CRSS Ethical and Professional Responsibility 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A recovery support specialist disagrees with the treatment plan developed by a peer's clinical team. The MOST appropriate response is to:
- Override the treatment plan based on peer support experience
- Share concerns through appropriate professional channels while continuing to support the peer (Correct answer)
- Advise the peer to ignore the clinical team's recommendations
- Refuse to work with the peer until the plan is changed
Correct answer: Share concerns through appropriate professional channels while continuing to support the peer
Disagreements with clinical decisions should be communicated through professional channels, not by undermining the team or the peer's care.
Question 2: Cultural humility in recovery support BEST means:
- Assuming peers from the same background share identical recovery needs
- Continuously learning about and respecting a peer's cultural context without imposing one's own values (Correct answer)
- Providing culturally specific services only when requested
- Deferring all cultural questions to a supervisor or clinical staff
Correct answer: Continuously learning about and respecting a peer's cultural context without imposing one's own values
Cultural humility requires ongoing self-reflection and learning to respect each peer's unique cultural background rather than applying assumptions.
Question 3: A recovery support specialist receives a social media friend request from a peer they currently support. The MOST ethical response is to:
- Accept the request to strengthen the therapeutic alliance
- Decline and discuss the agency's social media boundary policy with the peer (Correct answer)
- Block the peer without explanation to maintain boundaries
- Accept privately but avoid interacting publicly with the peer online
Correct answer: Decline and discuss the agency's social media boundary policy with the peer
Social media connections with current peers blur professional boundaries; declining and explaining policy maintains the professional relationship appropriately.
Question 4: An ethical obligation to report arises when a peer discloses:
- Past substance use that is now in remission
- A specific, credible plan to harm an identified person (Correct answer)
- Financial struggles that may lead to illegal activity
- Frustration with their current recovery support plan
Correct answer: A specific, credible plan to harm an identified person
Duty to warn or report is triggered by specific, credible threats of imminent harm to an identifiable person, not by general risk factors.
Question 5: What does 'trauma-informed practice' require of a recovery support specialist?
- Asking every peer to recount their full trauma history in the first session
- Recognizing the pervasive impact of trauma and prioritizing physical and emotional safety (Correct answer)
- Avoiding all discussion of trauma to prevent re-traumatization
- Providing trauma therapy independently using peer support skills
Correct answer: Recognizing the pervasive impact of trauma and prioritizing physical and emotional safety
Trauma-informed practice centers safety and recognizes trauma's widespread impact without requiring disclosure or providing clinical trauma therapy.
Question 6: A recovery support specialist is also in personal recovery. When is self-disclosure of their own recovery appropriate?
- Whenever the specialist feels emotionally connected to the peer's story
- When it serves the peer's needs and supports their recovery, not the specialist's needs (Correct answer)
- Never, as personal recovery history must remain fully private
- Only during formal group presentations, not in individual peer support
Correct answer: When it serves the peer's needs and supports their recovery, not the specialist's needs
Ethical self-disclosure is purposeful and peer-centered—shared only when it meaningfully benefits the peer, not to process the specialist's own experiences.
Question 7: A peer asks a recovery support specialist to lie to their probation officer about their attendance at recovery meetings. The specialist should:
- Agree to protect the peer-specialist relationship
- Decline, explain why honesty is essential, and help the peer address the situation honestly (Correct answer)
- Report the request to the probation officer immediately
- Consult a supervisor before saying anything to the peer
Correct answer: Decline, explain why honesty is essential, and help the peer address the situation honestly
Agreeing to deceive a legal officer would violate the specialist's professional ethics; the ethical response is to decline and help the peer find honest solutions.
CRSS Ethical and Professional Responsibility 3
A recovery support specialist disagrees with the treatment plan developed by a peer's clinical team.
The MOST appropriate response is to: