Representatives from 19 counselor education programs were contacted by telephone and asked to participate in the study, and 4 of the 19 programs agreed to participate. Participants read a case study of a hypothetical client who sought help at a mental health facility. They were asked to assume they were the client's counselor and were asked to indicate which of four actions they would be most likely to take: (1) address substance dependence as the main problem; (2) address a problem other than substance dependence as the main concern; (3) refer the client for substance dependence counseling; or (4) refer the client to another counselor for a problem other than substance dependence. Results of chi-square analysis showed that counseling students who had received at least 3 semester hours of instruction in substance abuse counseling were more likely than students who had received less instruction to treat or refer a client for substance dependence rather than for another problem. Students with less than 3 semester hours of instruction also tended to think of substance dependence as a distinct disorder or disease rather than as a contextually generated and maintained state. The findings have implications for counseling practice and for counselor education and supervision. 38 references and 2 tables