Introduction
The safe and effective delivery of care, as well as positive outcomes for people seeking addiction treatment, depends on the counselor’s application of the best practices and adherence to the established ethical and legal standards. Organizations such as the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) and the Certification Commission for Addiction Professionals (CCAPP) have established detailed guidelines to enhance the competent practice of addiction therapy. Counselors in this field assist addicts and people with behavioral issues by providing resources, support, and judgment-freedom encouragement to promote their recovery and subsequent resumption to normal life.
These healthcare professionals observe ethical and legal standards which enumerate the expected conduct and guide the decision-making process. For instance, the ethical code prohibiting sexual relations between a therapist and a current or former client protects the former from situations that could compromise their objectivity. Similarly, the best practices delineate the most prudent and efficient course of action, which guarantees superior outcomes. Although the ethical and legal standards outline the expected professional conduct of counselors, their observance protects clients’ rights, minimizes harm, and promotes eventual recovery.
Legal and Ethical Standards and Best Practices
Ethical standards are the principles established by a professional body to guide the decision-making processes. They articulate the parameters of behavior and the expected conduct of the members of the organization. The counselors’ code of ethics provides an elaborate guideline protecting the welfare of the clients and the professionals. For instance, the principle of autonomy acknowledges the counselors’ persuasive authority over their patients but asserts the inviolability of the latter’s entitlement to make decisions (National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors, 2021).
In this regard, therapists are required to uphold their client’s independence and self-determination, particularly regarding their freedom of choice and action (Herlitz et al., 2016). According to Berton (2014), counselors who violate the set tenets are sanctioned by their professional bodies, determining the penalties to be imposed, including suspension or cancellation of license. Therefore, ethical standards are a guiding framework on which counselors ground their clinical practice.
Conversely, the legal principles are predefined rules and regulations by the federal or state governments, and their violation is punishable in a court of law. Notably, countries establish numerous laws to oversee, control the operations of their citizens, and help them understand what is prohibited. This implies that regulatory principles have a legal basis and are enforceable by authorities. In this regard, legal standards impose mandatory responsibilities and obligations to counseling practitioners, and their infringement attracts punishment in a court under the law.
For instance, in California, credentialed alcohol and drug therapists are prohibited from misrepresenting their professional qualifications and making misleading advertisements (Certification Commission for Addiction Professionals, 2019). Anyone who violates these legal provisions commits an offense punishable by the applicable federal or state laws through the imposition of fines or jail terms. This differs sharply from the breaching of ethical standards where the professional body handles the infringements, and the scope of punishment does not include imprisonment. Therefore, clinicians are obligated to observe and uphold both law and ethics.
In addiction treatment, best practices are the specific techniques or methods which have been generally accepted as superior to other alternatives. They entail guidelines, concepts, and ideas which represent the most prudent or efficient course of action due to their ability to generate excellent results. From this perspective, best practices consist of guidelines designed to provide counselors with objectives to which they can aspire.
They differ significantly from the ethical and legal standards since they are motivational and unenforceable by the regulatory or professional bodies. For instance, the conscientious and judicious integration of the current evidence-based insights in clinical decision-making significantly increases the likelihood of positive patient outcomes. Therefore, counselors are only encouraged to utilize such knowledge, and the failure to use it does not entail sanctions.
NAADAC Code of Ethics and CCAPP Code of Conduct for Addiction Counselors
The most accomplished counselors anchor their professional practices on the strict adherence to the NAADAC and CCAPP’s codes of ethics and conduct. NAADAC’s counseling relationship principles and the latter’s maintenance of professionally appropriate boundaries are the most prominently critical counseling tenets to me. Notably, the principal objective of establishing a therapeutic connection is to assist clients in changing their lives positively.
However, accomplishing this purpose can be jeopardized or inhibited by inappropriate links between the clinician and the patient. According to Stargell (2017), the quality of the therapeutic association has the most profound impact on successful client outcomes. The rationale for choosing the counseling relationship is that the appropriate connection between the professional and the client is the foundation on which elements such as reassurance, openness, honesty, and confidence are built.
Similarly, it is imperative for alcohol and other drug therapists to maintain and strictly observe the established ethical, legal, and organizational boundaries for the overall benefit of the client and the clinician. Notably, breaching these limits severely compromises the attainment of the predefined goals and creates other problems for both the patient and the professional. For instance, sexual relations between a therapist and a current client may impair the former’s judgment and diminish their objectivity, exposing them to prosecution risk and the failure of the recovery process. The rationale for choosing this CCAPP’s codes of ethics principle is that it is fundamental to preserve the clinician’s professional authority and minimize their vulnerabilities to exploitative and unlawful behavior.
Culturally Competent Counselors
The most effective counselors acknowledge and work towards eliminating prejudices, biases, and discriminatory tendencies from their practice. Addiction professionals are obligated to develop multicultural competency to enhance their service delivery in a culturally-sensitive manner. The rapid increase in the minority populations across the world means that therapists can expect to work with clients from diverse cultural backgrounds. According to Conner and Walker (2017), a culturally competent counselor can effectively draw on the knowledge, sensitivity, awareness, and skillful interventions to relate and work appropriately with others from different cultures. This implies that such a therapist has eliminated all cultural biases and negative attitudes which impede the accomplishment of desired behavioral changes.
As the scope and definition of multicultural counseling continue to evolve, cultural competence is no longer limited to issues of ethnicity, nationality, or country of origin. It now encompasses concepts such as gender, sexual orientation, race, physical ability, socioeconomic status, and historical experiences, among others (Conner & Walker, 2017).
As a result, counselors should equip themselves with knowledge and skills specific to the uniqueness of the diverse groups and provide an adequate level of treatment that meets the various ethical standards. For instance, a healthcare provider without cultural competence can prejudice, discriminate against or stigmatize an African-American’s mental health challenges due to the absence of sufficient knowledge about the specific population’s experiential stressors. Therefore, multicultural competence is the counselors’ ability to work and interact with people from diverse cultural backgrounds effectively.
Counselors’ Responsibilities Regarding Safeguarding Client Welfare
Confidentiality is among the highest-ranking foundations of therapeutic relationships. Addiction professionals have significant privileges and authority over their clients in their position. However, these professionals are ethically bound to safeguard their patients’ welfare by protecting their privacy and the disclosed personal information. Notably, confidentiality is integral in establishing the requisite degree of trust, which is critical in fostering honest and transparent engagements.
The failure to protect the patient’s identity or the shared sensitive information exposes them to possible misuse and the subsequent commission of criminal activities such as fraud. The rationale for choosing this concept is that counseling entails sharing enormous and highly classified information such as revelations, confessions, ongoing plans, and secrets, leading to arrests and prosecutions. However, addicts confide in the counselors because they trust the professionals and the centrality of such divulgence to their recovery. Therefore, the breach of this concept is the greatest betrayal of a person in need.
Additionally, addiction counselors have a responsibility to safeguard their clients’ welfare through strict adherence to the principle of informed consent. The healthcare professionals explicitly state the direction, nature, and methodologies of the services to be rendered and their implications. Moreover, the clinicians notify the patients about their right to refuse treatment or any of the enlisted tests. The rationale for selecting this principle is due to the indispensability of collaboration, which is a critical component of safeguarding the clients’ welfare.
Aspects of Informed Consent
Clients have the right to be fully informed about the entire treatment process, including the methodologies and the nature of services to be rendered. Additionally, they are entitled to be explicitly informed about the implications of the diagnosis and the benefits of the procedures. These two aspects of informed consent establish the essential trust between a patient and a counselor by creating an understanding and what the proposed treatment means. For instance, notifying clients about the therapeutic interventions to be implemented and the associated risks prepares the clients psychologically for the task ahead and exposes the professional to a reduced risk of legal actions. Additionally, the explicit notification greatly enhances collaboration, which is critical in safeguarding the welfare of the clients.
Further, informing the patient about the implications of the diagnosis and the gains to be reaped from the procedure promotes the client’s self-realization and recovery by stimulating honest, accurate, and truthful engagements. Indeed, the patients’ outcomes are directly influenced by the actions and the quality of their engagement with the clinicians. This implies that addicts are aware of the procedures, potential risks, and benefits of the services rendered.
Where the client anticipates the potential challenges, risks, and limitations of a given treatment, the adverse implications can be mitigated effectively and the positive elements of the recovery enhanced. Cumulatively, these two aspects significantly promote the accomplishment of positive patient outcomes by preparing clients psychologically and minimizing the therapists’ exposure to legal suits.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the ethical and legal standards and the best practices form the foundation on which addiction treatment is established. They outline the expected behavior or conduct of professionals and protect the clients from harm. However, they differ in that the violation of the former attracts sanctions from the organizations regulating the therapists, while the infringement of legal standards exposes the counselor to imprisonment or court fines.
The ethical standards do not have a legal basis, while the regulatory principles are established by the federal or state governments. Conversely, the best practices are aspirational tenets, generally accepted as the superior alternatives. This implies that they are unenforceable by the regulatory authorities or professional bodies.
References
Berton, J. D. (2014). Ethics for addiction professionals. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Certification Commission for Addiction Professionals. (2019). CCAPP Code of Conduct for Credentialed Alcohol and Drug Professionals. Web.
Conner, G., & Walker, W. (2017). The culturally competent counselor: Issues specific to four minority groups. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 5, 113–121.
Herlitz. A., Munthe, C., Torner, M., & Forsander, G. (2016). The counseling, self-care, adherence approach to person-centered care and shared decision-making: Moral psychology, executive autonomy, and ethics in multi-dimensional care decisions. Health Communication, 31(8), 964–973.
National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors. (2021). Code of ethics.
Stargell, N. A. (2017). Therapeutic relationship and outcome effectiveness: Implications for counselor educators. The Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision, 9(2). Web.