CWP Ethical Standards and Practice 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A CWP discovers that a client they are currently seeing is also receiving services from the practitioner's romantic partner. This situation represents:
- A beneficial collaborative care arrangement
- A potential dual relationship requiring careful ethical consideration (Correct answer)
- No ethical concern as long as the services are different
- A mandatory reporting situation
Correct answer: A potential dual relationship requiring careful ethical consideration
Overlapping relationships create dual-relationship dynamics that can compromise objectivity and must be carefully evaluated.
Question 2: Informed consent for wellness services must include which of the following elements?
- A guarantee of specific health outcomes
- The practitioner's personal beliefs about wellness
- The nature of services, risks, benefits, and alternatives (Correct answer)
- A waiver of the client's right to terminate services
Correct answer: The nature of services, risks, benefits, and alternatives
Valid informed consent requires disclosure of services, potential risks and benefits, available alternatives, and the voluntary nature of participation.
Question 3: A CWP who is also a licensed dietitian is asked by a client to provide medical nutrition therapy. The practitioner should:
- Provide the service under the wellness practitioner role only
- Clearly distinguish between wellness coaching and licensed dietetic services (Correct answer)
- Refuse all nutrition-related guidance to avoid confusion
- Combine both roles without disclosure to simplify billing
Correct answer: Clearly distinguish between wellness coaching and licensed dietetic services
Practitioners holding multiple credentials must clearly differentiate which role they are functioning in to maintain ethical and legal clarity.
Question 4: A client from a cultural background that values collective family decision-making asks to have family members present during all sessions. The ethical response is to:
- Refuse as it violates standard one-on-one confidentiality protocols
- Respect the client's cultural values while ensuring the client consents voluntarily (Correct answer)
- Allow family presence only if medically necessary
- Require the client to attend alone to ensure autonomy
Correct answer: Respect the client's cultural values while ensuring the client consents voluntarily
Cultural competence requires adapting practices to honor client values while ensuring the client's own voluntary consent is maintained.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes the concept of 'fidelity' in wellness ethics?
- Promoting the client's best interest above all else
- Being honest and keeping promises made to clients (Correct answer)
- Treating all clients equally regardless of background
- Avoiding all actions that could cause harm
Correct answer: Being honest and keeping promises made to clients
Fidelity refers to the obligation to be trustworthy, keep commitments, and honor the trust clients place in the practitioner.
Question 6: A wellness practitioner receives an expensive gift from a grateful client. The most ethical course of action is to:
- Accept the gift to avoid offending the client
- Decline the gift and explain the professional boundary regarding gifts (Correct answer)
- Accept only gifts under a pre-set monetary threshold
- Accept and report it to a supervisor
Correct answer: Decline the gift and explain the professional boundary regarding gifts
Accepting significant gifts can create power imbalances and obligations that compromise professional objectivity.
Question 7: When transferring a client to another wellness professional, ethical practice requires:
- Sending all records without notifying the client
- Obtaining written client consent before transferring any records (Correct answer)
- Verbally informing the receiving provider of all session details
- Deleting all records once the transfer is complete
Correct answer: Obtaining written client consent before transferring any records
Client records are protected health information and require explicit written authorization before being shared with another provider.
CWP Ethical Standards and Practice 3
A CWP discovers that a client they are currently seeing is also receiving services from the practitioner's romantic partner.
This situation represents: