2009-2010 Academic Year
Welcome students –
Thank you for your interest in the Human Services Department. This is a wonderful
career field with many job opportunities.
I have been teaching at Austin Community College since 1990 on a part-time and later joined the college as a full-time counselor. Later I became the Dean of Students for the Cypress Creek and Pinnacle campuses, and for a short while, served as the Interim Vice President of Retention and Student Services. My first love has always been teaching and I am proud to see many of our graduates working in the helping profession.
I started working in the field of addiction counseling in 1981 as an intern
during graduate school. The field was so interesting that I dropped out of graduate
school and started working full time as a counselor in an outpatient clinic.
(Dropping out of college is not something I recommend!) Later I completed my
masters and doctoral degrees, but have continued to work or volunteer in the
addiction field for over 20 years. I occassionally work at some of the local
treatment centers to help keep my skills sharp, and I also serve as a trainer
for the Gulf Coast Addiction Technology Transfer Center, a branch of SAMHSA.
For those of you interested in becoming licensed chemical dependency counselors,
I would like to suggest you visit the Department of State Health Services web
site (www.dshs.state.tx.us) for licensure
requirements. I also encourage all my students to participate in the Texas Association
of Addiction Professionals (www.taap.org ).
TAAP provides a wonderful opportunity to network with other professionals in
the field, and is a terrific source of job information.
In addition to my involvement with the Austin Chapter of TAAP, I am also a member of the Texas Certification Board of Addiction Professionals (TCBAP). I was honored to be selected as the Addiction Professional of the Year (2008) by TAAP, and the 2009 Mel Shulstad Addiction Professional of the Year by NAADAC .
I would be happy to answer any questions you have about the licensure and certification process. Volunteer activities that keep me busy include working at the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store, visiting the patients at Austin State Hospital, and coordinating activities for Austin German Shepherd Rescue.
Thank you again for your interest in our courses, and I look forward to having
you in class.
Sincerely,
Liz Coccia, Ed.D., LCDC, AAC, NCC