At a time when people by the millions are abandoning conventional treatments for emotional, mental and physical issues of life in favor of dignified, effective alternatives, the ability of Ontario practitioners to lawfully offer alternative and natural therapies such as hypnotherapy, counseling, EFT, NLP and spiritual ministering will end in the fall of 2014 if serious action is not immediately undertaken.
Anyone who is not a registered psychotherapist and who provides any sort of verbal or non-verbal therapy or counseling for emotional, behavioral and cognitive issues and especially those who do not sport a Master’s degree or an equivalent, including clergy, hypnotherapy, EFT, EMDR, Reiki and NLP practitioners are severely affected.
The current legislation deems that only psychotherapists can determine and treat ‘any thought, cognition, mood, emotional regulation, perception or memory issue’. Further they alone will determine what may seriously impair the individual’s judgment, insight, behaviour, communication or social functioning!
The definition of ‘seriously’ and ‘disturbance’ is left to the psychotherapist. Worse still is the fact that psychotherapy is defined as a ‘general term’ for essentially ‘psychological’ interventions. And therefore, psychotherapeutic techniques are not defined, allowing psychotherapists to appropriate whatever ‘techniques’ they wish from other modalities of treatment and call them ‘psychotherapeutic’. Please see the Information Tab for discussions on the issues around a psychological intervention casting such a wide net over all treatments, when they should in fact be regulated by the already existing Psychological Act.
Background of Psychotherapy Takeover of Healing Treatments
In 2009, the Psychology Act (2007) was amended under a huge Omnibus Bill 171, Section Q. The Transitional Council of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) was established with the background support of the Canadian Society of Clinical Hypnosis, a society whose membership is open only to licensed health care professionals (psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists, etc).
The CSCH is adamant that the provision of hypnosis treatments for example, be restricted to licensed professions. As described in the legislation below, practically any natural human reaction to life’s bumps and bruises can be referred to as a ‘disturbance’ and the assessment and treatment of this ‘disturbance’, a ‘controlled act of psychotherapy’, through psychotherapy techniques as prescribed by the College of Psychotherapy.
THE ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF A ‘DISTURBANCE’ IS AN ACT OF ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT, NOT AN ACT OF PSYCHOTHERAPY. Psychotherapy is only one assessment and treatment approach!
It would seem that the law seeks to give psychotherapy legitimacy it does not have on its own and in fact, seeks to define a therapy previously undefined but understood to be psychiatry without drugs and electroshock.
Bill 171 – Schedule R – Psychotherapy Act, 2007, amended 2009
This Schedule adds that “treatment, delivered through a therapeutic relationship, of an individual’s serious disorder of thought, cognition, mood, emotional regulation, perception or memory that may seriously impair the individual’s judgment, insight, behaviour, communication or social functioning” is the new controlled act of psychotherapy and this is added to the existing list of 13 controlled acts within subsection 27 (2) of the RHPA (Regulated Health Professions Act).
The definitions of ‘serious’, ‘impairment’ and so on are left to the discretion of the College of Psychotherapy; the treatment for same can only be that deemed acceptable to the College despite the fact that many treatments are effective and acceptable to the public while not being deemed acceptable to the College which adheres strictly to conventional psychiatric paradigms and psychological theories.
The all-encompassing term ‘therapeutic’ ensures that the College can cast a net over all interventions undertaken to assist another in healing or in maintaining their health and wellness, as this is the definition of ‘therapeutic’.Even the highly effective hypnotherapeutic treatment of chronic pain and Irritable Bowel Syndrome will now be regulated by the College of Psychotherapy, as all of these involve some emotional, cognitive and behavioral component.
Psychotherapy Act, 2007, s. 3, 4, 10.
Scope of practice
- The practice of psychotherapy is the assessment and treatment of cognitive, emotional or behavioural disturbances by psychotherapeutic means, delivered through a therapeutic relationship based primarily on verbal or non-verbal communication. 2007, c. 10, Sched. R, s. 3.
Authorized Act
- In the course of engaging in the practice of psychotherapy, a member is authorized, subject to the terms, conditions and limitations imposed on his or her certificate of registration, to treat, by means of psychotherapy technique delivered through a therapeutic relationship, an individual’s serious disorder of thought, cognition, mood, emotional regulation, perception or memory that may seriously impair the individual’s judgement, insight, behaviour, communication or social functioning. 2007, c. 10, Sched. R, s. 4.
