Ethics Beyond the Counseling Room: Public Presence, Boundaries, and the Counselor’s Ethical Responsibility

Tom Hegblom

PhD, LPCC, LADC, NCC

May 13, 2026, 8:45 AM-12:00 PM (EST)

Session Description

Counselors are increasingly called to engage in advocacy, public discourse, and digital spaces that extend far beyond the traditional counseling room. This is especially true for substance use disorder (SUD) counselors, who often work within recovery-oriented systems of care, community settings, and other contexts that invite heightened visibility. Social media, public-facing professional identities, and sociopolitical engagement have created new ethical tensions to the already complex challenges surrounding boundary crossings and multiple relationships that are not always explicitly addressed in professional codes of ethics.

Grounded in the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics and The Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC) Code of Ethics, this ethics-focused continuing education session emphasizes ethics as a process rather than a checklist. Participants will explore how public behavior, online engagement, boundary crossings, and multiple relationships may impact client welfare, professional credibility, recovery capital, and public trust. Through case vignettes, small-group discussion, and guided ethical decision-making exercises, attendees will practice navigating gray areas where ethical guidance may be limited or evolving. This session will support counselors in developing an ethically grounded approach to their public presence and life outside the counseling room that prioritizes the integrity of their work and profession, client welfare, cultural humility, and stigma reduction in an increasingly visible and complex professional landscape.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will be able to differentiate between ethical risk, ethical discomfort, and ethical violations in public-facing contexts.
Participants will be able to evaluate how counselor public presence may impact client welfare, power dynamics, recovery capital, and public trust.
Participants will be able to apply ethical decision-making frameworks grounded in ACA and NAADAC ethical principles to situations involving public statements, online behavior, and professional roles.
Participants will be able to develop ethically sound strategies for public engagement that align with professional codes of ethics and recovery-oriented values.

Presenter

Tom Hegblom, PhD, LPCC, LADC, NCC (he/him) serves as Resident Faculty and Clinical Director for the Master of Professional Studies in Integrated Behavioral Health and the Master of Professional Studies in Addictions Counseling programs at the University of Minnesota. His teaching, clinical, and research interests focus on ethical practice in substance use disorder and mental health counseling, queer- and trans-affirming mental healthcare, postmodern counseling theories, and the development of counseling student self-efficacy. In addition to his teaching, he maintains a small private practice in Minneapolis and is actively involved in state, regional, and national professional organizations. Tom earned his PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from Walden University, an MA in Counseling from the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School, and an interdisciplinary BA in Youth Studies, Spanish, and Educational Psychology from the College of Continuing and Professional Studies at the University of Minnesota.

Questions?

Please contact Dr. Natalie Ricciutti at nricciut@charlotte.edu or 704-687-8960 if you have questions regarding the program.

Please contact Dr. Jordan Z. Boyd at jboyd44@charlotte.edu if you have questions regarding registration.