Last April I wrote in Counselor my 2007 New Years Resolutions. In the article I spoke about one of the most significant issues the addiction field faces today: the fractious nature of the field. I wrote, “For far too long, national organizations have conflicted over terminology and territory.”

My resolution in 2007 was that it is time for national organizations in the addictions field “to agree, merge, consolidate, or whatever the solution might be, and act as one on behalf of the field.” Another year has passed, and my hopes for resolution of our family squabbling remain.

Today, I believe the addictions field faces two major issues: first, our dividedness over credentialing and our lack of a unified national voice; and second, the issue of leadership succession as we face a major shortage in human resources and leadership succession over the next five years. I have addressed the latter issue in previous columns. I will focus in this article on the first concern.

We have been divided as a field for far too long. National credentialing organizations have fought among each other for a decreasingly small “piece of the certification pie,” while other disciplines have been “eating our financial lunch.” There are now nine certifying bodies for addictions in the United States. Although there are connections between these bodies at some levels, a conversation is needed between all involved credentialing organizations. The emphasis ought to be on reviewing best practices for certification — bringing all of the addiction certification organizations together, to discuss the best ways for credentialing addictions professionals, as well as to find agreement to one acronym we can all accept. We need to establish clear competencies, knowledge and skills under a universal standard. These organizations need to seek working alliances, review the educational requirements for their discipline, agree upon the scope of practice of counselors, and build to a merged or working alliance with as many of the groups as possible. This broader conversation is critical and will help the profession to unify.

The field needs the advocacy, education and community training and public awareness role of the National Association of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Counselors (NAADAC). The field also needs the specialty credentials of various disciplines. We need a separate, non-aligned certification organization, such as the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (ICRC), that unifies the certification processes.

However, another year has been lost at a time when the field urgently needs a unified voice and advocacy. The profession is evolving fast now, with the behavioral health care industry wanting more of a piece of the pie, not just in certification, but also in professional recognition, development, funding, training and advocacy.

I have sat on the sidelines for 30 years watching the endless squabbling among our national advocacy and credentialing organizations, in hopes that we could get our act together. Perhaps that is how I have survived these years, by straddling the political fence. However, as I face my second semi-retirement in 2010, I feel compelled, albeit dangerous to do so, to get off the fence and urge unity. It is because of my commitment and concern for the field to which I have given 42 years of my professional life that I write this article. I have no political axe to grind. My allegiance is to the field itself. As my supervisor, Dr. Bob Stuckey, told me decades ago, “No matter how famous you become; no matter how many letters are after your name; no matter how much you earn, never, ever, lose sight of the fact that you are in this field to help the alcoholic and drug abuser. When you lose sight of that, you ought to be selling hamburgers.” So, for you, Bob, and for the field, here are my recommendations:

1. Credentialed counselors should insist that the national certification organizations put their long-standing disagreements aside and coordinate, or perhaps, merge their credentialing procedures. I am not taking sides on who should merge with who, or how the process would work. That’s up to much more politically astute people than me.
2. Speak up!! We all ought to voice our concerns to the federal and state government officials, such as Dr. Wesley Clark of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, and request their intervention to compel organizations to consolidate efforts. External pressure from CSAT may be a needed recourse to coerce organizations to cooperate. Dr. Clark can be reached at www.csat.samhsa.gov.
3. Write to the executive leadership of the national certification organizations,  demanding immediate action.
4. Request action by our state credentialing organizations, demanding they pressure the national organizations of which they are members to seek cooperation and coordination.
   

These are my opinions, although I believe I speak for many in the field. I am writing because this issue may be one of the most significant ones we face today in the addictions field. I welcome your comments and suggestions. Please write to me at djpowell2@
yahoo.com. C

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