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Overview
Substance misuse worker work is about supporting people affected by harmful use of alcohol, tobacco or other drugs. The role combines counselling, progress monitoring, advocacy, crisis intervention, group work and practical support around related social problems.
In job descriptions, look for addiction support, assessment, care plans, harm reduction, group therapy, crisis response, safeguarding, mental health links, case notes, outreach and cooperation with health, housing or social services.
Explore this occupation
Search jobsWhat the work can involve
Substance misuse workers support people whose alcohol, tobacco or drug use is harming health, safety, housing, family life or employment. Work can include initial conversations, needs assessment, care planning, counselling, crisis response, group sessions, advocacy and careful case notes.
Skills and specializations
Useful skills include active listening, risk assessment, addiction support, motivational conversations, group facilitation, crisis intervention, safeguarding, harm reduction and cooperation with health, housing, justice or social services. Some roles focus on outreach, young people, families, mental health or recovery programmes.
Salary context
Salary context depends on case complexity, shift pattern, crisis responsibility, outreach work, supervision duties and whether the post sits in social care, healthcare, voluntary services or residential support. Roles with high-risk cases and multi-agency coordination usually carry wider responsibility.
Career paths
Career paths can move toward senior practitioner, addiction counsellor, case coordinator, recovery programme lead, safeguarding role, social work qualification route or service management. Experience with safe documentation, crisis decisions and sustained client engagement supports progression.
Good to know
Read adverts for the client group and service model. Check whether the work involves assessment, counselling, group therapy, home or street outreach, mental health liaison, safeguarding, court or housing contact, relapse prevention and records after each intervention.
Editorial note
This guide is editorial occupation context. It is not official labour-market statistics or salary data for this exact occupation.
Where might this occupation occur?
This occupation may occur in several kinds of economic activity. Here are some examples and other occupations that may be found in the same areas.
Residential care activities for persons living with or having a diagnosis of a mental illness or substance abuse
This is one example. Other occupations in this activity include crisis situation social worker, social work supervisor and mental health social worker.
Explore this activityThese examples offer an overview but do not show every economic activity where the occupation may occur.
About this information
The selection is based on how occupations are connected to economic activities in ESCO and NACE. Only a few examples are shown to make the information easier to use. The occupations were selected because they are close in occupation area and important skills. The examples are not a ranking. They do not show where most people work, where demand is highest, or which occupation is best suited to a particular person.
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Map overview
Click the map to search for substance misuse worker jobs. Figures come from EURES. Searches open national sources where available, so counts may differ.
— Jobs total — Countries with jobs
O*NET relationships
See occupations connected to this ESCO occupation in the official O*NET–ESCO mapping. The relationship type comes from the source and is not a ranking or recommendation.
O*NET relationships: 4
Mental Health Counselors
21-1014.00
O*NET occupation is broader
The O*NET occupation covers a broader field of work than this ESCO occupation.
Open in O*NETSocial and Human Service Assistants
21-1093.00
Close relationship
The occupations are closely related, but the official mapping does not treat them as exact equivalents.
Open in O*NETSubstance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors
21-1011.00
Close relationship
The occupations are closely related, but the official mapping does not treat them as exact equivalents.
Open in O*NETMental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
21-1023.00
O*NET occupation is broader
The O*NET occupation covers a broader field of work than this ESCO occupation.
Open in O*NETSource and method
These relationships come from the official European Commission O*NET–ESCO crosswalk.
Mapping project version 1: O*NET-SOC 2019 → ESCO 1.1.0. Targets are validated against ESCO 1.2.1.
Source: European Commission, joint ESCO Secretariat and USDOL/ETA project. O*NET Database: USDOL/ETA. This presentation uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.
Relationship direction: O*NET occupation to ESCO occupation.
Several O*NET occupations can point to the same ESCO occupation, and one O*NET occupation can point to several ESCO occupations.
AltoTrail preserves the source relationship type. The order is technical and does not show which occupation is best, most relevant or recommended.
AltoTrail validates and presents the source relationships without adding ranking or recommendation semantics.
Official sources and licenses
NACE Rev. 2.1
Economic activities linked to this occupation.
87.2Residential care activities for persons living with or having a diagnosis of a mental illness or substance abuse
Alternative labels
substanse abuse social worker
social worker (substance misuse)
drug and alcohol worker
addiction social worker
substance mis-use counsellor
substance mis-use mentor
substance abuse social worker
mentor (drugs and alcohol)
drug abuse outreach worker
mentor (drugs and alcahol)
drug and alcohol social worker
substance misuse adviser
alcohol outreach worker
substance misuse outreach worker
Occupation group
social worker (2635.3)
Source facts
| ESCO URI | http://data.europa.eu/esco/occupation/d6bffef4-f09a-4711-9ecb-92ec04353b21 |
|---|---|
| ESCO code | 2635.3.24 |
| ISCO group | 2635 |
| Concept type | Occupation |