When Values Clash: Navigating Conflicts Between Personal Beliefs and Professional Ethics

When Values Clash: Navigating Conflicts Between Personal Beliefs and Professional Ethics

Category: Ethics & Professionalism
Reading time: 8 minutes

You're Christian. You believe marriage is between a man and a woman.

Your client is planning to marry their same-sex partner. They talk about their upcoming wedding during sessions.

Your beliefs or their rights?

You're strongly pro-life. Believe abortion is wrong.

Your client is considering terminating the pregnancy. Needs support to access services and make a decision.

Your conscience or their autonomy?

You don't drink alcohol. Religious and personal conviction.

Your client's goals include moderate drinking as part of harm reduction. They're not interested in abstinence.

Your values or their self-determination?

Let me show you how to navigate these difficult tensions, when you can decline involvement, when you must put professional ethics first, and how to find your limits without harming clients.

Understanding the Tension

Why This Matters

Community services attract people with:

• Strong values

• Moral convictions

• Religious beliefs

• Commitment to justice

• Clear sense of right and wrong

This is a strength.

But sometimes personal values conflict with:

• Client rights

• Professional ethics

• Anti-discriminatory practice

• Client autonomy

• Evidence-based practice

This creates genuine ethical dilemmas.

What's at Stake

For you:

• Moral distress

• Feeling complicit in something you believe is wrong

• Conflict between identity and profession

• Questioning whether you can continue in the role

For clients:

• Right to non-judgmental support

• Access to services

• Safety from discrimination

• Autonomy over one’s own lives

• Right to different values from yours

Both matter.

But client rights take precedence in a professional context.

Common Value Conflicts

1. LGBTIQ+ Rights and Relationships

Common scenario: Worker has religious or personal beliefs that:

• Marriage is between a man and a woman

• LGBTIQ+ relationships are wrong

• Gender transition is wrong

• LGBTIQ+ people shouldn't raise children

Professional ethics require:

• Affirmative practice with LGBTIQ+ clients

• Non-discrimination

• Supporting clients' relationships and identities

• Advocating for LGBTIQ+ rights

The tension: Deeply held beliefs vs. clients' right to affirmation and support.

2. Abortion and Reproductive Rights

Common scenario: Worker believes:

• Abortion is wrong (religious, moral, political)

• Life begins at conception

• A woman shouldn't have the right to choose

Professional ethics require:

• Supporting the client's reproductive autonomy

• Non-judgmental support for all choices

• Facilitating access to the full range of options

• Not imposing one’s own beliefs

The tension: Moral conviction about life vs. the client's right to bodily autonomy.

3. Substance Use

Common scenario: Worker believes:

• All drug use is wrong

• Abstinence is the only acceptable goal

• Harm reduction enables addiction

• "Real recovery" is abstinence only

Professional ethics require:

• Meeting clients where they are

• Harm reduction approaches

• Supporting clients' goals (even if moderate use)

• Evidence-based practice (harm reduction is evidence-based)

The tension: Personal stance on substances vs. client self-determination and evidence.

4. End-of-Life Decisions

Common scenario: Worker believes:

• Euthanasia/assisted dying is wrong

• Life should be preserved always

• Suffering has meaning

• Ending life is never appropriate

Professional ethics require:

• Supporting clients’ choices about their own death

• Facilitating access to palliative care or assisted dying (where legal)

• Non-judgmental support through the dying process

• Respecting the client's beliefs about suffering and death

The tension: Beliefs about sanctity of life vs. client's autonomy at the end of life.

5. Sex Work

Common scenario: Worker believes:

• Sex work is exploitation

• Should be illegal/abolished

• Can't be chosen freely

• Workers need "rescuing"

Professional ethics require:

• Respecting sex workers' agency

• Non-judgmental support

• Harm reduction in sex work

• Not imposing an abolition stance

The tension: Political/moral views on sex industry vs. client autonomy and non-judgment.

