THRIVE Wellness and Recovery logo
THRIVE Wellness and Recovery
Watertown, New York

Primary Counselor

CounselorIncludes callNo weekendsFull-Time

Listed compensation

$19-$22/hr

The week · per this posting · Monday – Friday

Ask the employer about nights and shift pattern, benefits and time off.

Posted 4mo ago

Job Description

Schedule: Full-Time: Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm

Summary

Provide a full array of individual and group rehabilitative services to persons adversely affected by chemical abuse or dependency in an outpatient setting.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

  • Maintain Standards that apply to Confidentiality and 42 CFR/HIPAA
  • Must be knowledgeable and able to demonstrate the Canon of Ethics, healthy professional relationships and boundaries with clients and co-workers
  • Maintain a caseload up to 16 clients, can be adjusted to reflect other duties
  • Using approved tools, evaluate/assess and recommend treatment for clients
  • Maintain client records per OASAS standards and agency policy and procedures
  • Provide individual and group activity, counseling and didactic sessions
  • Engage with clients in the milieu to teach daily living skills
  • Utilize the electronic health record to maintain clinical charts
  • Participate in clinical supervision at least bi-weekly and comply with directions
  • Ensure the delivery of prompt medical attention in cases of illness or accident, report any such incidents to the Program Manager, complete untoward incident reports and documentation as required. Utilize the
  • On-call system as needed.
  • Obtain breath and urine samples for AOD testing
  • Participate in record reviews
  • Attend and participate in relevant training while pursuing /maintaining CASAC
  • Attend staff meetings, in-service and conference/trainings as assigned
  • Convey information inter/intra agency
  • Be sensitive and responsible to public relations within the community

Maintain Basic Knowledge of the Physical Plant

  • Supervise and participate with residents during recreational, vocational and educational activities including meal preparation, cleaning, hygiene, nutrition and daily chores.
  • Utilize program consumables and supplies cost effectively
  • Transport residents to appointments and activities as needed
  • Safeguard, monitor and distribute residents’ medication as prescribed

Other Duties as Assigned

Note: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities required of personnel so classified.

Requirements

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION And/or EXPERIENCE

Required: CASAC or CASAC-T certification, or a Bachelor's in a human service field and CASAC-P eligible.

Other Job Requirements: Must maintain all laws and policies concerning confidentiality, security, and client rights as specified in the employee handbook, 42 CFR Part 2 and HIPAA. Must maintain current certification and/or training as specified by state law and agency regulations. Must maintain a valid Driver’s License.

Key Responsibilities

Provide individual and group rehabilitative services to clients affected by chemical abuse in an outpatient setting. Responsibilities include maintaining clinical charts, conducting assessments, and supervising residents' daily living skills and activities.

Qualifications

Education
Bachelor degree

Key Skills

Individual CounselingGroup CounselingCase ManagementClinical DocumentationCrisis InterventionPatient AssessmentHIPAA ComplianceDrug TestingMilieu TherapyPatient TransportMedication Distribution

Addiction Counseling — Counselor Career Context

Of the 50 active Addiction Counseling listings this role was benchmarked against, 34% are remote, 36% have no call, 56% require no weekends.

The cost-of-living index for New York is 107.9 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$43k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $40k in an average-cost state. 64.6% of New York clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Addiction Counseling pay on WeekdayDoc is up 14.0% vs. the prior quarter (through Sep 2026).

Work-Life Balance Analysis

WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Primary Counselor at THRIVE Wellness and Recovery a 6.0 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as good. This places the position in the Above average in Addiction Counseling — ranked against 114 active Addiction Counseling listings on WeekdayDoc. Contributing factors include no weekend requirements.

Top Counselor Jobs

47 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution47 jobs · 38 employers

15
<$80k
20
$80k-95k
6
$95k-110k
6
$110k-125k

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks30 jobs

401k / retirement match
93%
Sign-on bonus
33%
CME allowance
20%
Relocation assistance
7%
PSLF eligible
7%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

#1

Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)

Gotham Enterprises · Warren, Michigan

$115k-$120k
#2

NY Licensed DBT Therapist - DBT Master’s or Doctoral - Telehealth - Full-Time

Lyra Health · Town of New Baltimore, New York

$93k-$120k
#3

Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMFT, LCSW, LMHC)

$115k-$120k
#4

Psychotherapist | Integrated Behavioral Health | Sauk Centre

$78k-$119k
+ 45 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 5.5this job 6.0
Better work-life than 60% of Addiction Counseling listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 114 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

  • No weekends
  • On-site
  • Includes call

Living in Watertown

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$203k
Typical market rent
$1,565/mo
Residents’ average commute
16 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
87.7
State income tax
Up to 10.9%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · Watertown-Fort Drum, NY metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

City-level figures. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.