MSW or CDP Certificate?

Question

Hi, I am about to graduate with a B.A. in Sociology. My current plan is to attend a community college to receive a Chemical Dependency certificate and afterwords, pursue a Masters in social work. However, I'm just not sure if this is the best plan. I know that this is the path I want to pursue but have a few questions.

If I want to become a CDP counselor, it is required for me to have a certificate. So, do graduate schools in social work generally provide this certificate? Or do people just attend graduate schools to specialize in a certain area?

What other plan do you think may be better for me?

Although I'm currently interested in becoming a CDP counselor, I'm not limiting myself to just this area (in social work). I have some interest in becoming a probation officer as well. Are there any licenses I need to have to become a probation officer?

Thank you for taking the time to read this and give me advice.

Answer 1

CDP certificates were designed for "lay" practitioners (e.g. those who do not have an advanced degree and generally have come to working with addictions through lived experience).  If you did not go on for an MSW you would need the CDP.  With an MSW you would not need a CDP in order to work with addictions.  Many MSW programs do have addiction studies as a concentration.

DA