News

Supervision Tool

The CRPO has developed a new tool for RP(Q)s and their supervisors to reflect together on the efficacy of supervision, and wants your feedback, which OSRP will compile and share on your behalf if you send it to mail@psychotherapyontario.org, or you can comment directly HERE. 

There are two opportunities to participate in improving the supervision tool:

1. Simply review and comment on the content (due October 16)
2. Use the tool and provide feedback on how effective you found it to be (due January 31, 2024).

Survey links are included in the linked PDF. CRPO is interested in hearing back from both supervisors and supervisees, and it doesn’t matter whether the qualifying registrant has made an exam attempt or not.  

Zoom meetings/Q&As

The CRPO is offering a series of Zoom meetings/Q&As regarding Professional Development Obligations including the Case-Based Assessment (CBA). The goal is to help Registrants understand the program and be better prepared to complete their PD obligations.

The next one is Thursday, October 12, 1-2 p.m. ET

Pre-registration is required using this link to register and submit any questions you would like CRPO to answer.

At an August 22 media conference which generated an estimated 1.2 million impressions, RP Lindsey Thomson spoke passionately about the deadly consequences of limiting access to therapy. Thomson’s call to the Federal government to end this tax can be seen HERE.  The Tax Free Therapy Coalition’s Countdown clock to the 2025 (likely) election and need to change can be found HERE.

More than a million Canadians saw, heard or read about this issue following the media conference. The majority of coverage came from CTV television news outlets across Canada, including Vancouver, Winnipeg, Atlantic and Edmonton local news broadcasts (see image below). Coverage also came from online sources, blogs and radio. Known as “earned media” (as opposed to expensive paid advertisements), these impressions are highly valued and indicate how much interest there is nationally in this issue.

These media hits could not be better timed as Canada’s leaders headed to pre-Parliament cabinet and caucus meetings, readying themselves for the Sept 22nd opening of this Parliament. We hope September's house business will include Dr. Stephen Ellis’ Bill C-323: An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act (mental health services) completing its second reading in the House. As previously reported here, the NDP has pledged to support it.

Thank you to all advocates who have written, called, and visited their MPs to push for this important measure. Now is a great time to revisit this with your MP – please find an updated letter template HERE. Meanwhile, the Tax-Free Therapy Coalition continues to meet with important policy-makers and advocate for the end of this unfair tax.

Should you wish to join the Advocacy Committee, which meets next via Zoom on September 29th, please do not hesitate to contact us at: advocacy@psychotherapyontario.org

Rachel Fulford & Dr. Natasha Tuletta-Bowman, Co-Vice Chairs, OSRP Board of Directors, Co-Chairs, Advocacy Committee of the OSRP

OSRP is proud to partner with Sheridan College in offering a curated suite of courses, starting with past, present and future Board and committee members, up to 35 registrants for the first offering in Winter/Spring 2024. This is intended as a benefit for OSRP volunteers who provide extensive unpaid labour that enables the association to flourish. This new partnership gives volunteers the opportunity to complete and graduate with a micro-credential designed to enhance their practice, as a demonstration of appreciation for their work with OSRP.

Sheridan continues to support organizations like OSRP as well as workplaces, colleges, and institutes in their efforts to advance Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). Recognizing diversity as the fuel for excellence, this support comes in the form of courses and programs that provide training and education on equitable practices and inclusive leadership. Sheridan Continuing and Professional Studies is offering the micro-credential program, Building Literacy in Equitable Practices, with the objective of integrating different perspectives and experiences related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Micro-credentials are short-duration programs that help lay the foundation by expanding a learner's knowledge, awareness, and skills in a specific area of interest. The Building Literacy in Equitable Practices micro-credential program explores the fundamental concepts of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace and offers strategies to engage in more inclusive practices, language, and behaviours.