6. Religion and Cultural Practices

Common scenario: A worker from different background believes:

• Client's religious practices are harmful

• Cultural practices are wrong

• Client needs to be "freed" from culture/religion

Professional ethics require:

• Cultural safety and respect

• Not imposing own cultural/religious values

• Supporting client's faith and culture (unless directly harmful)

• Distinguishing between cultural practice and abuse

The tension: Own cultural/religious framework vs. respecting client's.

Ethical Framework for Navigating

1. Client Self-Determination Takes Priority

Fundamental principle: Clients have right to make own choices about their lives, even if you disagree.

This includes:

• Who they love

• What they do with their body

• Their religious and cultural practices

• Their goals for substance use

• How they live and die

Your role: Support their choices, not impose yours.

2. Do No Harm

Even when you disagree: Don't harm clients by:

• Withdrawing support

• Being judgmental

• Trying to change their minds

• Sabotaging their goals

• Discriminating

• Withdrawing affirmation

Harm includes:

• Emotional harm from judgment

• Practical harm from losing support

• Systemic harm from discrimination

3. Professional Ethics Trump Personal Values

In professional context: Professional ethics code takes precedence over personal beliefs.

If you can't uphold ethics because of beliefs: You may need to reconsider role.

This isn't persecution of your beliefs.

It's recognition that professional role requires putting client needs first.

4. Conscientious Objection Has Limits

Some jurisdictions allow conscientious objection for:

• Abortion provision

• Euthanasia assistance

• Some specific medical procedures

But even then:

• Must refer appropriately

• Can't obstruct access

• Can't harm client

• Limited to specific acts, not whole groups of people

And doesn't apply to:

• Providing services to LGBTIQ+ people

• Supporting clients' relationships

• Non-judgmental support

Can't say: "I conscientiously object to serving gay people." Can sometimes say: "I am not the best placed worker to assist with supporting an abortion procedure, but I'll facilitate an appropriate referral."

5. Impact Matters More Than Intent

Saying: "I'm not judging, I just believe..."

Still causes harm if:

• Client feels judged

• Client loses support

• Client's autonomy undermined

• Client discriminated against

Good intentions don't prevent harm.

What You Can and Can't Do

You CAN:

Hold personal beliefs: You're entitled to your values, religion, politics.

Discuss with peers: In supervision, with colleagues, process your moral distress.

Seek support: For navigating tensions between beliefs and work.

Practice your faith: In your personal life, in ways that don't harm clients.

Advocate for your beliefs: Outside work context, in appropriate forums.

Refer in specific limited circumstances: When conscientious objection legally applies AND you refer appropriately without obstruction.

You CANNOT:

Impose beliefs on clients: Through judgment, pressure, or trying to change them.

Discriminate: Refuse service to clients because of their identity, choices, or beliefs.

Obstruct access: Make it harder for clients to access services or make choices you disagree with.

Violate professional ethics: Professional code takes precedence in professional context.

Harm clients: Through withdrawal of support, judgment, or discrimination.

Use position to proselytize: Professional relationship isn't platform for converting clients to your beliefs.

Managing Moral Distress

Acknowledge It

It's real: Feeling complicit in something you believe is wrong causes genuine distress.

Don't minimise: "I shouldn't feel this way." "I should just get over it."

It's a legitimate moral struggle.

Process in Appropriate Places

Where to process:

• Personal therapy

• Religious/spiritual advisor

• Supervision (with an appropriate supervisor)

• Peer support

Not with:

• Clients (don't burden them with your distress)

• In ways that affect service to clients

Distinguish Belief from Action

You can:

• Believe something is wrong

• AND provide non-judgmental support to client doing that thing

Example: "I personally believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I also believe clients have right to their own lives and relationships. I can support this client's wedding planning despite my beliefs."

Cognitive dissonance is uncomfortable.

But it's navigable if you're committed to professional ethics.

Set Boundaries Appropriately

If you genuinely cannot provide non-judgmental service:

Must:

• Recognise this early

• Inform the client professionally

• Facilitate appropriate referral

• Not obstruct their access

• Do not harm them through your limitation

Example (limited circumstance): "I need to let you know that because of my own values, I'm not the best person to support you with this particular issue. Let me connect you with [colleague] who can provide the support you need."

But:

• This should be rare

• Can't be blanket refusal to serve entire groups

• Must ensure no harm to client

Consider Your Limits

Ask yourself:

"Can I provide non-judgmental, affirming, client-centred support to:"

• LGBTIQ+ clients

• Clients accessing abortion

• Clients who use substances

• Clients from different religions

• Clients making choices I disagree with

If honest answer is no: May need to:

• Work on your capacity to separate personal and professional

• Limit your area of practice

• Reconsider whether this is right field

Clients deserve workers who support them.

Not workers who tolerate them.

For Organisations

Create Clear Expectations

In hiring and onboarding, Be explicit about professional ethics requirements:

• Affirmative practice with LGBTIQ+ clients

• Support for reproductive autonomy

• Harm reduction approaches

• Non-discrimination

Don't:

• Hire people then spring ethics requirements on them

• Be vague about expectations

• Allow discrimination under the guise of "values"

Support Ethical Practice

Provide:

• Ethics training

• Supervision for moral distress

• Clear policies

• Support for difficult situations

Don't:

• Allow personal values to compromise client care

• Enable discrimination

• Fail to address ethical violations

Navigate Carefully

When a worker raises a values conflict:

Balance:

• The worker's genuine moral distress

• Client's right to services

• Organisational ethics

• Professional standards

Usually means:

• Support worker to navigate

• Expect professional conduct

• Facilitate referral if truly necessary

• Don't compromise client care

When to Consider Leaving

If you find you cannot:

• Provide non-discriminatory service

• Support clients' autonomy over values you oppose

• Put professional ethics before personal beliefs

• Separate personal values from professional conduct

Then: This may not be right role or field for you.

That's okay.

Better to recognise this than:

• Harm clients

• Violate ethics

• Suffer ongoing moral distress

Some beliefs are genuinely incompatible with some professional roles.

Leaving isn't failure.

It's recognition of incompatibility.

The Bigger Picture

Community services is about supporting people.

All people:

• With different values

• Different beliefs

• Different choices

• Different lives than yours

If you can only support people who share your values: Limited scope of practice or wrong field.

Professional ethics require:

• Putting client autonomy first

• Non-discrimination

• Affirmative practice

• Respect for difference

Personal values are important.

But in a professional context:

• Client rights take precedence

• Professional ethics prevail

• Beliefs don't justify harm

You don't have to agree with clients' choices.

But you do have to support them without judgment.

That's the work.

Key Takeaways

• Client self-determination takes priority over the worker's personal values in a professional context

• Professional ethics trump personal beliefs when they conflict; professional code takes precedence

• Conscientious objection has limits: it can apply to specific acts (abortion, euthanasia) but not to entire groups of people

• Can't refuse service to LGBTIQ+ clients, discriminate, or obstruct access based on personal beliefs

• Moral distress is real, but process it in supervision/therapy, not with clients who don't bear the burden of your struggle

• Can hold personal beliefs AND provide non-judgmental support; distinguish belief from action

• If you genuinely cannot provide non-discriminatory service, you may need to reconsider your role or field

• Organisations must be explicit about ethics requirements in hiring; they can't enable discrimination under the guise of "values"

Reflection Questions

• Where do your personal values conflict with professional ethics requirements?

• Can you separate your beliefs from providing non-judgmental support?

• What support do you need to navigate moral distress?

• Are there client groups or situations where you genuinely cannot be affirmative?

Sarah Smallman is the founder of The Community Workers Hub and believes professional ethics require putting client autonomy and rights before personal values in professional context.