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Kyleigh
Student
Oak Harbor, Ohio
4
Questions
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What does the home life of a substance abuse counselor look like?
I'm doing a career project on substance abuse counseling, how does a typical day look? Do you schedule your own hours, are you expected to pick up the phone at home a lot for patients who may need you, and how many hours in a day are these counselors usually occupied for?
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Grace Sohn, LADC, CBIS
Substance Use Counselor
2
Answers
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Updated
Grace’s Answer
Hi! I’m a licensed alcohol and drug counselor in Minnesota. Right now, I work in admissions and compliance, but I’ve also worked as a case manager in the past. I’m based at a facility that offers both residential and outpatient services, so my schedule has depended a lot on the role.
In general, my hours are set by the company. I typically work 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM with an hour lunch. In both positions, I’ve had some flexibility with start/end times, but I was still expected to put in a full 8-hour day. I currently work Mondays through Fridays, with using Friday as a work-from-home day. As a case manager, I was expected to work either a Saturday or Sunday at least once per month.
As a case manager, a big part of my role was running groups (usually 1–3 hours most days) and meeting individually with clients. I tried to block out recurring times for individual sessions and always left the first and last 15 minutes of my day for planning and organizing. My caseload was around 8 clients, in addition to groups.
In my current admissions/compliance role, I have more control over my daily flow. I usually see 2–3 clients a day for intakes or assessments, and the rest of my time is focused on chart audits and other compliance tasks. I try to keep my schedule consistent even though I have flexibility.
Regarding availability outside of work: as a case manager in residential, I often had to answer calls during the day to approve things, but I was not expected to be on-call after hours. At outpatient, it’s even more flexible. Some counselors choose to answer calls/emails outside of work, and others don’t. Personally, I keep firm work/life boundaries. I don’t have work email on my phone unless I know I’ll need it (like for a conference). Most counselors are not officially on-call, unless the agency you work with has an on-call rotation.
So, in short: most substance abuse counselors work fairly standard full-time hours (around 40 per week). Some roles require more flexibility and phone availability, but many counselors set boundaries to protect their own time outside of work.
In general, my hours are set by the company. I typically work 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM with an hour lunch. In both positions, I’ve had some flexibility with start/end times, but I was still expected to put in a full 8-hour day. I currently work Mondays through Fridays, with using Friday as a work-from-home day. As a case manager, I was expected to work either a Saturday or Sunday at least once per month.
As a case manager, a big part of my role was running groups (usually 1–3 hours most days) and meeting individually with clients. I tried to block out recurring times for individual sessions and always left the first and last 15 minutes of my day for planning and organizing. My caseload was around 8 clients, in addition to groups.
In my current admissions/compliance role, I have more control over my daily flow. I usually see 2–3 clients a day for intakes or assessments, and the rest of my time is focused on chart audits and other compliance tasks. I try to keep my schedule consistent even though I have flexibility.
Regarding availability outside of work: as a case manager in residential, I often had to answer calls during the day to approve things, but I was not expected to be on-call after hours. At outpatient, it’s even more flexible. Some counselors choose to answer calls/emails outside of work, and others don’t. Personally, I keep firm work/life boundaries. I don’t have work email on my phone unless I know I’ll need it (like for a conference). Most counselors are not officially on-call, unless the agency you work with has an on-call rotation.
So, in short: most substance abuse counselors work fairly standard full-time hours (around 40 per week). Some roles require more flexibility and phone availability, but many counselors set boundaries to protect their own time outside of work.