CASAC Ethical and Professional Responsibilities 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A CASAC counselor receives a gift of significant monetary value from a grateful client upon treatment completion. The ethically appropriate action is to:
- Accept it to avoid offending the client
- Accept it if the treatment relationship has ended
- Decline the gift and explore the meaning with the client (Correct answer)
- Accept it and document it in the clinical record
Correct answer: Decline the gift and explore the meaning with the client
Accepting gifts of significant value can compromise professional boundaries; declining and processing the gesture therapeutically is the ethical standard.
Question 2: Which of the following BEST describes informed consent in substance abuse counseling?
- A one-time form signed at intake that requires no further discussion
- An ongoing process ensuring clients understand treatment, risks, alternatives, and their rights (Correct answer)
- Permission granted by the counselor's supervisor for each intervention
- The client's agreement to follow all program rules
Correct answer: An ongoing process ensuring clients understand treatment, risks, alternatives, and their rights
Informed consent is a continuous process, not a single event, and must address the nature of treatment, potential risks, and client rights.
Question 3: A CASAC counselor experiences personal burnout and notices they are becoming irritable and detached with clients. The FIRST step toward ethical practice is to:
- Take on fewer clients without telling the supervisor
- Seek supervision, consultation, or personal support to address impairment (Correct answer)
- Push through because client needs take priority
- Immediately resign from the position
Correct answer: Seek supervision, consultation, or personal support to address impairment
Counselor impairment affects client welfare; seeking support, supervision, or personal treatment is the ethical response to recognizing burnout.
Question 4: Under 42 CFR Part 2, a CASAC counselor can share substance use disorder records with another program's treatment provider if:
- The counselor believes the information would benefit the client
- The client has provided a written consent that meets 42 CFR Part 2 requirements (Correct answer)
- The other provider is licensed in the same state
- The disclosure is requested by law enforcement
Correct answer: The client has provided a written consent that meets 42 CFR Part 2 requirements
42 CFR Part 2 requires a compliant written consent from the client before SUD treatment records may be shared with other providers.
Question 5: A CASAC counselor who is in recovery shares personal relapse experiences with a client to build rapport. This practice is BEST described as:
- Appropriate modeling that always enhances the therapeutic alliance
- Self-disclosure that must be used purposefully and in the client's best interest (Correct answer)
- A required element of 12-step based counseling models
- A violation of confidentiality that must be reported
Correct answer: Self-disclosure that must be used purposefully and in the client's best interest
Counselor self-disclosure is an ethical tool that should be deliberate, limited, and therapeutically purposeful rather than routine.
Question 6: When a client from a cultural background that values family decision-making declines individual goal-setting, an ethically competent CASAC counselor should:
- Insist on individual goals as required by all treatment models
- Explore the client's cultural values and adapt the approach where clinically appropriate (Correct answer)
- Discharge the client for non-compliance
- Have the family set goals on the client's behalf without further discussion
Correct answer: Explore the client's cultural values and adapt the approach where clinically appropriate
Cultural competence requires counselors to understand and respectfully incorporate clients' cultural frameworks while maintaining clinical standards.
Question 7: A CASAC counselor suspects a client is being abused by a household member. The counselor's LEGAL and ethical obligation is to:
- Keep the information confidential since the client is an adult
- Report the suspected abuse to the appropriate child or adult protective services as required by state law (Correct answer)
- Confront the alleged abuser directly
- Discuss the situation only in group supervision without taking action
Correct answer: Report the suspected abuse to the appropriate child or adult protective services as required by state law
Mandatory reporting laws require counselors to report suspected abuse or neglect to designated authorities regardless of confidentiality obligations.
CASAC Ethical and Professional Responsibilities 5
A CASAC counselor receives a gift of significant monetary value from a grateful client upon treatment completion.
The ethically appropriate action is to: