CAADE Ethical Practice 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Informed consent in substance use disorder treatment must include all of the following EXCEPT:
- Risks and benefits of treatment
- Limits of confidentiality
- The counselor's personal recovery history (Correct answer)
- Client rights and grievance procedures
Correct answer: The counselor's personal recovery history
Informed consent covers treatment parameters and client rights, not the counselor's personal history, which is not required for disclosure.
Question 2: A CAADE-certified educator is approached by a pharmaceutical company offering payment for recommending their medication-assisted treatment product to clients. This represents:
- An acceptable supplemental income source
- A conflict of interest that must be declined or fully disclosed (Correct answer)
- A permissible referral arrangement
- Standard industry practice in behavioral health
Correct answer: A conflict of interest that must be declined or fully disclosed
Accepting payment for product recommendations creates a conflict of interest that compromises client welfare and professional integrity.
Question 3: Cultural humility in ethical alcohol/drug counseling practice primarily involves:
- Assuming all clients from a cultural group share the same beliefs
- Ongoing self-reflection and openness to learning from clients about their cultural context (Correct answer)
- Applying a single evidence-based protocol regardless of cultural background
- Referring all culturally diverse clients to a specialist
Correct answer: Ongoing self-reflection and openness to learning from clients about their cultural context
Cultural humility requires lifelong learning and self-examination rather than assuming expertise about any cultural group.
Question 4: A client in a group session discloses another group member's relapse to the counselor privately. The counselor should first:
- Immediately disclose the information to the full group
- Encourage the disclosing client to address group confidentiality expectations and evaluate safety (Correct answer)
- Contact the relapsed member's family without consent
- Document the disclosure and take no further action
Correct answer: Encourage the disclosing client to address group confidentiality expectations and evaluate safety
The counselor should address group confidentiality norms and assess whether the relapse creates a safety concern before taking further action.
Question 5: The ethical principle of nonmaleficence in alcohol/drug education means the counselor must:
- Always act in the client's best financial interest
- Avoid actions that cause unnecessary harm to clients (Correct answer)
- Maximize the number of clients served per session
- Disclose all personal beliefs to the client
Correct answer: Avoid actions that cause unnecessary harm to clients
Nonmaleficence is the obligation to 'do no harm,' guiding counselors to avoid interventions that could injure clients.
Question 6: A counselor who uses self-disclosure about personal recovery to build rapport should ensure that disclosures are:
- Extensive and detailed to maximize relatability
- Purposeful, brief, and in service of the client's therapeutic goals (Correct answer)
- Made in every session to reinforce the connection
- Approved by the client in writing before being shared
Correct answer: Purposeful, brief, and in service of the client's therapeutic goals
Ethical self-disclosure must be intentional and client-focused, not driven by the counselor's need for connection.
Question 7: Which action best demonstrates the ethical principle of fidelity in substance use counseling?
- Keeping promises made to clients and honoring professional commitments (Correct answer)
- Maximizing the number of outcome measurements collected
- Prioritizing program funding requirements over client needs
- Sharing client progress with community stakeholders without consent
Correct answer: Keeping promises made to clients and honoring professional commitments
Fidelity means being faithful to commitments, maintaining trust, and following through on professional obligations.
CAADE Ethical Practice 3
Informed consent in substance use disorder treatment must include all of the following EXCEPT: