Become informed; not afraid
Received July 14, 2015; unsure of original source and contains verbiage that amounts to scare tactics if read quickly.
Published on May 28, 2015
ATTENTION ALL ALTERNATIVE & HOLISTIC HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS: According to Bill 171 instituted by the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario, Canada, it is now UNLAWFUL for all alternative & holistic practitioners to aid or assist anyone with a “serious” condition of thought, cognition, mood, emotional regulation, perception or memory. Targeted practitioners will face fines of up to $25,000 for a first offense.
Alternative & holistic health care practitioners include: hypnotherapists, hypnotists, EFT practioners, NLP practitioners, angel & crystal therapists, Reiki & energy healing, sound healers, shamans, nutritional counselors, family therapists, addictions counselors, spiritual ministers, motivational therapy/coaching, life coaches, exercise therapists, coping skills therapists, access consciousness, bars, meditation, etc.
The College has also been granted legal power to take action against UNREGULATED people who …. engage in the treating of individuals who have serious disorders.
The law enacted today MAY eventually become law in all provinces of Canada and may filter through to the USA in months and years to come.
Please note the College will not be defining the meaning of “serious disorder” or “seriously impair” so just about everyone and anyone is a potential target.
Makes you wonder if the College will go so far as to target and fine the ‘recipient’ next. I wonder what else is possible.
Read on for information available on the websites sited in the articles/emails below:
Psychotherapy Act Proclaimed!
On March 31, 2015, the transitional Council was advised by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) that the Psychotherapy Act, 2007 would come into force on April 1, 2015, thereby creating the new College of Registered Psychotherapists and Registered Mental Health Therapists of Ontario (CRPO). In addition, Council learned that proclamation of the controlled act of psychotherapy has not been proclaimed into force at this time.
All those who have submitted applications for registration with the new College are advised that notifications regarding registration status are being sent out, via our Member Management System. Along with the notification, successful applicants will receive an invoice for their first year’s registration fee, and instructions about next steps to complete the registration process. IMPORTANT: please wait for your official invoice before attempting to pay your registration fee. If you have submitted an application and do not receive a notification in the next 2-3 weeks, this means your application is still under review. Continued…click here.
Who should register?
Anyone who uses the titles “registered psychotherapist” or “psychotherapist” (and any abbreviation or variation of these restricted titles); or
Anyone who wishes to hold him/herself out as qualified to practise as a psychotherapist in Ontario.
Members of other regulated professions may practice psychotherapy within their scope of practice, if they meet requirements set by their own college. The Psychotherapy Act restricts use of the titles “registered psychotherapist” and “psychotherapist” (including abbreviations or variations) to CRPO Members.
For established practitioners, the ‘Grandparenting’ route to registration will be available for two years – until March 31, 2017. This does not mean that such practitioners should wait until the end of the grandparenting period to apply. Rather, they should consider whether they need to be registered, and should apply as soon as it is reasonably possible to do so.
Postponement of the controlled act of psychotherapy
Many will be wondering about the implications of this postponement and why it is necessary. Given that the controlled act is very broad, it has caused many mental health service providers to see themselves as possibly involved in performing this activity, thus requiring registration with the new College. Postponement of the controlled act will allow time to develop a better understanding of its meaning and implications. In the meantime, child and youth workers, addiction counsellors and mental health workers may continue to provide services without concerns about the proposed controlled act.
Contacting the College
Due to the high volume of emails and telephone calls we anticipate at this time, we kindly ask that you read the information above and on our Info for Applicants page at www.crpo.ca, as well as CRPO’s Registration Guide, if you have questions regarding eligibility for registration. Remember: unless you wish to use the title, “psychotherapist” (or an abbreviation), or hold yourself out as qualified to practise as a psychotherapist, or unless your employer requires you to be registered (or may do so in the foreseeable future), the choice is yours – assuming you have completed the required education & training and clinical experience. It is up to you, therefore, to decide whether or not you wish to become a Member!
If you are learning about the creation of this new regulatory college for the first time or were unaware that psychotherapists are to become a new regulated profession in Ontario, please take some time to read the information on our website, particularly the section called “Info for Applicants”. There you will find all the information you need about registration requirements and the registration process.
Published April 29, 2015
Link to the College of Registered Psychotherapists website:
http://www.crpo.ca/home/transitional-council-newsletters/continued-news/#proclamation
We found the below information on Change.org website (click for the direct link)
A woman asks how the Psychotherapy Act will affect her personally as a Therapeutic Touch Practitioner and the Therapeutic Touch Network of Ontario Chair.
When you read the response, it sounds as if she is reassured it has nothing to do with Therapeutic Touch, and her modality is acceptable to continue practicing within the Province of Ontario as stressed in the letter from Sean Knight, Council & Outreach Coordinator, College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario.
The explanation below the reply from Sean Knight, explains the potential deception within the answer. It is imperative you read the entire newsletter to become better informed.
“From: Sharron Parrott
Sent: Monday, May 25, 2015 7:45 AM
To: Info
Subject: Psychotherapy Act and Therapeutic Touch
Good Morning Ms Rowland
My name is Sharron Parrott and I am chair of the Therapeutic Touch Network of Ontario
Throughout this past year I have been receiving emails from a group called “stoppsychotherapytakeover.ca”
I looked into how the new Psychotherapy Act would affect Therapeutic Touch Practitioners a year ago
From what was relayed to me, and as I understand it, basically if you are not a licensed Psychotherapist then you can not call yourself a psychotherapist or offer psychotherapy or counseling
Further, that this Act does not impact on complementary healing modalities or complementary healing practitioners.
