Psychotherapy is a restricted practice on Canada and counsellors and Psychotherapists must be registered with governing bodies with certain checks and balances. This is to ensure that you receive ethical, competent and safe care. The College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) is one of six regulatory colleges that can provide psychotherapy and whose members can legally use the title Psychotherapist.
As a registrant with the CRPO, there are requirements and responsibilities that each registered psychotherapist must meet.
Education
To become a Registered Psychotherapist with the CRPO, all registrants must meet the minimum education requirements of a Master’s level education. I graduated from a four year Honours Bachelor of Behavioural Psychology program which included over 1000 hours of supervised practical placement. From there, I earned a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology (MACP) degree from Yorkville University, where I completed a six month practicum as a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) and received weekly clinical supervision. This program is recognized by the CRPO as meeting the educational requirements.
Qualifying Stage
Before a psychotherapist is fully recognized by the CRPO, they must complete the Qualifying phase. As a novice psychotherapist, I am required to display my title as “Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)” or “RP (Qualifying)” until I have completed 450 client facing hours, 100 hours of clinical supervision, and passed my Registration Examination. The use of Qualifying is an indicator that I am still a novice therapist according to the college but I am actively working on growing my expertise.
Clinical Supervision
Clinical supervision is a contractual, purposeful, and regular arrangement between a more seasoned and experienced supervisor and a supervisee. Clinical supervision is essential for safe and ethical practice when we are expanding our practice or we encounter a challenging situation. Since Registered psychotherapists are just at the start of our careers, regular and timely supervision helps us to grow professionally, ensure and enhance the safety and effectiveness of how we use ourselves in therapy, discuss and plan the direction to go in therapy, and most importantly to protect our clients’ wellbeing.
Even once a Registered Psychotherapist completes their qualifying phase, they must still maintain regular clinical supervision. Generally, a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) will receive at least one hour of supervision every week, and a Registered Psychotherapist will receive supervision at least once every two weeks until they have reached at 1000 client facing hours and a minimum of 150 supervision hours.
Your Choice
Only you know whether you feel comfortable working with a psychotherapist who is still in the qualifying stage of their career. I hope that the information I provided in this page and the links I shared throughout help you to feel empowered and confident to make the choice that feels best for you.
Phoenix in Flight Psychotherapy 