Rajni Sharma, RP, a Ph.D. candidate in Community Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University, a practicing Art Therapist and Psychotherapist, is conducting a Ph.D. research study on how to address racial trauma in therapy. She will share the study with the OSRP to help better shape our programming.
“I am inviting you to participate in a research study entitled Addressing Racial Trauma in Psychotherapy by completing an online survey. The purpose of this survey is to understand how much we know and understand on the topics of racial trauma, as psychotherapists. A vast sample of practicing psychotherapists (18+ years of age) from across Ontario are being invited to complete this online survey…
This survey should take approximately 10-15 minutes. There are no wrong answers. This is an opportunity to identify gaps in training and practices that support the experiences of racialized (visible people of colour) communities. Your honesty, feedback and participation in this survey is highly valued. Your answers will remain anonymous.
To participate, you must be:
18+ years of age
Registered or qualified psychotherapist
Practise in Ontario
Participants in the survey are eligible for a chance to win one $50 Starbucks e-gift card.
Are you able to fill out the following consent form and survey (or direct link: https://wlu.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bq6fHqBxcwfV0Ds)?
If helpful, I or my supervisor, Dr. Melody Norton Ninomiya at mmortonninomiya@wlu.ca, are here to answer any questions or provide additional information about this process. This project has been reviewed and approved by the University Research Ethics Board (REB#8524).
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Rajni Sharma (pronouns: she/her), MACP, RP PhD Candidate | Community Psychology
Lab Coordinator, Interdisciplinary & Indigenous Pathways to Wellness
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, ON, Canada
I acknowledge that I am on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (Neutral), Anishnaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Learn more at https://www.lspirg.org/knowtheland/"
BREAKING NEWS: the CCPA-ACCP and the Tax Free Therapy Coalition have released a statement in both official languages – please click HERE for more. It’s obvious to everyone that your letters to MPs are making a difference.
And now there’s a video making a difference too!
OSRP Advocacy Committee member extraordinaire Daniel Farb, RP, created and narrated this entertaining and informative piece on the GST/HST exemption issue.
It’s the video you didn’t know you needed!
Please post and share widely. (The link is also on the OSRP website “Advocacy Corner.”)
As reported HERE in the March 28th Central, and ongoing since then, several MPs and their staff have advised that their offices have been flooded with GST/HST exemption letters.
The newly-merged Advocacy Committee + HST Task Force met April 14, and brought renewed energy to meeting with politicians and decision-makers, now that we are all fully briefed on this important issue.
Write to your MP AGAIN, cc-ing the Minister of Finance chrystia.freeland@parl.gc.ca. Call on government to take action now that three parties, including the Finance Committee, have advocated for GST/HST exemption for all mental health professionals
Consider asking for a meeting with your MP. A member of the Advocacy Committee can join you. If your MP is interested in meeting, let us know at advocacy@psychotherapyontario.org
Ask your colleagues and friends to write to their MPs
Consider writing a letter to the editor of your local paper, as this person did
Join the Advocacy Committee - click HERE.
Read our updates - visit our webpage ADVOCACY CORNER.
Stepping up our work with partners (CCPA, PRPA, Impact etc.) on behalf of our members, to amplify our voices
Continue to call on the Federal Government to take action now that three parties have expressed support
Setting up more meetings with decision-makers
Stay tuned for a survey drafted by OSRP for all PRPA and CCPA members to learn more about rates for psychotherapy/counselling therapy in Canada, and how our rate-setting is affected by GST/HST
Important actions and meetings are arising from your activism, and we will keep you informed of all new developments.
The CRPO has posted five new practice CBA questions here, in addition to the five previously available: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Y527JZ9. They have also added more detailed explanations for each option, to better explain the rationale behind the ranking.
They have also highlighted key resources for CBA prep, or simply to help all registrants understand the standards, and how to apply them to your practice.
These resources have been shared with all PRPA member associations, including the OSRP. Click HERE for two key documents.
The “COMPETENCY-BASED CASE STUDY WORKBOOK for ENTRY-TO-PRACTICE PSYCHOTHERAPISTS” was developed with a company called Compass which developed the Exam for non-grandparented RP(Q)s and RPs to take. The workbook is also helpful to review, or read for the first time, when approaching the CBA.