- Every person who contravenes subsection 8 (1) or (2) is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $25,000 for a first offence and not more than $50,000 for a second or subsequent offence. 2007, c. 10, Sched. R, s. 10.
Essentially, all unwanted and natural human reactions to life are now the purview of psychotherapy to assess and treat where there can be no other means permitted of resolving the unwanted reactions. The only treatment can be psychotherapy, as prescribed by the College of Psychotherapy, despite the fact history has shown that most human issues such as anxiety, stress management, depression, chronic pain, fears, psycho-spiritual and subconsciously-rooted emotional issues have not usually been effectively resolved by psychotherapy.
Effect of this legislation on alternative practitioners, spiritual advisors, healers and their clients:
While alternative practitioners may not immediately feel the imposition on their right to offer their alternative services, the stage has been set through this legislation for the ‘creeping elimination’ of all treatments that do not fit the psychological and psychiatric models through restrictive College rules, regulations and impositions.
It would seem that the underlying agenda in this action by the licensed professions is to eventually eliminate the availability of all popular alternative therapies for normal human disturbances and to centralize control of the treatment and assessment of same in the hands of psychotherapists, psychologists and psychiatry.
Despite 75 years of self-promotion by the licensed professions, independent science has not shown their treatments to be more effective or efficient than alternative approaches and in fact, studies have shown they are often less effective, less efficient and too often, very harmful.
What it means for all non-licensed health & wellness practitioners:
Once this College of Psychotherapy is proclaimed in the fall of 2014, and therefore its regulations made court-enforceable, anyone who is involved in any way, shape or form with individual treatments, therapy, counseling or ministration to another for thought, cognition, mood, emotional regulation, perception or memory that may impair the individual’s judgment, insight, behaviour, communication or social functioning (which is essentially all normal issues of life) and who is not registered with the College as a psychotherapist will be prohibited from continuing and potentially subject to severe fines.
In other words, all alternative wellness specialists, including clergy, are deemed to be psychotherapists by another name. If a practitioner helps people with grief, anger, resentment, self-sabotaging behaviors, persistent sadness and depressive feelings, or if they advertise services for anxiety, fears, phobias, compulsive behaviors, chronic pain, stress and unwanted habits and addictions, they are engaging in psychotherapy despite using approaches and techniques not remotely associated with psychotherapy.
How to help with Actions now Underway:
(1) Lawyer T.J.Green of Green & Associates, Ottawa has been retained to file formal appeals with the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care for legislative amendments to the Psychotherapy Act, 2007 to ensure a change in the definition of ‘a controlled act of psychotherapy’. The amendments sought would prevent restrictions of the activities of non-psychotherapy therapists, spiritual healers, counselors, practitioners and clergy. The amendments would seek to establish that psychotherapy is only ONE means of treatment among many legitimate, safe treatment options. This must be done before by the fall of 2014.
(2) We seek testimonials from satisfied clients who resolved their issues with alternative treatments means AFTER having tried psychotherapy, psychologist or psychiatry treatments. Such stories will be put into affidavit form for the client’s signature at no cost to them and attached to legal submissions to support the appeals.
This effort needs your immediate financial support. If you want to be free to practice, to teach and to prosper or if you are a client who wants to ensure freedom to choose your treatments, we urge you to be as generous with your donations as possible, as soon as possible, as we are working to meet deadlines. Please forward this notice to others. A special Fund has been set up. All donations should refer to ‘Psychotherapy Take-over”.
You can help the legal by
(a) cheque, money order (made out to Green & Associates Law Offices in Trust) and mailed to: Green and Associates Law Offices
712-170 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, ON K1P 5V5
(b) Donate from this site using the PayPal button.
Please refer to: Psychotherapy Take-over with all donations and accept our thank you for all your help.
This is what zen Buddhism is. A zen teacher teaches techniques to end suffering. That is what Buddhism is how to end our emotional suffering.
This act eradicates a whole religion and the role of a zen teacher.
