Ethical standards, especially for fields involving the provision of human services, are necessary to safeguard the rights and safety of both service providers and consumers. Past injustices and mistreatment have pushed various professions to develop codes of ethics unique to their respective fields. The field of chemical dependency is no exception, and the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) has produced its own code of ethics. Starting a therapeutic relationship with clients opens many doors; healing and harm are both possible, depending on how the counselor handles whatever arises. As a professional, I have a duty to understand the codes, laws, best practices and agency policies that govern my work with clients. Here I will detail the different forces that guide my practice, how I decide whether something is ethical or unethical, and produce a short list of actions that I believe are unethical for chemical dependency practitioners. In any discussion of ethics, it is necessary to address the concept of moral relativism. As Driver (2007) writes, “Moral relativism does not deny that moral claims are true or false, but only that their truth is relative” (p. 17). As a social worker and chemical dependency counselor, I reject this idea. If one were a true relativist, one would not be able to judge any behavior or action as wrong or unjust, since it is up to each individual – individual relativism – or the culture – cultural relativism – to decide what is right and wrong (Driver, 2007) . Anyone working for social change or individual growth should find this idea distasteful, since every decision and action could be justified (Berger & Zijderveld, 2009). There are things that I believe are universally wrong... middle of the paper... yes. 7) Continue meeting with a client just because it's fun. We recommend helping clients achieve treatment goals, and when these are achieved, the relationship should come to an end, as Section One, Standard Two, Part C outlines. 8) Claim the title “CDPT” before the application is approved. While we may be eager to claim titles, Rubric Four, Standard Two, Part A reminds us to honestly represent our qualifications (NAADAC, 2011). 9) Present educational material from a source without citing it. Similar to academic integrity, professionals must give credit where due when using materials, and this is described in Title Nine (NAADAC, 2011). 10) Failure to disclose confidential information in a crisis leading to greater harm. Confidentiality is of the utmost importance in counseling, but there are limitations, as described in Section Three, Part A.