Addiction Professional’s Code of Ethics
The job of an addiction professional comes with many responsibilities. The future of many clients who go to addiction professionals for help may very well be determined by the caliber of treatment the patient received while attending addiction therapy. There are essential moral and personal characteristics needed for an addiction therapist to be proficient and successful in his/her dealings with clients. Ideally, an addiction professional should be understanding, patient, not of a judgmental character, empathetic, and benevolent. According to the Code of Ethics for the NAADAC (naadac.org) (The Association for Addiction Professionals), addiction therapists are expected to discover and actively pursue positive therapies and ways to improve the life of their clients.
The fact that the NAADAC is so driven to make positive changes in the lifestyles of their clients, the therapist will be provided with necessary and what is deemed as sufficient needs to help the client change his/her life around for the best. This will help the therapists pursue various creative and constructive ideas for helping their client out, such as being able to afford taking them out to a jailhouse in Mid Texas, to show the client where he could possibly end up if he doesn’t decide to change his/her behavior (An excellent scare tactic). I have seen clients with addiction problems who were sponsored by therapy companies to attend a gym 5 days out of the week (having their entire subscription paid for).If your client becomes involved with illegal issues which are perceived as harmful to themselves, the professional, the company, or any relatives, the therapist is allowed to tell the authorities without the fear of being fired for breaking the codes of confidentiality. You must be properly trained and prepared to perform certain tasks for/on clients. If you are inadequately trained, yet asked by the client or commanded by your manager to perform an act you are unfamiliar with, you have the right to say “no” and not perform the task due to your lack of training (without being fired legally by your boss for rejecting his command).
A potential constraint in my profession of an addiction therapist that can impact my job performance is that I am not bilingual. If a Hispanic or German individual walks into my office building seeking help or advice, I would be of no help to him/her due to my inability to speak other languages. This is something many therapists encounter in America. Another potential constraint for me as an addiction therapist is the code of confidentiality. I won’t have a problem keeping my work private from friends and the public, but