Westfield State University to Offer Addiction Counselor Education Program in Two Locations

WESTFIELD — The College of Graduate and Continuing Education at Westfield State University is accepting applications for the 2019-20 Addiction Counselor Education (ACE) program. Classes will be held on weekends and evenings starting in September and ending in May 2020.

The goal of this non-credit certificate program, offered at the university since 1991, is to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and techniques necessary for the successful treatment of individuals and families afflicted by alcoholism and/or other drug addictions. This program has been highly instrumental in the professional development of individuals in the Western Mass. area whom are either working in or interested in the growing healthcare field of addiction services.

To help with this mission, Westfield State University has expanded its ACE program to a new location in Pittsfield. The program aims to train potential counselors in the Berkshires area with the goal of filling critical positions in treatment facilities that are currently understaffed and unable to fill open positions. Classes for the Berkshires program will begin in March 2020 and conclude in November.

“The ACE program will help grow the local workforce of addiction and recovery treatment,” said Kristine Hupfer, director of the university’s ACE program. “Recent data released for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts reveals an increase in overdose deaths throughout Western Massachusetts. With a demand for addiction-treatment professionals, particularly in rural areas of Western Massachusetts, we hope the expansion of Westfield State’s ACE program will help to educate and train more professionals to fill this need.”

Applications for both programs are available online at www.westfield.ma.edu/ace. For more information or to have an application mailed, contact Brandon Fredette at bfredette@westfield.ma.edu or (413) 572-8033.