Dear CRPO Member or Stakeholder;

This month's Communiqué includes reminders about the College's Professional Practice Standards, and professional liability insurance requirements. It also invites interested individuals to respond to a public consultation and a 'call' for expert witnesses. We hope Members, applicants and other stakeholders find this information useful.

Professional Practice Standards

We invite Members to review periodically the College's Professional Practice Standards. They can be found under the "Resources" tab of our website, www.crpo.ca. The document sets out expectations regarding professional conduct, competence, the client-therapist relationship, clinical supervision, record-keeping and documentation, and business practices (including advertising).

We encourage Members to reflect on the standards and exercise professional judgment on how to apply them in practice. As CRPO does not currently have a Practice Advisor on staff, we suggest that Members consult with supervisors, colleagues, and independent legal advisors when presented with challenging or complex situations.

 

Reminder about Insurance

College Members are required to carry professional liability insurance at all times, even if they are in between employment or practice opportunities. The only exception is when a Member transfers into the Inactive category because s/he does not plan on practising for an extended period of time. Click here for detailed information on the College's insurance requirement. While the College accepts coverage provided by an applicant's or Member's employer, we strongly encourage Members to obtain individual coverage. Individual policies are available through several psychotherapy professional associations. Having appropriate individual coverage ensures that Members meet College requirements while in between employment or practice positions. It can also provide coverage in circumstances where an employment-based policy may not, e.g. where a Member is terminated and the employer reports the Member's conduct to the College.

 

Public Consultation

Today we are opening a 60-day public consultation relating to a new proposed professional practice standard, Affirming Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity , and a proposed change to the standard, Confidentiality .

 

The College has developed a new professional practice standard in response to a directive from the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care to take steps to prevent the practice of so-called 'conversion' or 'reparative' therapy. The standard also describes valid services that Members may provide, such as supporting a client's exploration of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

 

Council is also circulating proposed changes to standard 3.1, Confidentiality. This was in response to concerns from Registered Psychotherapists working in team-based settings. The

amendment would allow RPs working in team-based health-care settings to obtain oral  (and not solely written) consent to disclose client information to other health-care  practitioners on the team.

 

Please click here to access the consultation materials. Submissions are due by Friday, September 9, 2016.

 

Roster of Potential Expert Witnesses

The College seeks to develop a roster of individual Members to serve as expert witnesses in various regulatory processes, including registration, complaints and unauthorized practice. Common topics include whether an applicant's work falls within the scope of practice of psychotherapy, and whether alleged conduct in a complaint falls below the standard of practice expected of Members. If you are interested in being considered as a potential expert witness, please send a cover letter and resume to info@crpo.ca . Please use the subject line: Roster of Expert Witnesses. Applicants for this position must:

Previous acceptance by a court/tribunal as an expert witness is an asset. College staff will screen applications and present short-listed candidates to members of Executive Committee. Selected applicants will only be contacted on an as-needed basis. Experts will be remunerated at their usual hourly rate for practice. We thank applicants in advance for their offers to serve in this position.

Communiqué - Translation Planning

CRPO has received stakeholder feedback requesting that our regularly distributed communique newsletter be made available in French as well as English. In response, we are reviewing our resources and investigating a plan of action to accommodate this change. We will be sure to communicate any updates as our plan develops.

 

Communiqué - Planification de traduction

L'OPAO a reçu des commentaires d'intervenants demandant que notre bulletin de communiqués diffusé régulièrement le soit aussi bien en français qu'en anglais.  Par conséquent, nous examinons actuellement nos ressources et analysons un plan d'action en vue d'aménager ce changement.  Soyez assurés que nous vous tiendrons au courant à mesure que progressera notre plan.