California career college instructor provides students with addiction counseling training

For many students, the curriculum is a key part of the college experience. For Tony Roberts, the alcohol and drug studies instructor at the InterCoast College campus located in Fairfield, Calif., the curriculum wasn’t the only thing to make a successful student.

InterCoast College is a private career college designed to provide associates degree and diploma level career programs that prepare students to succeed in specialized fields of allied health, legal, business and trade industries.

Roberts, who has taught at the college for two years, has gained an excellent reputation with a Masters in counseling psychology. He focuses on thoroughly training his students by bringing in his personal experience while still emphasizing the curriculum.

“There’s a lot you can learn from reading books, but I teach my students what I’ve learned out in the field about what works, what doesn’t work and what to expect,” said Roberts.

The alcohol and drug studies program is a 10 month program in which students are introduced to a wide range of substance abuse issues with the ultimate goal of becoming counselors in the field.

Roberts explains that the students go through the 12 core functions of addiction counselling where they are taught such practices as how to complete a screening and assess addictions. They also practice how to conduct individual and group counseling, relapse prevention and the development of treatment plans.

Roberts also likes to implement mental health issues into the curriculum. He integrates different portrayals of addiction depending on a person’s culture, religion and other demographics to help students adjust to different situations and personalities.

“You have to respond to things such as people’s medical conditions, legal problems and their homelessness because it’s not only about their addiction,” said Roberts. “When you treat somebody for addiction you’re treating and responding to the entire person.”

Having worked in various fields including mental health facilities and working with the homeless and low income families, Roberts’s goal at InterCoast College was to pass on what he had learned over the past 15 years.

“I wanted to be able to turn it over to younger people,” said Roberts. “That’s kind of how teachers are at InterCoast College. They’ve been professionals in the field for a number of years so they know the ins and outs.”

Now, Roberts is involved with students from the time they start I the program and see them through their completion. In addition to being an addiction counseling instructor, he is the clinical supervisor for the program where he helps students find externship opportunities and ultimately assists in finding places to start a career.

“My goal is to train the best substance abuse counselors in the field of addiction of our community,” said Roberts. “I want to make a difference in our community and by training these students that’s what I’m doing. They go on to save lives.”