Mississippi Ethical Standards of Certified Addiction Professionals for CCS
Principle 1: Code of Ethics
This code of ethics applies to Alcohol and Other Drugs Substance Abuse Professionals who are credentialed as Certified CCSs (CCS) and applies to their conduct during their clinical duties as supervisors.
Principle 2: Supervision
A disciplined, structured, and defined clinical activity. It has a parallel and linked relationship to education, consultation, administration, and research. It is a necessary, significant, and meaningful aspect of delivering ethical, competent, humane, and appropriate services to clients/consumers.
Principle 3: Rules of Conduct
These ethics constitute the standards a CCS should maintain. They shall be used to resolve any ambiguity that may arise when applying and interpreting these rules.
Principle 4: Competence
A CCS shall limit practice to areas of competence in which proficiency has been gained through education or documented experience or the awarding of a reciprocal professional certification or license. A CCS shall accurately represent areas of competence, education, training, knowledge, and professional affiliations in response to responsible inquiries, including those from appropriate boards, the public, supervisees, and colleagues. A CCS shall aggressively seek consultation with other professionals when called upon to supervise counseling situations outside their realm of competence. A CCS will refer supervisees to other professionals when they cannot provide adequate supervisory guidance to the supervisee.
Principle 5: Client Welfare and Rights
The primary obligation of a CCS is to train Substance Abuse counselors to respect the integrity and promote the welfare of their clients. CCS should have supervisees inform and receive permission from clients that they are supervised and that details of their treatment may be discussed or reviewed with a supervisor. Any audio or videotaping of a client/consumer’s treatment must be authorized in writing. A CCS should make supervisees aware of the client’s rights, including protecting the client’s rights to privacy and confidentiality in the counseling relationship and the information resulting from it. Clients should also be informed that the supervisory relationship will not violate their privacy and confidentiality rights. Records of the supervisory relationship, including interview notes, test data, correspondence, the electronic storage of these documents, and audio and video recordings, are to be treated as confidential materials. Written permission for the use of these materials outside of the supervisory session must be granted in writing by the client. A CCS is responsible for monitoring the professional actions of their supervisees. A CCS is responsible for presenting adequate training for all supervisees on transference, dual relationships, cultural sensitivity, and professional deportment.
Principle 6: Professional Behavior
Due to the unique scope of practice Substance Abuse counselors provide, CCSs must monitor the following behaviors of their staff and themselves:
A. Public intoxication is defined as any incident of alcohol consumption or use of mood-altering substances that results in a public display of behavior commonly associated with intoxication.
B. Arrest for the possession or use of any illegal drug, narcotic or mood-altering substance.
C. The use of intoxicants and/or non-physician-prescribed and monitored mood-altering substances when engaged in professional pursuits.
D. Conducting intimate, personal, and/or business relationships with any client or their families.
E. CCSs who are members of Alcoholics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, Narcotic Anonymous, Al-Anon, etc., shall not become a sponsor to any active, discharged client or family member.
F. The CCS violates this code and is subject to revocation and/or other appropriate action if they:
1. Are convicted of any felony
2. Are convicted of a misdemeanor related to their qualifications or functions
3. Engaged in conduct that could lead to a conviction of a felony or misdemeanor related to their qualifications and/or function
4. Are expelled or disciplined from any other professional organization
5. Have their license or certification revoked, suspended, or disciplined by a regulatory body
6. Shall refuse to seek treatment if deemed impaired
7. Fail to cooperate in any ethical complaint investigation
G. The CCS respects the dignity and protects the welfare of research participants. It is also aware of research regulations and professional standards, including informed consent.
H. The CCS makes understandable financial arrangements with clients, third-party payers, and supervisees that conform to accepted professional practices. Supervisors do not allow the agency and/or supervisees to receive referral payments. CCSs disclose any fees to the clients and supervisees at the beginning of services and represent facts truthfully to clients, third-party payers, and supervisees.