So is this document exclusively available to members of The Partnership of Registered Psychotherapist Associations (PRPA) of which the OSRP is a dues-paying and Voting Member:
“PRPA Study Notes, For the May 2023 QAEP-CBA Sitting: An Assessment of Our Knowledge as Good Enough Therapists & Helpful Hints on How to Do the Ranking”
Each month, the OSRP will highlight more key Practice Review documents that may be useful to members sitting for CBA, or simply for those of us wanting the opportunity to review.
L to r: Shanique Victoria Edwards B.Sc., M.Div.(c), Dr. Oren Gozlan, Dr. Chase Everett McMurren
Have you ever wondered how equipped you are to work with clients from a multiplicity of backgrounds, histories and lived experiences? So have we.
That’s why the OSRP Protect Subcommittee brought together three expert panellists with unexpected and unorthodox approaches, who so delighted us when we heard them speak individually elsewhere, to join each other and us for this Roundtable discussion. This inclusive space will allow for true conversation in a spirit of mutual respect in a desire to better understand.
Just in time for Pride Month and National Indigenous History Month!
And we heard you, so the Subcommittee is allowing much more time for members’ questions, discussion and sharing at this second PS: Protect Seminar with our eminent guests.
Here’s a link to a webcast interview (transcript included) with one of our esteemed speakers, just to give you a sense of how creatively they can approach this topic: CPSO invu Dr. Chase Everett McMurren
AN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL COMPETENCY: WHAT IS IT?
The CRPO has clearly mandated all Registrants to continue developing Cultural Competencies. This roundtable event discusses what this actually means in practice.
Date: Thursday, June 15, 2023 Time: 11:00 AM-1:00 PM ET Location: Central YMCA, 20 Grosvenor St, Toronto (Grosvenor Room) and online via Zoom
No!
You still have a chance to buy a PS: Protect Seminars Flex Pass for $75 + HST.
This member-only benefit gives you access to the April 6 video, PowerPoint and other valuable materials from this event, allows you to attend the June 15 event at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., or get the video and material afterwards…and the next three seminars!
The OSRP Board wants all members to have access to this incredible “Risk Mitigation” session. It’s a must-watch for your practice.
And we know the “Cultural Competency” June 15 roundtable will be memorable, fascinating, and eye-opening.
So a $2,000+ legal consult + CBA Prep Session + A Cultural Competency Supervision Session – all for the cost of:
$20 per session, or
$75 for all five seminars – whether you attend in person, online, or simply receive all materials sent to your inbox.
“It’s the deal of the century,” as one satisfied member told us.
***Flex Pass – availability extended to JUNE 1***
Click HERE for more information & to register.
Protect yourself with five seminars offered throughout 2023. Starting with CRPO QA, take a dive deep into culture, sexuality, our cyber world, and then land with you. Yes, you.
Can’t wait to see you, virtually or in person.
Registration is open! Flex Pass available till June 1, 2023.
Also - did you know that the OSRP has launched the second edition of its BIPOC Bursary Program?
See our HOME PAGE for details on how you can donate to help a fellow OSRP member, or someone who wants to join!
Or simply CLICK HERE TO DONATE
To attend/receive materials for all five PS: protect yourself Protect Seminars, if you would appreciate financial support and identify as BIPOC, please email edi@psychotherapyontario.org
Have you considered becoming more involved in OSRP leadership around Advocacy, Professional Development, and more?
Are you Board-Curious?
Or Committee-Intrigued?
Don’t hesitate to get in touch with your friendly neighbourhood Nomination Committee at nomination@psychotherapyontario.org and we can help pair your talents and enthusiasm to work that needs to be done to advance our profession and our Society.
OSRP's EDI Committee of OSRP is excited to announce the Launch of their Race-Based Data Collection Initiative, already part of PS Seminars registration, and now integrated into June 2023 Membership Renewal.
This is an invitation to participate in a Panel Discussion about the importance of Race-Based Data Collection in Ontario.
Date: Wednesday, May 31, 2023 Time: 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Venue: Virtual/Zoom To register: https://osrp.ca/event-5279392
Feel free to bring your own lunch and enjoy it during the session.
This Lunch & Learn is open to all OSRP members and the community. Please feel free to invite your peers, colleagues, and community to join in this exceptional learning and unlearning event.
Confirmed panelists:
This is an opportunity for you to learn more about OSRP's new initiative designed to reduce barriers like systemic inequities resulting from anti-Black racism and other systems of oppression, that perpetuate the lack of equitable representation in Psychotherapy in Ontario.
