There are few reasons for people with such different backgrounds to enter the same field. What brought these three together with 58 fellow students is the Hazelden Graduate School of Addiction Studies.

A choice of programs-and jobs
The Graduate School began in 1999 with six masters and four certificate students, an outgrowth of the Hazelden Counselor Training Program, started in 1968. Today there are 61 students who choose from two academic programs. One is the Master of Arts in Addiction Counseling, a year-long program for full-time students. The other is the Certificate in Addiction Counseling, which involves 482 hours of classes and 1,096 hours of clinical practice, a 10-month program.

People who complete either program are eligible for licensure to work in Minnesota. From our experience, graduates can get licensed almost any place, says Eileen O'Mara, EdD, assistant dean of the Graduate School.

"They're seeing this as a field they can go into and get a job," O'Mara adds. "And they can. We have students with two and three job offers at the end of the year."

From entrepreneur to interventionist
Stanley Stone already has an offer that he plans to accept once he graduates this April. He'll work as an intervention specialist.

"About a year ago I was at Silkworth for my Hazelden unit reunion and a couple of us started talking about school," Stone recalls. "I was ready for something different, looking for a new challenge. I was spending so much time with addicts and alcoholics in recovery that the Graduate School just looked like the next natural progression for me."

Stone has 20 years of experience in the food service industry. He owns two companies but will divest himself of one as he makes his career change.

"This graduate program is probably the toughest thing I've ever done in my life," Stone says. "But it is an incredible experience-the opportunity to do class work and clinical work at the same time. Most programs, you do your course work and then you do your clinical work. This is a much better situation."

Finding direction
Cathy Stone (no relation to Stanley) believes that her enrollment in the Graduate School happened due to "divine intervention."

"I was living in Colorado and had been working in a restaurant for a couple years after I graduated [from college]. I had gotten sober and basically hit a wall-an emotional bottom, so to speak. I didn't have any real direction."

That changed when she came to The Lodge at Hazelden for a "recovery recharge." One of the session leaders suggested that she consider becoming a counselor. Before going home, she made plans to return to Hazelden as a graduate student.

"I'm excited every day that I go to class," Stone says. "That's unusual because when I was an undergraduate, that's when I was an active alcoholic and addict. School was not a priority, and I swore I would never go back. Now I'm getting a master's in addiction counseling, which is just perfect."

Ready to help older adults
Pam Russell was the executive director of several retirement communities before entering the Graduate School. "I worked in retirement communities that were pretty upscale and saw a lot of cocktail parties," she says. "People were really abusing alcohol. It was having a profound effect on them, because they were also taking medication."

This experience was one factor in her decision to enroll in the Graduate School and prepare for work with addicted older adults. "I had a son who died of alcoholism, basically, so I have a personal reason as well," says Russell.

Russell is excited about the range of ages represented by her peers in the Graduate School. "When some of the younger students came at first, they probably thought, ‘Look at all these old people.' But now it's just great. We break up into smaller groups for some of the courses, so we get to know them better. We really have a close-knit, collaborative group."

The diversity of age and backgrounds helps ensure a range of perspectives during classroom discussion, Russell adds. Graduate students enrolled for the fall 2005 semester range in age from 22 to 66. Twenty-four students come from states other than Minnesota, and three from outside the United States. In the past, most of Hazelden's graduate students were in recovery. Today, almost a third are not.

Ninety-three percent of the 2005 graduates-27 of 29-who completed Graduate School programs are currently working in the field. In addition, clinical internship opportunities for students will expand this year.

"We're very proud of the progress our school has made and of the diverse, enthusiastic student body that we've attracted," said Tim Sheehan, PhD, dean of the Graduate School. "And more importantly, we're gratified that we're developing addiction professionals who are truly qualified to share their knowledge and provide help across the continuum of care. Providing clinical leaders of the future is what we're all about, and we're seeing their impact worldwide."

--By Doug Toft

Published in The Voice, Winter 2006