PS508 Unit 10 Personal Code of Ethical Conduct Example

What I Will Do, Not Only What I Believe: A PS508 Unit 10 Personal Code of Ethical Conduct for an Addictions Counselor in Training

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

PS508: Ethics for Addictions Professionals

Unit 10 Personal Code of Ethical Conduct

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The writer, the program and the cases referred to are composite and illustrative; the codes and sources cited are real.

Purpose of a Personal Code

The NAADAC code and the APA Ethical Principles already tell me what the profession expects. A personal code is useful only if it says how I will apply those expectations in my own setting, with my own history and my own blind spots. Mine is written for a small island town where I know many of my clients, for a federally assisted program whose records carry special protection and for a counselor who is in recovery. Each commitment below names the code standard it rests on and the case from this course that tested it.

Core Values

I hold four values in my work: honesty, respect for each client's right to direct their own life, protection of people at risk and humility about what I do not know. The five general principles of the APA code, which run from doing good and avoiding harm to fairness and regard for every person's rights, reach the same territory (American Psychological Association, 2017). The NAADAC code adds commitments specific to addictions work, including client welfare, confidentiality and cultural humility (NAADAC, 2021).

My values are not unusual. What matters is how they show up when they conflict.

Commitment 1: Boundaries in a Small Community

I will ask every new client at intake whether we know each other, and I will discuss any overlap with my supervisor before the second session. I will decline gifts above a token value and record the offer. I will request reassignment when I hold information about a client from outside treatment, as I did with my cousin's former partner in Unit 2.

I will never enter a sexual or romantic relationship with a current or former client. The NAADAC code prohibits such relationships with no time limit (NAADAC, 2021). Avery and Gressard (2000) found that state counseling boards take different approaches to sexual relationships with clients, former clients and supervisees, and some state rules set waiting periods after termination. My standard will be the strictest one, because in a town this size a former client is never far away.

Commitment 2: Confidentiality

I will treat every record as protected by the federal substance use rule, confirm a valid written consent before disclosing anything and share only the minimum needed for the purpose. I will explain the limits of confidentiality at intake in plain words and repeat them whenever a session turns toward a topic where they might apply. I will check that the program's routines, such as voicemails and appointment cards, do not expose clients, a lesson from Rosa's case in Unit 5.

Commitment 3: Safety and the Duty to Protect

I will assess suicide risk directly whenever a client gives a warning sign, build a safety plan with the client and ask about lethal means. When a client threatens another person, or when I suspect abuse of a child or vulnerable adult, I will consult my supervisor and our written policy rather than rely on memory, because research on clinicians' knowledge of warning laws shows how easily memory fails. I will report suspected child abuse on reasonable suspicion and tell the client when it is safe to do so.

In the moments when safety and privacy pull apart, my rule is to disclose what protects the person at risk and nothing that only satisfies curiosity.

Commitment 4: Culture and Belief

I will ask clients how culture, family and faith shape their recovery and offer choices that fit, including referral or consultation when I lack the competence to serve a client well. I will not require a spiritually based program of a client who objects. When a court requires one, I will ask the court to accept an alternative, as I did for Jonah in Unit 8.

Commitment 5: Money, Billing and Advertising

Knapp and VandeCreek (2008) review the APA standards on advertising, fees and billing and link each to underlying values, arguing that understanding why the standards exist helps practitioners follow their spirit as well as their letter. In my setting, three commitments follow. I will describe our program's services accurately, without promises of cure, in any flyer or social media post. I will discuss fees and payment arrangements at the start of treatment and in writing. I will bill only for services actually provided, under the codes that describe them, and I will not change a diagnosis or a date to fit an insurer's rules.

Commitment 6: My Own Recovery

I will talk through any story from my own sobriety with my supervisor before I tell it to a client, until I am confident I can judge, in the moment, whether it serves the client. I will keep my own recovery supports separate from my clients' meetings when possible. If I relapse, I will tell my supervisor and step back from client care until it is safe to return.

Commitment 7: Competence

I will choose continuing education from gaps in my own practice, write down one change from each training and check a month later whether I made it. I will practice within my training and seek supervision for cases at its edge.

How I Will Make Decisions

When a situation is not covered by these commitments, I will identify the people affected, the relevant code standards and laws, the options and their likely consequences, consult my supervisor and document my reasoning. I will revisit this code each year and after any case that tests it.

Two habits support that process. The first is writing a short note after any decision that kept me awake, recording what I decided, which standard I relied on and what I would do differently. Over a year, those notes will show whether the same kind of dilemma keeps returning, which would tell me where my training is thin. The second is asking a colleague outside my program, such as the counselor at the island's health clinic, to review my reasoning on one hard case each quarter, since a small team can share the same blind spots.

When I Make a Mistake

I will make mistakes. When I do, I will tell my supervisor promptly, tell the client when the mistake affected the client, correct the record and take whatever steps the code or law requires. A personal code that assumes I will always choose well would be the least honest part of this paper.

Conclusion

This code turns the NAADAC and APA standards into seven commitments for one counselor in one community. It holds me to the strictest standard on sexual relationships, a minimum-necessary rule on confidentiality, a consult-first rule on safety, client choice on culture and belief, honest billing, careful handling of my own recovery and continuing education that can be shown to change practice.

References

American Psychological Association. (2017). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct (2002, amended effective June 1, 2010, and January 1, 2017). https://www.apa.org/ethics/code

Avery, L. D., & Gressard, C. F. (2000). Counseling regulations regarding sexual misconduct: A comparison across states. Counseling and Values, 45(1), 67-77. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-007X.2000.tb00184.x

Knapp, S., & VandeCreek, L. (2008). The ethics of advertising, billing, and finances in psychotherapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 64(5), 613-625. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20475

NAADAC. (2021). NAADAC code of ethics. NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals. https://www.naadac.org/code-of-ethics