Click here to register.
Are you Board-Curious? Or Committee-Intrigued?
MP Stephen Ellis’s Private Member’s Bill C-323, An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act (mental health services), received its second reading on April 25.
Read the transcript of the complete debate, with PC and NDP members pushing the government on all fronts to change this unfair tax for good:
Here are some key quotes from MPs:
"...what can we do to help support all Canadians? We can modify the Excise Tax Act and eliminate the taxes on psychotherapy services and mental health counsellors. Even though we may say this is not a huge issue, we have an opportunity to do something. The government needs to look at opportunities so we can stop talking, make a difference and do something to help the health of Canadians." - MP Stephen Ellis, introducing the Second Reading of his Bill
MP Ellis's answer to the first question, from the Speaker of the House:"We can find proper titles for professions such as psychotherapist and mental health counsellor. I think that it is possible, then, to group together all professions offering the same services even if they have different names. I think that this is a way to find the process that will be best for all Canadians."
Next question (similar) got the following response from Ellis:"I do not think the nomenclature needs to allow us to not be able to move forward and cause us to have paralysis on this. We need to move forward for the betterment of all Canadians."
"The Bloc Québécois is really pleased to support Bill C‑323 to make a real difference in the lives of those who need help and to offer them a GST exemption." - MP Mrs. Claude DeBellefeuille (Salaberry--Suroit, BQ)
"I want to talk a bit about our party's history on this. A 2017 NDP-sponsored bill would have removed GST from psychotherapy services. Bill C-218, sponsored by my colleague from London—Fanshawe, would also have removed GST from psychotherapy services. It is currently out of the order of precedence, so, again, we commend our colleague for moving this forward. The same colleague from London—Fanshawe presented a petition to the House of Commons to remove GST from counselling therapy and psychotherapy services. That petition received over 14,000 signatures. When the Conservatives' order of precedence comes forward, we do like it when they take NDP bills. This is something we are just starting to get used to." - MP Gord Johns (Courtenay-Alberni, NDP Health Critic, who seconded MP Lindsay Mathyssen's Bill first read Dec 2021 in the House.
Unfortunately, last week all 14, 244 House of Commons petition.signatories received a disappointing message from the Finance Minister.
This message is not new and has been received by her constituents and other letter-writers for years. This does NOT mean that our cause is hopeless.
WHAT IS OSRP DOING? Click here to read more:
Click here to read the Finance Committee's recommendation, echoing bills from two opposition parties, and our press release!
The CRPO has posted five new practice CBA questions here, in addition to the five previously available: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Y527JZ9
They have also highlighted key resources for CBA prep, or simply to avoid complaints.
These resources have been shared with the OSRP.
The “Informed Consent Workbook” is a useful guide to everyday practice.
So is the Core Competencies document.
The reviews are in – our April 6 debut hybrid event was a hit!
Left: Lisa E. Hamilton, Partner, Bell Temple LLP, Litigation Lawyers
Centre: Rachel Fulford, Event Producer, Co-Moderator
Right: Alethia Cadore, Executive Producer, Host, Co-Moderator
“The first session in the Protect series on Risk Mitigation was exactly what I needed to learn about minimising risk in my psychotherapy practice. Thank you for the key learnings and the reminder to care for self. The CBA case questions review was also highly informative and lessened my anxiety about this process.Thank you for creating this series!” - Roberta Currie, RP, Clinical Member, Collingwood
“What I found most helpful about the Risk Mitigation webinar was gaining a fuller understanding of the rationale behind the CRPO’s Case-Based Assessment, as well as how the CRPO will be responding to and supporting various scores. I now see the assessment as an opportunity to evaluate and sharpen my understanding of the CRPO's Professional Practice Standards.” - Dana K, RP, Clinical Member, Toronto
Surveys are unanimous – the seminar was relevant, the speakers were knowledgeable, and the seminar’s delivery made the material accessible to all participants.
GOOD NEWS – it's not too late to purchase a PS: Protect Seminars Flex Pass which will give you access to the April 6 video, PowerPoint and other valuable materials from this event…and the next four seminars!
It’s like a $2,000+ legal consult + CBA Prep Session – all for the cost of:
$20 for the individual session, or
THANK YOU to the 118 registered members - your support makes it possible to continue offering these programs.
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