National Certificate in Tobacco Treatment Practice (NCTTP)

Candidate must submit NCTTP application for approval. Candidate must:

1. Provide evidence of one of the following:
   • High School diploma plus 4,000 hours (2 years full-time) of human services work experience to be documented in the application.
   • Associate’s Degree plus 2,000 hours (1 year full-time) of human services work experience to be documented in the application.
   • Bachelor’s Degree or higher.
2. Provide a certificate of successful completion of a Tobacco Treatment Specialist training program that is accredited by the Council for Tobacco Treatment Training Program. Click here for a current list of accredited Tobacco Treatment Specialist training programs.
    
3. Provide evidence documenting 240 hours of tobacco treatment practice experience following the completion of training. This experience must be completed within a two-year period. Please note you may submit the application prior to completing these hours.  If you apply in this manner, you will need to resubmit your application once you have accrued the 240 hours (no additional fee will be charged). 
    
4. Pass the NCTTP examination within one year of his or her NCTTP application approval.
   1. Upon approval of NCTTP application, NAADAC will send candidate instructions for taking the NCTTP examination.
   2. Upon receiving notification of candidate's passing score from testing company, NAADAC will mail out the candidate's national certificate, assuming practice hours have been completed.  If practice hours have not been completed, NAADAC will postpone mailing until this requirement has been met.
5. Attest to being tobacco-free (including use of electronic nicotine delivery devices such as vaping and e-cigarettes) for a minimum of the six months prior to submission of this application.
    
6. Adhere to the Tobacco Treatment Provider Code of Ethics and sign a statement that he or she has read and adheres to the Tobacco Treatment Provider Code of Ethics.
    
7. Email application, supporting documentation, and payment information to [email protected] or mail application, supporting documents, and non-refundable application fee of $150 to:

NAADAC
National Certificate in Tobacco Treatment Practice
44 Canal Center Plaza, Suite 301
Alexandria, VA 22314

The current processing times for the NCTTP Certificate is 3-4 weeks once an application has been approved, all supporting documentation has been received (including for the 240-hour experiential requirement), and the NCTTP exam been passed.

The written national certificate examination is tailored to test the applicant on his or her projected knowledge of tobacco treatment competencies based on experience, education and training. The passing score is 70%.

The NCTTP written examination consists of 125 multiple-choice, objective questions with a total testing time of two hours. This is an online, proctored exam.

Any candidate taking the NCTTP examination specifically for a NCTTP national certificate must be approved by NAADAC prior to registering for the test. First, a candidate must submit a NCTTP application to prove that he or she meets the eligibility criteria for the national certificate. The exam may be taken before completion of 240 hours of practice are completed. The application includes instructions on how to submit hours of practice.

Once approved, NAADAC will send you a code and detailed instructions on how to take the online NCTTP examination. The candidate will be able to choose the date and time of his/her preference. The candidate will pay for testing fee at the time of registering for the test. Please note that the $150 NCTTP test fee is separate from the $150 NCTTP application fee. The $150 NCTTP test fee must be paid directly to the testing company. Since it is an online proctored exam, the candidate must install exam software and have a microphone and a webcam to be able to communicate with the proctor.

Once NAADAC has been notified by the testing company of the candidate’s passing score, NAADAC will send the candidate his or her NCTTP certificate, assuming the 240 practice hours requirement has been met (otherwise NAADAC will delay issuing certificate until documentation has been submitted showing this requirement has been met.)  If a candidate does not pass the examination, NAADAC will keep his or her application open for a period of one year from the date of approval. Candidates may take the examination up to three times in a year, with a minimum of one month between examination dates at a cost of $150 per testing event. If a passing test score is not achieved within one year from the application approval date, the candidate will need to submit a new application for approval and pay a new $150 application fee.