Ramapo College offers a minor in Substance Use Disorders that is primarily designed for students who are interested in counseling people substance use disorders.

Students must complete an introductory course in either psychology or social work before taking other courses required for the minor.

The courses in the minor will include:

1. Introduction to Substance Use Disorders (An introductory course that must be taken prior to core courses).
2. Case Management and the Recovery Ecosystem
3. Counseling for Substance Use Disorders
4. Reducing Substance Use Risk: From Prevention to Harm

The courses are repeated each year so that they can be taken in as few as three semesters.

The minor in Substance Use Disorders is designed to fulfill all of the academic requirements applicable towards state certification as a Certified Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor (CADC).

The minor is of particular interest to students majoring in the helping professions such as psychology and social work. Some courses in the minor also count towards satisfying major requirements in psychology and social work. However, the minor is open to all interested students.

The faculty teaching in this program are all professionals in the field of substance use disorder counseling. In addition to full-time faculty and staff at Ramapo College, experts from the community teach in the program on an adjunct basis. This provides students with the best combination: excellent teachers who have years of direct, professional experience in the field.

Goal:  Students will understand the complexity of substance use, prevention, and recovery.

Outcome 1:  Students will be able to demonstrate competence in content knowledge reflecting the individualized nature of substance use, be able to integrate, think critically, and apply that knowledge. 

Rubric components:

• Individualized nature of substance use
• Person-centered approach
• Destigmatizing language and experience
• Interplay of multiple factors including risk and protective
• Interdisciplinary approach
• Ecosystem of recovery
• Integration of multiple systems
• Impact of structural racism and other structural barriers

1. Courses fulfilling the requirements for the primary or second major may count towards the requirements of the minor, but may not exceed one-half of the credits required in the minor. A School core does not need to be completed for a minor.  Minors are open to students regardless of school affiliation.

SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS MINOR

School of Social Science and Human Services Website
Faculty Profiles

NOTE: For further information on State Certification on Alcohol and Drug Counseling/CADC requirements please contact:
The Certification Board www.certbd.org or see the attached frequently asked questions site for the State of New Jersey https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/dmhas/initiatives/workforce/FAQs_Becoming_LCADC_CADC.pdf

Beginning in the 2024-2025 academic year, a Substance Use Disorder Track will be available to Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) students.  This enables BSW students to complete the CADC requirement of 270 academic hours of substance use and counseling specific content through two Substance Use Disorder courses and the required content of the BSW program.  The two required courses are

• SWRK 251 - INTRODUCTION TO SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS
• SWRK 338 - REDUCING SUBSTANCE USE RISK: FROM PREVENTION TO HARM REDUCTION