Competency 4: Prevention
Issues Related to Professional Values and Ethics, Continued
Nonjudgmental Behavior
Perhaps the most important thing an addiction professional can do is maintain a nonjudgmental attitude. Women who have given birth to a child with an FASD are at high risk of having another child with an FASD. These women need a nonpunitive and nurturing environment to work through their issues. Pregnant women do not drink because they want to harm their fetuses or because they don’t care about their children. They have an addiction that needs to be treated like any other medical condition.
Some pregnant women with alcohol problems may fear losing custody of their children. However, child protective service agencies are mandated to help keep families together. An addiction professional can help coordinate with child protective services to develop a plan for family reunification. Many alcohol and other drug treatment programs find it difficult to deal with child custody and placement issues and may exclude women who could be involved with child protective services. This practice can do great harm by keeping the women who need treatment most from getting it.
Women should not be barred from treatment or discriminated against because they are pregnant. Addiction professionals need to understand that the family situation for women may be fluid, rather than static. Children may be periodically absent and subsequently return to the home. Furthermore, alcohol and other drug use is a chronic relapsing disease. Relapse prevention must be an important part of any treatment approach.
