You may be interested in or affected by the future proclamation of the controlled act of psychotherapy in Ontario under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA).
Five regulatory colleges have created a clarification document and YouTube video to help individuals who provide psychotherapy services understand the distinction between psychotherapy as the controlled act and psychotherapy that does not fall under the definition of the controlled act. We are seeking your input as to whether these resources provide sufficient clarity.
The controlled act of psychotherapy will be one of 14 “controlled acts” or healthcare activities which are restricted to members of certain regulated professions, due to the heightened risk of harm that these acts pose to the public. The controlled act of psychotherapy is defined as: “Treating, 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”. (RHPA 1991)
Not all psychotherapy is a controlled act – only a subset of psychotherapy falls within the definition of the controlled act.
We respectfully ask that you take time to review the clarification document entitled ‘Understanding When Psychotherapy is a Controlled Act’, watch the YouTube video and respond to a short online survey.
Your participation is voluntary and confidential. The survey responses will be used to determine the extent to which the clarification document and YouTube video provide sufficient clarity in understanding the distinction between psychotherapy as the controlled act and psychotherapy that does not fall under the definition of the controlled act.
Feel free to share the survey link, YouTube video and clarification document with your colleagues or other organizations. The survey will be open for 2 weeks from Tuesday, January 24 to Tuesday, February 7, 2017.