The program only requires three (3) courses and can be completed in as little as one (1) to two (2) academic semesters. Participants need to complete two (2) mandatory courses, Fostering Equitable Practices I and Fostering Equitable Practices II, which examine power, privilege, unconscious bias, micro-aggressions, racism, and intersectionality to integrate different perspectives on equity and diversity. These courses explore strategies to enhance one's capacity to be more inclusive both at work and in other relationships. Participants also need to complete one (1) elective course to obtain the micro-credential. They can choose one from the three elective courses available: Modelling Inclusive Leadership Practices, Exploring Disability and Difference, and Cultivating LGBTQ2S+ Inclusivity. Participants who successfully complete the two (2) mandatory courses, plus one (1) elective, and pass all course requirements, will receive a certificate to formally acknowledge completion of the micro-credential.

The learning experience for the Building Literacy in Equitable Practices micro-credential program includes group discussions, in-depth exploration of videos and articles, and participation in online learning activities where participants reflect on their own experiences to deepen their learning.

Former, current and future Board Members who may be interested in registering, please contact Evonne at mail@psychotherapyontario.org so we can get a sense of numbers (dates and times TBD.)

Protecting RPs from Sexual Boundary Violations with Dr. Andrea Celenza

I was fortunate enough to attend Dr. Celenza’s riveting presentation on Sexual Boundary Violations at the 2018 Ontario Psychiatric Association fall conference and I was blown away by her insights. So, when I joined the Protect Subcommittee to help come up with speakers, she was an obvious choice, and we’re so lucky she agreed — although access is different than other PS Seminars with this Harvard professor.

We can only offer her video for one week: October 10 to 17.

ALso, the Q&A is live only, not recorded, October 18 from noon to 1 p.m.

You don’t want to miss this opportunity to pre-register and save the dates in your calendar. Learn more here. (Flex Pass holders are already registered.)  

Part One:  October 10–17, 2023
Video Release available 24hrs/day to screen at your convenience

Two-minute teaser: SBV: How do they happen? | Andrea Celenza

Registrants will have access to Dr. Celenza’s 90-minute video and PowerPoint presentation Sexual Boundary Violations: How Do They Happen? in which she debunks the myths and illuminates the realities of this prevalent phenomenon, and offers a psychological profile of clinicians at highest risk.

1. This video will provide participants with the ability to identify myths and misunderstandings about the problem of sexual boundary violations.
2. Participants will be able to describe the most typical erotic transference/countertransference scenarios where sexual boundary violations occur.
3. Discussion of prevention and rehabilitation as well as erotic countertransference will help participants identify risks in their own practice, as well as in situations where they are seeking therapy, supervision, instruction, etc.

This video would normally cost $450 USD per individual viewing or $750 USD for groups up to 20. The OSRP is exclusively offering this on a one-week basis for you to screen at your own pace, with the unique Q&A opportunity below.

Part Two: October 18, 2023
Q&A with Presenter Noon to 1 p.m. ET on Zoom -— NOT RECORDED

Dr. Celenza will address questions and comments arising from her 90-minute video.

This is an opportunity for a live community interaction in a confidential space to discuss your questions, responses and concerns.

The first part of her deck on Sexual Boundary Violations will be available by email to all registrants.

REGISTER HERE for both Parts 1 and 2

• $50 for non-members ←please SHARE with your colleagues
• $20 for OSRP members
• Included with “Flex Pass” for those OSRP members who hold one

Dr. Andrea Celenza, Ph.D., is a Psychoanalyst, Psychologist, and world expert who literally wrote the book on Sexual Boundary Violations: Therapeutic, Academic and Supervisory Contexts. She is a Training and Supervising Analyst, Boston Psychoanalytic Society/Institute; faculty, at Mass. Institute for Psychoanalysis; and Assistant Clinical Professor, Harvard Medical School.

Her books are available in person in Toronto or online for shipment at Caversham Booksellers, PS Protect Seminar’s promotional partner.

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

Article by Rachel Fulford, RP, Member of Protect SubCommittee

PS: Protect Seminars are Co-Presented by

The OSRP is growing and developing as an organization representing a diverse group of RPs across Ontario. With this top of mind, we intend to increase Black, Indigenous, Racialized, and LGBTQ2S+ awareness and engagement at the OSRP. To do so, we need your voices. Please let us know what we can do to make joining our Board a good fit for you.

DEADLINE for nominations to the slate prior to this AGM is September 29 at 5 p.m.