I. The CCS accurately represents the competence, education, training, and experience relevant to their supervision role and clinical experience. The CCS assures that any advertisement and/or promotional material accurately conveys information necessary for the public to make an informed choice about services.
Principle 7: Supervisory Role
The role of supervisor includes responsibilities for monitoring client welfare, ensuring compliance with relevant legal and professional standards of service delivery, monitoring clinical performance and professional development of supervisees, and evaluating and certifying the current performance and potential of supervisees for academic, screening, selection, placement, employment, and credentialing purposes.
A. The CCS must maintain professional decorum and standards. Unprofessional behaviors outlined in #6 above will not be tolerated.
B. The CCS should pursue professional and personal continuing education activities to maintain their credential and improve their supervisory skills. They must also maintain competency in the Four Performance Domains of AOD Clinical Supervision.
C. The CCS shall inform their supervisees of the profession's professional and ethical standards and legal responsibilities in counseling. Without agency or state policy, industry standards of ethical behavior should be explained to the supervisee.
D. The CCS should strive to enable supervisees to be competent, autonomous, professional, judicious, aware of limitations, and to become future supervisors if that is an appropriate career goal.
E. Procedures for contacting the supervisor or an alternative supervisor to assist in handling crises should be established and communicated to supervisees.
F. Actual work samples should be part of the regularly scheduled supervision process, whether via audio, counselor report, video, or observation.
G. Supervision is maintained through regular face-to-face meetings with the supervisee in group or individual sessions.
H. The CCS should provide supervisees with ongoing feedback on their performance.
I. The CCS with multiple roles (e.g., teacher, CCS, administrator, etc.) should avoid any conflict of interest caused by these disparate roles with supervisees. The supervisee should know the limitations placed on the CCS, and the supervisor should share supervision when appropriate.
J. The CCS should not engage in any form of sexual contact (including sexual harassment and sexual advances) with supervisees. Supervisors should also not engage in social contact or interaction that would compromise the supervisor-supervisee relationship. Dual relationships (including outside consultants, partnerships, nepotism, etc.) with supervisees that might impair the supervisor’s objectivity and professional judgment should be avoided, and/or the supervisory relationship should be terminated.
K. CCS shall not use the supervision process to further personal, religious, political, or business interests.
L. CCS should not endorse any treatment that would harm a client either physically or psychologically.
M. The CCS should not establish a psychotherapeutic relationship as a substitute for or as an addition to supervision. Personal issues should be addressed in supervision only regarding the impact of these issues on clients and professional functioning.
N. The CCS should never supervise past or current clients who are staff or their families.
O. The CCS should model the appropriate use of supervision for problem-solving and practice review.
P. The CCS must be straightforward with supervisees about the observed professional and clinical limitations of the supervisee. These concerns must be documented and shared with the supervisee.
Q. The CCS, who is a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Al-Anon, etc., should never sponsor a supervisee.
R. The CCS should not endorse a supervisee for certification or credentialing if the supervisor has documented proof of impairment or professional limitations that would interfere with the performance of counseling duties competently and ethically. The presence of any such impairment should begin with feedback and remediation whenever possible so that the supervisee understands the nature of the impairment and can remedy the problem and continue with their professional development.
S. A CCS should incorporate the principles of informed consent and participation, clarity of requirements, expectations, roles and rules, and due process and appeal into establishing policies related to progressive discipline.
T. The CCS must be able to integrate the 12 Core Functions of Substance Abuse Clinical Competency into its theoretical and supervisory approach. It is also essential to clearly understand the 46 Global Criteria.
U. The CCS ensures the professional quality of the program in which their supervisees participate.
V. The CCS should be an active participant in quality assurance and peer review.
W. A CCS must provide professional and consistent supervision to all supervisees regardless of age, race, national origin, religion, physical disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation, marital, social, or economic status. When a supervisor cannot provide nonjudgmental supervision, a referral to an appropriate supervisor with a complete explanation must be made.