ETHICS OF
PEER RECOVERY
SPECIALISTS
Vik Moore, CPRS, ITE, MS
Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse
Services
2013 Certified Peer Recovery Specialist Conference
October 14, 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 The Code of Ethics (code by code)
 Ethics in Social Media & Social Networking
 Be Careful What You Post
 On the Job
 Web 3.0
 Question Time
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ETHICS OF
P E E R R E C OV E RY S P E C I A L I S T S
THE CODE OF ETHICS
(CODE BY CODE)
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
These 18 principles will guide Certified
Peer Recovery Specialists in the various
roles, relationships, and levels of
responsibility in which they function
professionally.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
1. The primary responsibility
of CPRS’s is to help peers
achieve their own needs,
wants, and goals.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
2. CPRS’s will maintain
high standards of personal
and professional conduct.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
3. CPRS’s will conduct
themselves in a manner
that fosters their own
recovery.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
4. CPRS’s will openly share with peers,
other CPRS’s and non-peers their
recovery stories from mental illness,
substance abuse, or co-occurring
disorders as appropriate for the situation
in order to promote recovery and
resiliency.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
5. CPRS’s at all times will
respect the rights and dignity
of those they serve.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
6. CPRS’s will never intimidate,
threaten, harass, use undue
influence, use physical force, use
verbal abuse, or make unwarranted
promises of benefits to the
individuals they serve.
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7. CPRS’s will not practice, condone,
facilitate, or collaborate in any form of
discrimination or harassment on the basis
of ethnicity, race, color, pregnancy, creed,
veteran’s status, sex, sexual orientation,
age, religion, national origin, marital
status, political belief, mental or physical
disability, or any other category protected
by state and/or federal civil rights laws.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
8. CPRS’s will promote selfdirection and decision
making for those they serve.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
9. CPRS’s will respect the
privacy and confidentiality
of those they serve.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
10. CPRS’s will promote and
support services that foster full
integration of individuals into the
communities of
their choice.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
11. CPRS’s will be directed by the
knowledge that all individuals have
the right to live and function in the
least restrictive and least intrusive
environment.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
12. CPRS’s will not enter into dual
relationships or commitments that
conflict with the interests of those
they serve.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
13. CPRS’s will never engage in
sexual or other inappropriate
activities with
peers they serve.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
14. CPRS’s
will not use illegal
substances or misuse alcohol or
other drugs (including
prescription medications).
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
15. CPRS’s
will keep current with
emerging knowledge relevant to
recovery and will share this
knowledge with other CPRS’s.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
16. CPRS’s will not accept
gifts of significant value
from those they serve.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
17. CPRS’s will not provide
services, either for employment
or on a volunteer basis, without
supervision from
a behavioral health
professional.
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CPRS CODE OF ETHICS
(NEW)
18. CPRS’s will not provide services
beyond their qualifications. This
includes diagnosing an illness,
prescribing medications,
or providing clinical services.
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ETHICS OF
P E E R R E C OV E RY S P E C I A L I S T S
ETHICS IN SOCIAL
MEDIA & SOCIAL
NETWORKING
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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS
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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS
Common mistakes many users
of social media make . . .
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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS
Tweeting: “just left a client, boy is she
messed up...” If you tag yourself right before
or after the tweet, even without naming the
client, someone could deduce the client by
when you were near them and the
timing of the tweet.
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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS
Facebook. NEVER DISCUSS CLIENTS OR
WORK ON YOUR PERSONAL ACCOUNT.
Never even post or tag while you are on the clock.
This sounds like common sense, but
a lot of people do it anyway.
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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS
Pictures taken on smartphones contain Exchangeable
Image File Format (EXIF) info, which includes
date/time and location. So, if you photograph a client in
their home and send it to Instagram, Snap Chat, Vine,
Tumblr, Friendster, or Pinterest, someone
can obtain that information to see where
the client lives.
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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS
Be very careful of your friends and followers on
social media. You could accidentally friend a client
or relative of a client. Any mention of “a client” (not
necessarily them or their family member) could be
construed into you talking about that
client or family member.
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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS
THE INTERNET IS FOREVER. Once something
is uploaded to a site on the Internet, it can be
“captured” and cached by other websites (Google,
Yahoo!, Twitter, and others) and can be accessed
long after you deleted your original post. Imagine
letting a jar of fireflies out one night and the next
night trying to recapture them.
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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS
Any comment made on the Internet
will be taken out of context and
twisted to hurt you.
Count on it.
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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS
Never use “Free Wi-Fi”. Someone on the same
hotspot can “see” your username/password
when you login to anywhere you go (email, social
media, etc.) unless you are on an encrypted
website. Once they have your username/
password, they can post “for” you.
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SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS
Always put a password on your home Wi-Fi, for
the same reason. If I can sit outside your house
and login to your open Wi-Fi, I can read things
as you do them, and anything bad I
do will trace back to you, not me.
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ETHICS OF
P E E R R E C OV E RY S P E C I A L I S T S
BE CAREFUL WHAT
YOU POST
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BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU POST
 “My car is smooth at 120 mph.”
 “I’ve had your boss. He IS a jerk!”
 “I’m starting to love my scar.”
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ETHICS OF
P E E R R E C OV E RY S P E C I A L I S T S
ON THE JOB
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YOU’RE FIRED!
Brian Pederson: Journalist, Arizona Morning Sun
Tweeted disparaging comments about his paper and
homicide rates.
Rhonda Lee: Meteorologist, KTBS 3 Arkansas/LA/Texas
Responded to negative viewer comments about her hair.
Ashley Warden: Waitress, Chili’s restaurant
Posted disparaging comments about police after receiving a
ticket
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YOU’RE FIRED!
 Andrew Kurtz: Pierogi Mascot, Pittsburgh Pirates
Made disparaging comments about the team on Facebook
 Olivia Sprauer: High School English Teacher, Florida
Modeling pictures were discovered by the school online
 Elizabeth Cairns: Math Teacher
Posted pictures of her students with duct tape over their mouths
on Facebook
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A-
NO -NYMITY
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iPAD ING THE FACTS
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ETHICS OF
P E E R R E C OV E RY S P E C I A L I S T S
WEB 3.0
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WEB 3.0
 Web 1.0 - Point to point dropping off files and
messages, bulletin board service circa 1985-2005
 Web 2.0 - Interactive web, cloud storage, free email
accounts circa 2005-2011
 Web 3.0 – Intelligent
anticipation, Netflix,
Siri 2011-present.
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WEB 3.0 DEFINED
Many experts believe the Web 3.0 browser will act as
a personal assistant. As you search, the browser
learns your interests. The more you use the Web, the
more your browser learns about you and the less
specific you’ll need to be with questions. Eventually
you might be able to ask your browser open
questions, like “where should I go for lunch?”
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B I G B ROT H E R I S WA TC HE D
It’s been said “big brother is watching.”
Now, we are all watching big brother &
each other, armed with
smart phones.
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?QUESTION TIME?
Ethics of Peer Recovery Specialists
Vik Moore, CPRS, ITE, MS
Peer Recovery Coordinator
Office of Consumer Affairs and Peer Recovery Services
Vik.Moore@tn.gov (615) 741-7693
5th Floor Andrew Jackson Building
500 Deaderick Street, Nashville, TN 37243
http://www.recoverywithinreach.org
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