Bereavement counsellor to drug and alcohol addiction counsellor
A bereavement counsellor already meets 83% of what the drug and alcohol addiction counsellor role asks for. The move turns on 8 required skills not yet in the profile.
29.1/ 100
1 How much of what a drug and alcohol addiction counsellor is expected to do is already part of a bereavement counsellor’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the drug and alcohol addiction counsellor role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A drug and alcohol addiction counsellor role treats 43 of its required skills as things a bereavement counsellor already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- accept own accountability
- apply quality standards in social services
- apply socially just working principles
- assess social service users' situation
- behavioural therapy
- build helping relationship with social service users
What stands in the way is 8 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 43 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A drug and alcohol addiction counsellor role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a bereavement counsellor background worth leading with.
- already held maintain a non-emotional involvement assisting and caring
- already held respond to individuals' extreme emotions assisting and caring
- already held encourage counselled clients to examine themselves communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held help clients make decisions during counselling sessions assisting and caring
- already held reflexion social sciences, journalism and information
- already held cognitive behavioural therapy social sciences, journalism and information
All 43 carried skills, including the 43 the drug and alcohol addiction counsellor role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 11 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn assess clients' drug and alcohol addictions required
- still to learn prepare youths for adulthood required
- still to learn promote the safeguarding of young people required
- still to learn support the positiveness of youths required
- optional, not held inform on the risks of substance and alcohol abuse optional
- still to learn dependency on drugs required
- optional, not held clinical social work optional
- optional, not held sophrology optional
- still to learn use motivational incentives in addiction counselling required
- still to learn assess the development of youth required
- still to learn adolescent psychological development required
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a drug and alcohol addiction counsellor role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 assess clients' drug and alcohol addictions practise this
- 02 assess the development of youth practise this
- 03 use motivational incentives in addiction counselling practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 43 skills that carry over
- already held accept own accountability skill
- already held apply quality standards in social services skill
- already held apply socially just working principles skill
- already held assess social service users' situation skill
- already held behavioural therapy knowledge
- already held build helping relationship with social service users skill
- already held client-centred counselling knowledge
- already held cognitive behavioural therapy knowledge
- already held communicate professionally with colleagues in other fields skill
- already held communicate with social service users skill
- already held cooperate at inter-professional level skill
- already held counselling methods knowledge
- already held deliver social services in diverse cultural communities skill
- already held demonstrate leadership in social service cases skill
- already held encourage counselled clients to examine themselves skill
- already held follow health and safety precautions in social care practices skill
- already held have emotional intelligence skill
- already held help clients make decisions during counselling sessions skill
- already held human psychological development knowledge
- already held legal requirements in the social sector knowledge
- already held listen actively skill
- already held maintain a non-emotional involvement skill
- already held maintain records of work with service users skill
- already held maintain the trust of service users skill
- already held manage social crisis skill
- already held manage stress in the work place skill
- already held organise relapse prevention skill
- already held perform therapy sessions skill
- already held promote human rights skill
- already held promote inclusion skill
- already held promote social change skill
- already held provide social counselling skill
- already held psychological theories knowledge
- already held psychology knowledge
- already held refer social service users skill
- already held reflexion knowledge
- already held relate empathetically skill
- already held report on social development skill
- already held respond to individuals' extreme emotions skill
- already held social justice knowledge
- already held social sciences knowledge
- already held supervision of persons knowledge
- already held undertake continuous professional development in social work skill
3 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held clinical social work optional
- optional, not held inform on the risks of substance and alcohol abuse optional
- optional, not held sophrology optional
3 held skills the drug and alcohol addiction counsellor role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role help clients cope with grief skill
- not needed by the target role stages of bereavement knowledge
- not needed by the target role support traumatised children skill
4 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn adolescent psychological development required
- still to learn dependency on drugs required
- optional, not held clinical social work optional
- optional, not held sophrology optional
Common questions about this move
Can a bereavement counsellor become a drug and alcohol addiction counsellor?
Yes, and it is an adjacent move. A bereavement counsellor already covers 83% of what a drug and alcohol addiction counsellor is expected to do: 43 skills carry over, 43 of which the drug and alcohol addiction counsellor role treats as required.
What skills does a bereavement counsellor need to become a drug and alcohol addiction counsellor?
8 required skills are missing, plus 3 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is assess clients' drug and alcohol addictions.
How hard is the move from bereavement counsellor to drug and alcohol addiction counsellor?
Its learning distance is 29.1 out of 100, which is the adjacent band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.