Our clients
Our member associations all have different names, but our common work is that of counselling therapists, serving our clients in every corner of this province.
We provide our services to approximately 200,000 individuals annually.
Typically, a counselling therapist might see between 60 and 70 clients per year, with demographic averages as follows:
16 per cent children and youth (divided equally by gender)
60 per cent women
5 per cent First Nations
9 per cent seniors
The Problem
There is a province-wide lack of consistency in accountability and professional oversight in the counselling profession.
As a result, there are poorly-trained or incompetent practitioners out there who are placing their clients at risk. We have documented numerous instances of physical, psychological, emotional and financial harms that can be expected to occur if counselling services are provided by people who are not sufficiently skilled, knowledgeable or experienced.
The Solution
A College of Counselling Therapists, put in place to oversee and regulate practice, would significantly reduce the above risks. It would:
- Operate at no cost to the public, and in the public interest
- Provide consistent accountability in and oversight of our profession
- Provide clients with the assurance that counselling therapists meet competency requirements
- Establish disciplinary and complaint procedures
- Establish a Code of Conduct and promulgate ethical standards
- Establish counselling therapy as a regulated health profession under statute, which would in turn make 4500 counselling therapists more accessible to clients under health and third-party plans and make many more treatment costs tax-deductible.
Finally, a College doing the work of regulating us would free up our associations to place more resources and effort into counsellor training, education and support.
Our message: Let’s get on with it.