Over the last week I have been receiving emails from this group again
Wanting petitions signed and full of warnings etc.
Several of the TTNO membership have expressed confusion and concern about the new Psychotherapy Act and how it will impact them.
Would you be so kind as to send me something ,or point me in the direction ,of exactly how the new Psychotherapy Act will impact those who are practitioners of Complementary Therapies.
In particular, Therapeutic Touch.
Thank you for taking the time to clear up this confusion and these concerns
With appreciation,
Sharron,
Chair, the Therapeutic Touch Network of Ontario”
As you can see below, CRPO staff did not clarify that right now the College cannot prosecute her and her group of Therapeutic Touch practitioners, BUT once the Controlled Act of Psychotherapy is also proclaimed, it can and likely will prosecute her and her colleagues.
CRPO’S CRAFTY RESPONSE:
“From: Info
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2015 1:12 PM
To: Sharron Parrott
Subject: RE: Psychotherapy Act and Therapeutic Touch
Sharron,
The Psychotherapy Act establishes psychotherapists as a regulated profession, and requires that anyone using the title “psychotherapist” or “registered psychotherapist” (including abbreviations or variations), or who holds out as qualified to practise as a psychotherapist in Ontario, be registered as a member of the College.
We have sent Communiqués to our stakeholders in the past in response to communications from SPT (here and here), addressing the misleading information provided by this group. The archived Communiqués mention a proposed controlled act that is part of the Psychotherapy Act, but this was not proclaimed with the rest of the Act on April 1, 2015.
As you correctly indicated in your email, if a practitioner isn’t using a protected title or holding out, they don’t need to be registered, and the Psychotherapy Act would not impact their practice.
Regards,
Sean
Sean Knight | Council & Outreach Coordinator
College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario
163 Queen Street East, 4th Floor, Toronto ON, M5A 1S1
Email: [email protected] Phone: 416-862-4769 Fax: 416-874-4079
Visit us at crpo.ca or call us toll-free at 1-888-661-4801.”
CRPO told Ms. Parrott only the bare minimum , and crafted their reply to sound as though she has nothing to be concerned about. Without the additional relevant facts about the controlled act, Ms. Parrott probably believes the legislation does not apply to the Therapeutic Touch treatments offered by her and her colleagues!
RELEVANT FACTS THE CRPO NEGLECTED TO DISCLOSE:
– The controlled act is already law, and only awaits the final formality of proclamation to become enforceable. This is the legislation that makes ALL treatment, verbal or non-verbal, an ‘act of psychotherapy’. The Psychotherapy Act, on the other hand, gives the CRPO the power to prosecute, once the controlled act is also proclaimed, anyone who engages in these acts/treatments who is not AUTHORIZED specifically by the legislation.
– The ONLY individuals authorized to communicate with another human being in Ontario for the purposes of assisting them with the bumps and bruises of life, are registered psychotherapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, medical doctors, occupational therapists and social workers.
– The Psychotherapy Act amendments have been proclaimed, except for the section on enforcement of the RHPA controlled act of psychotherapy, which is automatic the instant the controlled act itself is proclaimed.
– It did not stipulate that while Ms. Parrott and her group were not presently affected because the controlled act of psychotherapy has not yet been proclaimed, she could be prosecuted once it was, which could be any day, and therefore she was vulnerable to all future activities of the College.
AN ONGOING DECEPTION: CONTROLLED ACT TERMINOLOGY
CRPO has repeatedly stated they would not define the important terms in the legislation.
They misleadingly neglect to mention that in fact, “psychotherapy technique” and other important terms have already been defined in various dictionaries of psychology, starting in 2006 (see
http://www.stoppsychotherapytakeover.ca/all-known-sources-of-definition-of-psychotherapeutic-techniques/
AND
http://www.stoppsychotherapytakeover.ca/definitions-psychotherapeutic-techniques/
), AND that the crafty terms ‘serious disorder’ and ‘serious impairment’ have already been defined by Canadian case law, where it could be concluded from court decisions that these terms can apply to every possible issue that is either diagnosed or DIAGNOSABLE. (see here:
http://www.stoppsychotherapytakeover.ca/case-law-re-definition-of-serious-disorder-and-serious-impairment/
)
Please note that the CRPO did not state that Ms. Parrott and her Therapeutic Touch colleagues are ‘safe’, which is what she was apparently looking for.
The only way Ms. Parrott and her group can comply with the controlled act is to close their practices. Otherwise, they risk investigation, prosecution, imprisonment for up to one year and fines up to $25,000 for a first ‘offense’ of engaging in an act of psychotherapy, once the controlled act is proclaimed and the College can enforce it.
Your financial help is needed NOW to keep the controlled act from being proclaimed and to prevent our legal action from stalling.
For more information, links to a petition and pre-written letters to MPPs, to donate to a legal fund, to subscribe to Stop Psychotherapy Takeover updates or volunteer, and for information about a Legal Defense Protection Program, please visit www.stoppsychotherapytakeover.ca
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