Psychotherapy could soon be a regulated health profession in British Columbia, according to the province’s health ministry.
The province is proposing changes to the Health Professions Act to regulate psychotherapy so those in the field, include people those who use titles such as clinical counsellor, counselling therapist and psychotherapist, will be subject to government oversight.
The provincial government says it will consult with the public for the next month and then decide whether to formally regulate psychotherapy.
If the province decides to regulate, a new regulatory college will be formed and regulations around responsibility, scope of practice and more will be created.
Right now, anyone can call themselves a therapist and advertise their services to British Columbians seeking support for mental and emotional health. They don’t need any training and there’s no official body with legal powers to hold them accountable for any damage they might cause.
Ontario started regulating psychotherapists around 2015 or 2017. They can’t diagnose; only psychologists and (more commonly) psychiatrists can. Registered Psychotherapists in Ontario “only” provide talk-based therapy. I’d guess BC will do the same. Diagnosis comes with a lot of legal, insurance, and related stuff that would likely be beyond the training of registered psychotherapists.
Again, I have an Ontario perspective, but there’s a belief within medicine in my province that the people who go into psychiatry are looking for the easiest possible MD job. They run antidepressant (and the like) mills in private practice. 10-minute (or less) appointments to ensure dosage is correct and bill the province for a visit.
I do think this sort of regulation of talk-therapy is helpful for people seeking (somewhat affordable) psychotherapy
From an American perspective with a partner who is a psychologist(who was a psychotherapist for many years before getting their PhD), the lack of diagnostic privilege for psychotherapists(at least here) is mostly bureaucratic exclusion by old head psychologists who don’t think someone with six years of higher education and 2000 hours of practice under supervision after those degrees can observe that someone is suffering from ptsd, depression, etc and be treated for it. They also want the money for it themselves, because insurance won’t cover treatment without a diagnosis, so they want to be the gate keepers so you have to pay them hundreds of dollars, a lot of times not covered by insurance to get treated.
Diagnosis isn’t even treatment, you still have to see a prescriber like a nurse practitioner that will confirm the diagnosis and then prescribe the meds(at least this will be covered by insurance)
Luckily the tides are changing here with ways for licensed psychotherapists to diagnose with 500 extra hours of supervision so that people can receive the longterm talk therapy care they deserve, at prices they can actually afford, while also being medically supported not through an anti-depressant mill like you stated, which is a common way for psychologists to maximize earnings with volume.
Thanks for sharing what things are like in your locale! It’s interesting to hear about different models. My experience in Ontario might be less applicable to BC than I previously thought