Hello, Carmen! As Joan realizes that she is incompetent and unqualified to provide the services that Ms. Smith needs, she should take initiative to gain relevant experience to expand her therapeutic services promote social justice in her community. According to National Association of Social Workers ethical standard 1.04(a), social workers are only to provide services and represent themselves as competent only in the boundaries of education, training, license, certification, supervised experience, or other relevant professional experience (Reamer, 2006, pg. 256). I believe that Joan made the right professional decision to address Ms. Smith anxiety symptoms; however, diagnosing Ms. Smith with anxiety before an assessment was completed was unprofessional
