The Book of Ethics: Expert Guidance for Professionals Who Treat Addiction

The definitive book on ethics for chemical dependency treatment professionals.

The treatment of addiction as a biological, psychological, social, and spiritual disease requires a high standard of ethical knowledge and professional skill. This groundbreaking, reader-friendly guide to contemporary ethical issues informs and challenges health care professionals, students, and faculty with a thorough and compassionate examination of the dilemmas faced when providing care for individuals suffering from substance use problems or addiction. Renowned psychiatric ethicists Cynthia Geppert and Laura Weiss Roberts tackle issues of autonomy, respect for persons, confidentiality, truth telling and non-maleficence--setting the standard for contemporary ethical practices. These challenges are illuminated with real-world case examples that show potential effects on diverse patient populations.

Dr. Roberts serves as Chairman and the Katharine Dexter McCormick and Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine.   

She is an internationally recognized scholar in bioethics, psychiatry, medicine, and medical education, and is identified as a foremost psychiatric ethicist in the United States.  Dr. Roberts has received extensive scientific peer-reviewed funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, and private foundations to perform empirical studies of modern ethical issues in research, clinical care, and health policy, with a particular focus on vulnerable and special populations.  Her work has led to advances in understanding of ethical aspects of physical and mental illness research, societal implications for genetic innovation, the role of stigma in health disparities, the impact of medical student and physician health issues, and optimal approaches to fostering professionalism in medicine. 
 
Dr. Roberts has been the Editor-in-Chief for the journal Academic Psychiatry since 2002 and serves as an editorial board member and peer reviewer for many scientific and education journals.   Dr. Roberts was the first woman to be elected President of the American Association of Chairs of Departments of Psychiatry.  Dr. Roberts has received numerous awards for leadership, teaching, and science.