Zen therapy is listed as a psychotherapeutic technique in the Dictionary of Clinical Psychology 2013 (appendix section has list of 312 treatments/approaches so far included in the list). See the entire list at http://www.StopPsychotherapyTakeover.ca under IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS.
We must contribute to the legal fund to get protection enshrined in our legislation so this never happens again. It is not the first time that in Ontario, the medical cartel has tried a complete eradication and control of all treatments and counseling. We must stop burying our head in the sand…
As an Algonquin Elder and Traditional Teacher and Medicine Woman, I do not agree that Psychotherapy be ruling our lives and what is good or not for us.
We Aboriginal people have lived thousands of years without the “young“ so called science of psychotherapy based on theories that are often dismissed by the psychotherapists themselves. Most importantly, a lot of our aboriginal medicine make up the basis of scientific medecine. I do not opposed modern medicine, on the contrary I believe that the new scientific medicine is complementary to ancient and proven aboriginal medicine.
I guess the law makers still have a lot to learn from us. Without our medecine and our ways of treating physical, emotional, mental and spiritual elements of humans, the canadian population would not even be. Our medicine was essential to the survival of the colony and later on, banned unjustfully and unilaterally by the same people that were saved. For over one and a half century, our traditional medicine and way of life concept were considered illegal and traditional teachers and healers were emprisonned while children were denied their culture, language and parenting presence through the Residential School System.
Only since the early 70’s did the Aboriginal People established their first national and provincial political and lobbying organisations to restore broken promisses of the colonialists in order to take their place harmoniously in Canada. We saw a resurgence of pride in our nations. Baby steps and growing pains to restore our culture, way of thinking, our languages, our traditions and protocols and now: legislators want to rule us again on our most fundamental rights!!!
So before forcing legislations on the issue, legislators have long studies to go prior to even think of if they have or not the right to determine who knows best in term of our health. We know how they handled the issue of our health in the past… smallpox, deportations, killing our forests, our culture, our children. Deciding through ** legislations** who we are, where we live, what we own, what we think, what we believe, how we speak, how we raise our children, how we govern ourself, what we can do, who we elect, and so so so much more interventionist paternalistic décisions on our behalf and for our **good**. Don’t we all see the results now??? And they want to do it again!!!
Annie Smith St-Georges
Algonquin Elder of the unceeded and unconquered Algonquin Territory!
Meegwetch! I have spoken!
Great points Annie. It seems there are always people who want to dominate, control and oppress, never satisfied to do their own thing and let others do theirs.
A lot of the time, when ‘licensed professionals’ are faced with methods that work better, instead of improving their practices and methods they try to oppress and control others. And if they can’t do that, try to appropriate for their exclusive use, the work and methods others worked hard to build. It seems like this is happening with these psychotherapists. This legislation gives them a monopoly…this is not permitted under our Constitution.
The problem with these legislations, and this is happening in every area of life especially in Ontario, our Constitutional rights are violated at the whim of any lobby group or bureaucrat without the Supreme Courts (whose job is to prevent this) ever raising a peep about it. We have a constitutional right to choose our own treatments and decide for ourselves what label we will or will not wear.
It’s sad that many treatment groups, such as some addictions and marriage counselors, are capitulating to this legislation by dignifying the College’s rules and regulations, just to protect their own little territory, instead of looking at the bigger picture and calling this legislation an outright violation of everyone’s rights to choose. It’s one of the most profound downfalls of humans…to act to protect and embellish oneself even if it costs others their basic human rights. But as we have seen throughout history, eventually the injustice comes full circle and those who did not fight it when others were experiencing it, suddenly find themselves in the same predicament later.
Mental illness does not even exist except as a concept in their minds, but millions are now labelled for life as flawed human beings and psychotherapists are positioning themselves to keep up this scheme. The poorer the outcomes of psychological and psychiatric treatments the more creative their practitioners tend to become at forcing them on others. 75 years of experience with psychologists and psychiatrists has shown us their are better ways.
Why is it that some professions simply cannot treat and assist others without labelling them first (diagnoses) and other professions simply see a human being and treat what presents without any need to label and demean? I guess there is a lot of money in labelling and judging others. Diagnoses are a moral judgement passed on another by someone who believes they are superior to the one they are supposed to be helping.