The ethical dilemma experienced by the social worker is the dilemma of social work values. For instance, values such as respecting the rights of the client to confidentiality and self-determination, because it can be a complicated process since there are certain circumstances where the professional values and laws sanction breaching of privacy. The three chief social worker’s ethical responsibilities to the clients and are relevant to the presented dilemma includes Commitment to clients, informed consent, and conflict of interest.

In a commitment to clients, the primary responsibility of the social workers is to support the well-being of their clients. Generally, the interests of the clients tend to be primary. Nonetheless, the obligations of the social workers to the larger society surpass the loyalty owed clients, as well as clients,  should be so advised. For example, in the provided case, it was the responsibility of the social worker from the community health centre to ensure that the client he was working with refrained from using alcohol as a method of self-medicating his anxiety symptoms and depression. In informed consent, the social worker is expected to provide services to clients only in the context of a professional relationship based, when appropriate, and on a valid informed consent. The social workers are also supposed to use precise language which could be easily understood by the clients to inform them about the purpose of the services. In a situation where the client does not have the capability to provide informed consent, social workers should protect the interests of their clients by seeking permission from an appropriate third party.  In the case study, the social worker successfully applied the informed consent on the client because he involved a third party. For instance, he advised his client to seek further help from the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings because he could efficiently address his problems and get professional assistance. The social worker knew that the client could get the help from the AA meetings and that’s why he referred him there. In a conflict of interest, the social workers are expected to avoid communications with clients using technology such as networking sites or telephone among others, for personal or non-work-related purposes. The social workers tend to be aware that posting personal information on media websites might result in boundary confusion, harm to the clients, and inappropriate dual relationships. The social workers are also expected to always e be alert in order to avoid conflicts of interest which tends to interfere with an exercise of professional, impartial and discretion judgment. In other instances, protecting the interests of the clients requires termination of the professional relationships with appropriate referral to the client. This situation is applicable to the mentioned case because due to the growing concern of the social worker towards the drinking habit of his client to self-medicate his anxiety symptoms and depression, he decides to meet him up without using any form of social media platforms whatsoever and encouraged him to attend to the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings at a nearby church. The social worker is also seen letting go of his professional relationship when he tells his client about how they will be discussing their happenstances during their next regularly counselling sessions. What he wanted was for his client to get the necessary recovery he required.

Rank of the NASW standards according to their relevance includes a commitment to clients, social worker ethical responsibilities to clients, self-determination, competence, cultural competence and social diversity, informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, clients who lack decision-making capacity, conflict of interest, and consultation. Emotional judgment is a personal value which incorporates responsibility in helping the client refrain from using alcohol. A conflict may occur because the social worker may choose not to work with the client because of his abuse towards the spouse hence the decision would conflict the NASW code of ethics requiring the social workers to protect rights of the clients while striving to maintain confidence and trust of the clients. Ethical dilemmas happen due to conflicts between personal and professional values. These conflicts tend to be so intense because the social worker will always refer to the professional values and will often be disputed since society cannot agree with the aim of social work. Personal values can be managed by making sure it is consistent with the professional standards of conduct hence makes the social workers interact credibly and freely with their clients. The next step to handle the ethical dilemma is to: firstly, consult the NASW code of ethics in order to find out their importance in social practice. Secondly, review federal and state laws. This is to ensure that the decisions made are not only ethical but legal too. It provides that the social worker does not lose his license or freedom. Thirdly, seek supervision in case of doubts. The supervisors can help the social worker to make the right decisions. Fourthly, consult the NASW. In this case, the social worker can discuss his situation confidentially without using details of their clients. A neutral party tends to be the best resource to help the social worker consider things from a new perspective. The final step is to take time to process the kind of decision made because it can’t be undone.