CMHSAC Program and the CASAC

M.A. Concentration in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Counseling

CMHSAC Program Guide
The CMHSAC Program and the CASAC

CASAC stands for Certified Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor.The CASAC certificate is a credential offered by the New York State through the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (NYS OASAS) to indicate that an individual has met the local and national standards for clinical practice in the substance abuse field (most other states have similar credentials). Certified substance abuse counselors are currently accorded professional status in most states and it has become increasingly difficult to secure certain types of clinical positions in the field without the benefit of a CASAC certificate or a comparable type of credential. The CASAC certificate is granted on the basis of a combination of:

educational/academic training

relevant clinical/work experience

successful completion of the CASAC exam

For more info on CASAC requirements see NY State OASAS Counseling Credentialing information.

A major advantage in pursuing the CMHSAS lies in the fact that NYSOASAS guidelines stipulate that individuals with M.A. degrees in fields such as psychology need only complete one year of relevant clinical/work experience (rather than the usual 2 or 3 years) in order to become eligible to sit for the CASAC exam

Consequently, students who are currently working in the substance abuse field, or have done so in the past, may be eligible to sit for the exam immediately after completing the program. Moreover, it may be possible to accrue at least some of the necessary clinical/work experience though placements at the New School - Beth Israel Center for Clinical Training and Research, or at other affiliated placement sites. A second and equally important point to appreciate about the CMHSAS is that if one were to attempt to obtain CASAC training and the MA separately, it would be more expensive, take longer to complete, and would probably be less rigorous with regard to some of academic content of the substance abuse training.

However, it should be stressed that the CMHSAS program does not require the completion of any of the CASAC-relevant courses offered in the New School’s Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counseling Certificate program in the Adult Division.Nonetheless, students who have no prior experience in the field but are in interested in obtaining fieldwork experience through placements at the New School - Beth Israel Center are strongly encouraged to complete at least some of the relevant courses offered thorough the Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counseling Certificate program.

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