CSAM Ethical Standards & Professional Practice 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client discloses during an anger management session that they plan to physically harm a neighbor next week. What is the specialist's primary ethical obligation?
- Maintain confidentiality and explore the client's feelings
- Issue a duty-to-warn notification to the intended victim and authorities (Correct answer)
- Terminate the session immediately without further discussion
- Document the statement but wait to see if the client acts
Correct answer: Issue a duty-to-warn notification to the intended victim and authorities
Under the duty-to-protect doctrine (Tarasoff), specialists must warn identifiable third parties and notify law enforcement when clients pose a credible, imminent threat.
Question 2: Which scenario represents a boundary violation rather than a boundary crossing in anger management practice?
- Briefly sharing a personal anecdote to normalize a client's experience
- Accepting a small gift at the end of a successful treatment course
- Entering a dual romantic relationship with a former client six months post-discharge (Correct answer)
- Extending a session by ten minutes during a client crisis
Correct answer: Entering a dual romantic relationship with a former client six months post-discharge
A romantic relationship with a former client, especially within two years of discharge, is a boundary violation that exploits the therapeutic relationship.
Question 3: A CSAM practitioner works in a correctional facility where administration requests weekly anger-level ratings on all clients to inform parole decisions. What ethical issue is most salient?
- Scope of practice
- Dual-role conflict between therapist and evaluator (Correct answer)
- Informed consent for group therapy
- Cultural competence
Correct answer: Dual-role conflict between therapist and evaluator
Acting simultaneously as treatment provider and forensic evaluator creates a dual-role conflict that compromises therapeutic alliance and client candor.
Question 4: When obtaining informed consent for anger management services, which element is most critical to document specifically?
- The client's insurance provider
- Limits of confidentiality, including mandatory reporting obligations (Correct answer)
- The practitioner's educational background
- The agency's cancellation fee policy
Correct answer: Limits of confidentiality, including mandatory reporting obligations
Clients must understand precisely when confidentiality will be breached so they can make autonomous decisions about what to disclose.
Question 5: A certified anger management specialist has no training in trauma-focused therapy but a referral source insists the specialist also address a client's PTSD. What is the ethical course of action?
- Incorporate trauma work gradually using self-taught techniques
- Accept the referral and address trauma within anger management sessions
- Decline the trauma component and refer to a trauma-trained clinician (Correct answer)
- Request the client sign a liability waiver before proceeding
Correct answer: Decline the trauma component and refer to a trauma-trained clinician
Practicing outside one's competence boundary violates the ethical principle of non-maleficence; the specialist should coordinate care with a qualified trauma provider.
Question 6: A practitioner learns that a colleague is routinely falsifying anger management completion certificates without delivering sessions. What is the appropriate first step?
- Report the colleague anonymously to law enforcement
- Confront the colleague directly and encourage voluntary self-reporting (Correct answer)
- Ignore the issue as it does not involve the practitioner's own clients
- Inform the referring court judge immediately
Correct answer: Confront the colleague directly and encourage voluntary self-reporting
Most ethical codes require practitioners to first address concerns directly with the colleague before escalating to licensing boards or authorities.
Question 7: Under HIPAA, which action is permissible without client authorization when treating anger management clients?
- Sharing session notes with the client's employer
- Coordinating care by sending treatment summaries to co-treating providers (Correct answer)
- Releasing records to the client's attorney for litigation
- Providing information to a researcher studying anger patterns
Correct answer: Coordinating care by sending treatment summaries to co-treating providers
HIPAA's treatment exception permits sharing protected health information among treating providers without written authorization to facilitate coordinated care.
CSAM Ethical Standards & Professional Practice 2
A client discloses during an anger management session that they plan to physically harm a neighbor next week.
What is the specialist's primary ethical obligation?