The MB Coalition of Mental Health Providers

The Manitoba Coalition of Mental Health Professionals (the Coalition) is an umbrella organization whose members are professional associations in the field of mental health. The Coalition was formed to address the issue of regulating counselling and psychotherapy in Manitoba.

Vision & Mission Statement

The Coalition is an organization of like-minded partners dedicated to the recognition of the counselling and the psychotherapy professions in Manitoba.

In fulfilling its mandate, the Coalition promotes the development of policies and practices for the provision of accessible, competent, and accountable counselling and psychotherapy services in a manner sensitive to the pluralistic nature of society.

The Coalition strives to understand the needs of the diverse community of counsellors and psychotherapists in Manitoba and aspires to be inclusive in its membership and a strong voice for the promotion of counselling and psychotherapy.

Goals

• To be the public voice of non-statutory self-regulating mental health professionals in Manitoba. The Coalition will speak to government, related professions, the media and the public alike;
• To seek government regulation of non-statutory self-regulating mental health professionals as indispensable members of the health care system in Manitoba;
• To develop a single, self-regulating Council for qualified Counsellors and Psychotherapists in Manitoba not currently regulated by statute

Rationale for a Manitoba Coalition of Mental Health Providers

The key motivation for statutory regulation is the risk of harm to the public since the practice of counselling or psychotherapy, often takes place in private, unsupervised settings with emotionally vulnerable people. Two major sources of potential harm to patients/clients have been identified: the nature of the therapeutic relationship itself and the failure to properly assess or implement specific psychotherapeutic interventions.

In particular, there are two groups that have been identified who pose an increased risk of harm to the public: a) unregulated practitioners in private practice without professional affiliation or supervision, and b) regulated professionals who practice psychotherapy without formal training in psychotherapy.

In Canada, the statutory regulation of professions is a provincial matter and each province has undertaken the task in a different manner.

National Context for a Manitoba Coalition

Currently in Canada, the provinces of BC, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia have created or are in the process of creating structures to regulate and control the practice of counselling and psychotherapy. In the province of Quebec a College regulating some practices has been in effect for some time.

Ontario

In Ontario, Bill 171, of which the Psychotherapy Act, 2007 was a part, has already come into effect. This bill provided for the name of the new College and for the transition period to set up the new College before the balance of the provisions come into force. The new College of Psychotherapists and Registered Mental Health Therapists of Ontario will be functional once a new regulatory body is established, which might take two years or more. During that time, a Transitional Council is responsible for setting standards for registration, processing applications, issuing certificates of registration, and setting application fees.

Once the College is operational, the two titles; Psychotherapist and Registered Mental Health Therapist will be protected, meaning that only registrants of the college will be legally able to designate themselves as such.

British Columbia

In BC, The BC Ministry of Health is in consultation with the BC Task Group on Counsellor Regulation on the topic of establishing regulation of counselling and psychotherapy in that province. The latter group is composed of representatives of the following organizations: The BC Chapter of the American Association of Pastoral Counsellors; The BC Art Therapy Association; The BC Association of Marriage and Family Therapy; The BC Association of Clinical Counsellors, the BC Chapter of the Canadian Counselling Association, and The Music Therapy Association of BC.

Nova Scotia

In the province of Nova Scotia, The Nova Scotia Association of Counselling Therapists (NSACT), formerly the Nova Scotia Association of Professional Counsellors (NSAPC), was established in 1995. NSACT became a non-statutory, self-regulating body in 1999. The Counselling Therapists Act received first reading in the Nova Scotia legislature this year. This Act would change the Association into The Nova Scotia College of Counselling Therapists.

Quebec

Quebec has regulated different specializations in counselling, namely, guidance counsellors, psychoeducators, marital therapists, and soon will regulate psychotherapists. The Order of Guidance Counsellors and Psychoeducators regulates guidance counsellors who work in settings such as the educational systems, employability and rehabilitation services, private practice, and "psychoeducators" – counsellors who work with people with special needs students, troubled children and youth (often adolescents involved with the criminal justice system).

In December 2005, the Office des Professions du Québec released the report of an expert committee, whose mandate was to make recommendations to update professional regulation in the fields of mental health and human relations. It recommended that psychotherapy become a reserved act for physicians and psychologists, to be “shared” with members of certain other professions – namely, social workers, marriage and family therapists, career counsellors, psychoeducators, occupational therapists and nurses. The committee further recommended that current practitioners of psychotherapy who are not members of one of the named professions be grandparented, providing they meet certain qualifications. Members of the Order of Career Counsellors and Psychoeducators, certified as psychotherapists, are mentioned as one group that would be grandparented.

A Manitoba Coalition?

What is the significance of the formation of the Manitoba coalition for me as a counselling professional?

The above national context should alert practitioners in Manitoba that the days of unregulated practice of counseling and psychotherapy are numbered. The Coalition desires to be proactive in the process of inaugurating the new era of regulated practice of counseling and psychotherapy.

• The coalition is charting a course to ensure the future viability of your practice in the event of a changing legislative landscape of the province.
• The coalition’s promotion of regulation of the practice of counseling and psychotherapy will position member mental health professionals better in terms of third party insurance.
• The coalition provides increased networking opportunities with colleagues.
• The coalition’s standards of practice will provide an increased and recognizable level of professionalism

What is the significance of the formation of the Manitoba coalition for the clients we serve?

• The coalition’s initiative will help to ensure continued cost-effective service for our clients.
• The coalition will help to ensure and increase access to services covered by insurance.
• The coalition will help to ensure protection of clients from harm and increase the quality of service through consistent standards of practice.

Summary and Invitation

The trend in Canada is toward the regulation of the practice of counseling and psychotherapy. The timeline for implementation of a regulatory environment is unclear.

This Coalition wants to represent the broadest scope of professional organizations in mental health services in Manitoba. We recognize that dialoguing with the provincial government with a unified voice representing most qualified counselors and psychotherapists will provide the best opportunity for the best possible outcome for our profession. Find out if your association’s leadership belongs to the Coalition. In the near future, the Coalition will hold its inaugural information meeting in Winnipeg. This will be an opportunity to meet one another and chart a course ahead. The future starts now.