EXCLUSIVE: Board Members will be eligible to take Sheridan College’s Building Literacy in Equitable Practices Micro-Credential training program, developed for OSRP. See below for details!

If you are Board-Curious and interested in learning more about becoming part of the OSRP Board, you are invited to an Open House with Kimberly Cato and Dan Sileshi, Co-Chairs of the Nomination Committee.

Click HERE to register!

Scheduled Zoom Meeting:
DATE: Friday, September 22
TIME: 1:30-2:30 p.m. EDT

Please let us know if you can make it and if you have any specific questions we can prepare to answer when we meet. May your week be truly spectacular.

Feel free to contact Kimberly Cato and Dan Sileshi at: nomination@psychotherapyontario.org

You are invited to the OSRP’s 31st Annual General Meeting on:

Friday, November 24
1-3 p.m. (on Zoom)

This year’s AGM is of particular importance.

Q: Why?

A: Your Board has been hard at work making important and necessary changes to the OSRP’s By-Laws.

Q: Will I get a chance to review and vote on these changes?

A: Yes. The only way we can evolve as an organization is with your support and participation. All proposed changes will be sent out in the Annual General Report no later than 30 days before the AGM.

Further, the AGM will include a detailed presentation of these proposed changes, and why they are necessary.

Q: Why do I need to attend or send a proxy?

A: OSRP Quorum requires 10% of members – so we will need 100+ members to attend or select proxies.

Door prizes will be available for those who attend.

It’s a great chance to connect with fellow members, and vote on matters of importance to you.

Click HERE to register today.

Click HERE to assign a proxy.

Thank you!

An OSRP Qualifying Member recently alerted the Advocacy Committee to an unfair disqualification of RP(Q)s from funding from an Ontario-funded program called the Victim Quick Response Program (VQRP+) for Victims of Crime administered by Victim Services. This program deems RP (Qualifying) to be ineligible to be "approved counselling providers" because of their qualifying status. The argument is that they require supervision.

The OSRP is well aware that supervision continues throughout the lifespan of psychotherapists, social workers, psychologists and many other professionals covered by the program, and that until 1,000 Direct Client Contact Hours are provided by an RP, they must continue supervision. We also know that most benefits plans do not distinguish between RPs and RP(Q)s in their coverage. We will be addressing this issue directly with VQRP and hope to report a positive outcome in the future.

Do you know of any other organizations that discriminate against RP(Q)s? Please don’t hesitate to let us know at advocacy@psychotherapyontario.org

Rachel Fulford & Dr. Natasha Tuletta-Bowman, Co-Vice Chairs, OSRP Board of Directors, Co-Chairs, Advocacy Committee of the OSRP

by Gwen Shandoski, RP, M.Sc.

Moving my practice out of Toronto to Picton was hard, unplanned, unknown.

I always thought being a psychotherapist meant living in Toronto. My future was me, 80, in my basement office in Leslieville in the city’s east end, seeing clients face to face.

When the world shut down, anything seemed possible.

I had never worked virtually before. Once I used Zoom to meet new clients and it worked, I downloaded real estate apps. I checked out gorgeous homes on Haida Gwaii, waterfront in Newfoundland and Muskoka. Old homes in Goderich. California for kicks. Winnipeg, Sudbury for a change. Window shopping a new life was a fun way to spend those lockdown evenings.

What I could not know or google was — what is it like to work and practise psychotherapy outside Toronto?

I picked a town based on activities I enjoy — coffee shops, an active movie theatre and film community, artists, and a bookstore. Prince Edward County had all those.

Dissociation wore off as soon as our offer on a Picton house was accepted. I panicked and said to my partner, I can’t do this. Thoughts jammed. A vision of me working as a psychotherapist outside Toronto was not there. I’d depended on the senior therapists who trained me to demonstrate life as a psychotherapist. I had not seen any RPs living rurally without commuting to work.

photo: Gwen (left) and her partner, Barb Hannah, on “move day,” realizing that they accidentally dressed as “City Mouse” (Gwen) and “Country Mouse” (Barb).

However, I took the leap. I was soon discouraged from trying to share an office with a therapist renting on Main Street. The rules were that no other therapist could be in that building. My friends from Picton kept assuring me there was work and possibilities for office space nearby.

