ABSTRACT
The shortage of competent personnel in the alcohol field has led to increased interest in educational programs aimed at training paraprofessional counselors and upgrading skills of existing workers. The shortage of competent personnel in the alcohol field has led to increased interest in educational programs aimed at training paraprofessional counselors and upgrading skills of existing workers. This chapter examines the alcoholism counselors’ emotional and ideological problems and their relationship to training. Alcoholism counselor trainees on the average tend to be older than other therapists, have completed high school or a year or two of college, be active AA members with several years or more of abstinence, have themselves been in treatment and have had some work experience in the alcoholism field. They perceive alcoholism in terms of AA concepts and their own experience. The sparse empirical information about those who become alcoholism counselors suggests the possibility of predisposition to some kinds of stresses.
