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Human services professionals are no strangers to ethical dilemmas, from the routine to the extraordinary. When these professionals witness, perpetrate, or fail to prevent acts that violate their deeply held beliefs, the harm that they experience is referred to as moral distress or injury.

Moral distress and injury may trigger a wave of symptoms and emotions that adversely affect the practitioner: posttraumatic stress disorder; sleep dysfunction; physical illness; feelings of overwhelming guilt and remorse; and a sense of demoralization in the form of disheartenment, dejection, hopelessness, loss of values, burnout, and despondency. These adverse effects are so debilitating that some practitioners will even leave the profession they love.

In this one-of-a-kind book, Frederic G. Reamer, the social work profession's foremost ethics expert, provides guidance to social workers and related professionals who grapple with these unwanted and unnerving situations and their aftermath, and inspires social workers to advocate for much-needed organizational and policy changes to prevent harm. Drawing on decades of firsthand experience, Dr. Reamer discusses moral distress, injury, and demoralization; the symptoms that can manifest; prevention, self-care, and resilience; legal and ethical obligations, including what it means to be a whistleblower; and how to develop moral courage.

Through extensive and relatable case studies, Dr. Reamer illustrates the myriad ethical dilemmas that most social workers will face in their careers and provides practical exercises and actionable solutions. This informative, enlightening, and inspiring book offers those who are struggling the guidance and fortitude to make the right decisions, and to strengthen themselves and their profession.