History of Addiction/Alcoholism Counselor

I certainly understand your question and concern.  It is not important that an addiction counselor have a personal history of addiction or alcoholism him or herself in order to best help and understand the person dealing with addiction or alcoholism.  Instead of the analogy given of trying to explain the color green to a blind person, I would offer the analogy of a doctor treating a patient with a physical illness without having had the illness him or herself. That said, in my experience working with addiction and alcoholism counselors, I have found that many addiction and alcoholism counselors have dealt with addiction issues personally.