For Peer Support Specialists ·
What you'll accomplish
Peer support ethics don't always fit standard clinical frameworks, and your supervisor isn't always reachable when a dilemma surfaces. This guide shows you how to use ChatGPT as a judgment-free thinking partner for those situations, and how to document your decision-making in a way that protects you professionally.
What you'll need
Go to chatgpt.com → click Sign up → create an account with your work email. Complete verification. You'll land on the ChatGPT interface with a text box at the bottom.
What you should see: The ChatGPT conversation interface with "New chat" in the top left.
If you have ChatGPT Plus ({{tool:ChatGPT.price}}), you can upload the NAADAC Code of Ethics or your state's peer specialist standards directly into a ChatGPT Project. ChatGPT will then reference your actual ethics code in its responses.
For free tier users: Copy key sections of the ethics code (available at naadac.org for free) and paste them into your context message. The most relevant sections for peer specialists are: Role Boundaries, Self-Disclosure, Dual Relationships, and Confidentiality.
At the start of each ethics consultation, paste this context message (save it in a notes app):
"I am a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist working in addiction recovery services. I use lived experience as part of my role. I am NOT a licensed clinician — I work within a peer support framework under clinical supervision.
I want to think through an ethical situation I'm facing. Please:
NAADAC ethical principles relevant to my role: competence, non-maleficence, beneficence, fidelity, social justice, self-determination, integrity, and respect for people's rights and dignity."
After your context message, describe the situation. Be specific but don't include actual client names or identifying information:
Example: "I'm struggling with a self-disclosure situation. A client asked me directly if I've ever relapsed during my own recovery. I'm not sure how much to share. The client is in early recovery and seems to be looking for permission to slip up. How do I think through this?"
What you should see: ChatGPT identifies the ethical dimensions (appropriate self-disclosure, modeling, not enabling), presents different approaches (share nothing vs. share your recovery story vs. share specifically about resilience after setbacks), and gives you questions to bring to supervision.
After reviewing ChatGPT's response, write a brief note in your case file or professional journal:
This documentation protects you professionally by showing a thoughtful, systematic decision-making process.
Self-disclosure decision: "I'm deciding whether to share [type of personal experience] with a client in [situation]. Help me think through the ethical considerations around self-disclosure in peer support."
Boundary situation: "A client is [boundary situation]. Help me think through this using peer support ethics principles."
Confidentiality question: "A situation came up where I'm unsure about confidentiality: [situation]. What are my ethical obligations and what should I bring to supervision?"
Relapse or crisis response: "A client disclosed [situation]. Help me think through my ethical obligations versus my role boundaries as a peer specialist (not a clinician)."
Dual relationship: "I discovered that a client is [dual relationship situation]. How should I think through this?"