recognized national certification by equivalent standards, plus a passing score on that jurisdiction's exam or a board-approved exam at the level sought.

The Virginia Certification Board, not the Board of Counseling, holds Virginia's IC&RC seat; the sources here don't say whether an IC&RC credential counts as the board-recognized national certification these routes require.

Every certificate and licence in this chapter expires annually.

LSATP holders need 'a minimum of 20 hours of continuing competency for each annual licensure renewal,' at least two of which must cover ethics, standards of practice, or Virginia law.

Residents need 3 hours of ethics and law training each year.

CSAC holders need a minimum of 10 contact hours annually, and CSAC-A holders need a minimum of 5, both drawn from the same approved-provider list used for initial didactic training.

18VAC115-60 sections 10, 20, 70, 80, 90, and 110 were amended effective December 18, 2025, per the Virginia Register citation in each section's Historical Notes.

The content of those amendments was not compared against the prior rule text in the sources read, so this page does not state what specifically changed.

Two sections central to ongoing practice were not part of that amendment: 18VAC115-60-115, the LSATP continuing-competency rule, was last amended effective December 28, 2017, and 18VAC115-60-60, the degree-program section, was last amended effective March 4, 2020.