Earn your counseling certificate while in treatment.

• 1-Year Program with Treatment
• Internship and Schooling for Certification
• Includes Housing and Food

Located in St. Pete Beach, Florida, the Counseling Certification School is intended for adults who are seeking to turn their passion for becoming sober into a career focused on helping others. Upon completion of the program, participants will be prepared to take the state examination for an entry level drug and alcohol counselor.

The Requirements

All participants will undergo the required classroom and internship hours to qualify to take the state examination, while residing at Dr. Paul’s at the Bay’s sober living program. While completing the necessary classroom and internship hours, participants must be actively involved in a Twelve Step program, submit to random drug testing and follow all of the rules set forth by Dr. Paul’s at the Bay Sober Living Program.

At Spencer Recovery Centers, we treat people, not problems. Our ‘whole-person’ approach gives us an appreciation of who you are as an individual and what it feels like to be in your shoes. We work with you and your family to understand everything about your life and how recovery from drug and alcohol addiction can be achieved.

Depression, anxiety, and deeper, more troubling thought disturbances frequently appear alongside drug and alcohol problems. Symptoms of despair, intense fear, auditory hallucinations, and intrusive thoughts of suicide further complicate the early recovery process. Our caring, knowledgeable staff has the experience, training and compassion to help you or your loved one find a way out of the downward spiral of emotional pain and frustration. We can help you chart a new path with hope and optimism.

Our individualized approach to your specific emotional needs makes use of evidence-based psychological and addiction treatment intervention methods. With your help, we carefully design a program for you based on a comprehensive assessment that takes into account your medical, psychological, family, educational, and work history. We review your strengths and assets and identify areas of growth most essential to your long-term sobriety.

At Spencer Recovery, we recognize that learning disabilities are neurological disorders that affect the brain’s ability to receive, process, store, and respond to information. We also recognize that growing up with an educational handicap can have an enormous effect on your sense of self, robbing you of the power to hope, learn, and succeed. Our specialized recovery program will you rebuild your self-esteem by providing specific educational strategies to help you overcome learning obstacles that you may have struggled with your whole life.  

If you have a learning disability, you may have suffered from intense feelings of shame and felt compelled to seek relief through drug / alcohol abuse.  At Spencer Recovery, we help you confront and correct inaccurate beliefs and self-labels that hold you back from experiencing real recovery and healing.  Through the caring, emotional support of our counselors and specialized educational interventions, we will help you to develop a new self-concept and equip you with the tools you need to rebuild your life. 

Don’t give in to despair.  Give us a chance to help you forge a new path, one in which you have the skills and support you need to face life with true freedom and joy, free from drugs and alcohol.   You can help you reach your full potential. 

Dr. Paul’s Sober College offers intensive inpatient treatment for addiction to alcohol and other drugs and is intended for young adults who are ready to invest in their future while still undergoing treatment. The year long program is geared towards 18-28 year old young adults. While in treatment, the participants are given tools to enroll in school as well as find jobs and internships in the area. At Dr. Paul’s our mission is to help individuals gain the fundamentals necessary to live a happy, sober life. We have had much success helping people find happiness in long-term sobriety through our integrative wellness programs and now, Dr. Paul’s Sober College.

Young adults have one of the highest rates of relapse mainly because they do not understand the long-term consequences of their actions. Dr. Paul’s Sober College is not a punishment or a disciplinary action as much as it is a chance to have a new, different life with a solid foundation, an excellent support system and concrete goals.

The Requirements

All individuals in the Dr. Paul’s Sober College are required to participate in all every day activities of the treatment program for which they are attending. Clients need to be sober and stay involved in a Twelve Step program as well as agreeing to submit to random drug testing as set fourth in the rules by Dr. Paul’s Sober College. Participants are required to seek out employment and enroll in school or another training program with the help of staff and educational counselors at Dr. Paul’s.