Orientation to experience: an educational map for addictions treatment professionals.

An extensive literature search was conducted which illustrated the dearth of research in the area of standardized addictions counselor competency development. There is a lack of standardized competency development systems which degrades the comparative validity between substance use disorder counseling and similar fields. Issues in the area of workforce recruitment, retention, and equitable wages can be tied to the absence of unified educational standards. Current counselor development systems cannot guarantee consistency in competence and qualifications. It has become a public health concern as consumers of services are interfacing with practitioners whose education originates from laissez faire counselor development systems. The purpose of this document is to offer a practice and policy direction which integrates learning theory into competency development practice