Eventually, I rented an office by the water and hung my shingle. I had many inquiries and enough referrals this winter. Few this summer.

I’m finding my footing here. I volunteer at a queer youth group out of the library. I was hired for the "Arts Together" pilot program to facilitate connectedness and expression through art for those at risk of social isolation and mental health challenges (not therapy though). Once funding is secured, I have the promise of 20 hours of expressive arts therapy work at an afterschool program for young girls. 

My rent is paid but there’s room to grow. I’ve left my card at coffee shops and other local spots. I  need to do more. I have savings after selling our house, so retirement is a possibility at some point. I am living a good life in a beautiful part of Ontario. One I hope to enjoy for the next 15 years.

photo: Gwen’s porch for group work

If you are interested in forming a group to support rural therapists, please check the OSRP Listserv for details.

Would you like to write about your experiences and POV for this newsletter? We would love to work with you! Please email us with your ideas at mail@psychotherapyontario.org and let’s get writing!

Join us for a unique two-part opportunity for guidance from a world expert in how Sexual Boundary Violations (SBVs) happen in a clinical setting; who is at risk; and how to become aware of the risks in your practice.

Dr. Andrea Celenza has spent more than 20 years studying, writing about, and advising regulators about SBVs, and providing remediation, expert witness testimony, and therapy to over 300 clinicians who have transgressed, as well as to over 100 victims. She literally wrote the book on Sexual Boundary Violations. She brings a deeply compassionate, personal and insightful approach to her work and her lectures, and shares examples to help others practise safely and effectively. This is a do-not-miss event.

Part One:  October 10–October 17, 2023

Video Release available 24hrs/day to screen at your convenience

Registrants will have access to Dr. Celenza’s 90-minute video and PowerPoint presentation Sexual Boundary Violations: How Do They Happen? in which she debunks the myths and illuminates the realities of this prevalent phenomenon, and offers a psychological profile of clinicians at highest risk.

Two-minute teaser: SBV: How do they happen? | Andrea Celenza

This video would normally cost $450 USD per individual viewing. The OSRP is exclusively offering this on a one-week basis for you to screen at your own pace, with the unique Q&A opportunity below.

Part Two: October 18, 2023

Q&A with Presenter Noon to 1 p.m. ET on Zoom — NOT RECORDED
Dr. Celenza will address questions and comments arising from her 90-minute video.

This is an opportunity for a live community interaction in a confidential space to discuss your questions, responses and concerns.

The first part of her deck on Sexual Boundary Violations will be available by email to all registrants.

REGISTER HERE for both Parts 1 and 2

• $50 for non-members ←please SHARE with your colleagues
• $20 for OSRP members
• Included with “Flex Pass” for those OSRP members who hold one

Dr. Andrea Celenza, Ph.D., is a Psychoanalyst,Psychologist, and world expert who literally wrote the book on Sexual Boundary Violations: Therapeutic, Academic and Supervisory Contexts. She is a Training and Supervising Analyst, Boston Psychoanalytic Society/Institute; faculty, at Mass. Institute for Psychoanalysis; and Assistant Clinical Professor, Harvard Medical School.

She recently released a new book, Transference, Love, Being: Essential Essays from the Field: books | Andrea Celenza

Her books are available in person in Toronto or online for shipment at Caversham Booksellers, PS Protect Seminar’s promotional partner.

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

PS: Protect Seminars are Co-Presented by

We were approached by Canadian Affairs, a new national media organization, with questions about why therapists charge HST. We provided interviews, including from a client’s POV, showing how this tax is a barrier to access. Here is a LINK (free to read if you register for Canadian Affairs), and it is here as a PDF.

Feel free to share and post it far and wide.

If you have any questions about what you can do to help with this effort, or news about support from your MP or others, please don't hesitate to reach out to us by emailing advocacy@psychotherapyontario.org.

We hope you have a restorative Summer.

All the best,

Rachel Fulford & Dr. Natasha Tuletta-Bowman, Co-Vice Chairs, OSRP Board of Directors, Co-Chairs, Advocacy Committee of the OSRP