The Need for Training Psychologists in Substance Use Disorders

The prevalence of substance use and substance use disorders (SUDs) in the United States is a public health concern and about 50% of individuals with an SUD will experience another disorder. This suggests that students-in-training and psychologists will likely encounter clients who have SUD concerns, regardless of their training in treating SUDs. In addition, the demand for psychologists in the workforce will increase in the coming decade in part because of the increased clinical needs of clients for whom SUD is a major concern. For more than 3 decades, there have been calls in the literature for psychologists to increase their expertise, clinical skill, and competence in the area of SUDs and addictions. Unfortunately, the field is still far from achieving those goals. The primary aim of this article is to describe the competencies for health service psychologists and addiction counseling, their overlap, and potential methods for enhancing the training in addictions for all 3 license-eligible degree areas (i.e., clinical, counseling, and school psychology) accredited by the American Psychological Association. Public Significance Statement The current prevalence of substance use and substance use disorders (SUDs) in the United States is a public health concern. Students-in-training and psychologists in practice will encounter clients who have SUD concerns. Given this, it is imperative to enhance the training in SUDs for all three license-eligible degree areas (i.e., clinical, counseling, and school psychology) accredited by the American Psychological Association.