Will AI replace Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors?
AI reaches some of this job’s work, but most of it stays with people.
29/100
Moderate exposure
More exposed to AI than 44% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 4% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 40% of the work
What the job involves
Counsel and advise individuals with alcohol, tobacco, drug, or other problems, such as gambling and eating disorders. May counsel individuals, families, or groups or engage in prevention programs.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Already happening(1)
- Provide clients or family members with information about addiction issues and about available services or programs, making appropriate referrals when necessary.
Within reach(8)
- Attend training sessions to increase knowledge and skills.
- Complete and maintain accurate records or reports regarding the patients' histories and progress, services provided, or other required information.
- Plan or implement follow-up or aftercare programs for clients to be discharged from treatment programs.
- Develop client treatment plans based on research, clinical experience, and client histories.
- Instruct others in program methods, procedures, or functions.
and 3 more
Out of reach(14)
- Counsel clients or patients, individually or in group sessions, to assist in overcoming dependencies, adjusting to life, or making changes.
- Intervene as an advocate for clients or patients to resolve emergency problems in crisis situations.
- Review and evaluate clients' progress in relation to measurable goals described in treatment and care plans.
- Participate in case conferences or staff meetings.
- Coordinate counseling efforts with mental health professionals or other health professionals, such as doctors, nurses, or social workers.
and 9 more
Also called
Chemical Dependency Counselor (CD Counselor) · CD Counselor · Addiction Counselor · CADC (Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor) · SA Counselor (Substance Abuse Counselor) · CADC · Certified Substance Abuse Counselor · Drug Counselor
Related jobs
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics