CIP Ethical Standards & Professional Boundaries 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A CIP practitioner is considering sliding-scale fees for a low-income client. This practice is ethically:
- Prohibited because it creates unequal treatment
- Acceptable and encouraged as a way to increase access while maintaining professional integrity (Correct answer)
- Acceptable only if the client signs a waiver
- Required by all professional codes without exception
Correct answer: Acceptable and encouraged as a way to increase access while maintaining professional integrity
Sliding-scale fees are an ethically sound access practice provided they are applied transparently and do not compromise the quality of services.
Question 2: A practitioner learns that their client has begun relying exclusively on intuitive sessions instead of seeking medical care for a chronic illness. The practitioner should:
- Support the client's choice without comment
- Gently address the concern, clarify the limits of intuitive practice, and encourage appropriate medical consultation (Correct answer)
- Terminate services to avoid liability
- Increase session frequency to maintain the relationship
Correct answer: Gently address the concern, clarify the limits of intuitive practice, and encourage appropriate medical consultation
Allowing a client to replace medical care with intuitive practice without intervention violates the principle of non-maleficence and the practitioner's scope of practice.
Question 3: When advertising services, a CIP practitioner is ethically required to:
- Use testimonials claiming specific healing outcomes
- Present services accurately, without false or misleading claims (Correct answer)
- Guarantee results to attract clients
- Omit pricing to allow for flexible negotiation
Correct answer: Present services accurately, without false or misleading claims
Honest and accurate representation of services protects consumers and maintains the credibility of the profession.
Question 4: A practitioner working with a minor client receives a request from a non-custodial parent for session information. The practitioner should:
- Share information with any parent who requests it
- Verify custody arrangements and share information only with those legally authorized to receive it (Correct answer)
- Refuse all parental inquiries to protect the minor
- Ask the minor's preference and act accordingly regardless of legal guardianship
Correct answer: Verify custody arrangements and share information only with those legally authorized to receive it
Legal custody arrangements determine who has the right to access a minor's session information, and practitioners must verify this before disclosing.
Question 5: A practitioner receives an expensive gift from a grateful client at the end of a long engagement. The most ethical course of action is to:
- Accept it fully as a token of appreciation
- Evaluate the gift's value and impact on the relationship; decline if it could create obligation or blur boundaries (Correct answer)
- Always refuse all gifts regardless of value
- Accept and immediately report it to a professional body
Correct answer: Evaluate the gift's value and impact on the relationship; decline if it could create obligation or blur boundaries
Gift-receiving policies vary, but practitioners must evaluate whether acceptance could create real or perceived obligations that compromise professional objectivity.
Question 6: A client becomes verbally abusive toward the practitioner during a session. The practitioner has the right to:
- Continue the session regardless to honor commitment to service
- Set a clear limit and, if the behavior continues, end the session professionally (Correct answer)
- Match the client's tone to establish equal footing
- Apologize and offer a discounted future session
Correct answer: Set a clear limit and, if the behavior continues, end the session professionally
Practitioners have both the right and obligation to maintain safe working conditions by setting limits on abusive behavior.
Question 7: Continuing education requirements in CIP certification primarily serve to:
- Generate revenue for certifying bodies
- Ensure practitioners maintain and expand competence as the field evolves (Correct answer)
- Allow practitioners to charge higher fees
- Fulfill a legal mandate that applies to all professions
Correct answer: Ensure practitioners maintain and expand competence as the field evolves
Ongoing education keeps practitioners current with evolving best practices, research, and ethical standards, ultimately protecting clients.
CIP Ethical Standards & Professional Boundaries 5
A CIP practitioner is considering sliding-scale fees for a low-income client.
This practice is ethically: