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December 2018
This month: New consultations open, going inactive & more
Access to Care Position Statement Released
CRPO has issued a new position statement on the importance of access to care for Ontarians. As a regulatory body, CRPO does not engage in political advocacy. Stakeholders, however, have asked for our position on the barriers the public may face in accessing psychotherapy services. Our response is in the statement.
Deborah Adams, Registrar
Message from the Registrar
In many ways, 2018 was an extraordinary year for CRPO. It was December 31, 2017--just about this time last year--that the provincial government proclaimed the controlled act of psychotherapy. As a result, much of those early weeks were spent constituting the Controlled Act Task Group at the College and working with government to set up the Controlled Act Advisory Committee.

In April, we celebrated both our three-year anniversary as a college and being one year out from the close of grandparenting (and its final tsunami of membership applications). The end of June brought the conclusion to six very intense months of working on the controlled act documents. And this fall, we launched our inaugural town hall series.

In between, there were hundreds of new members registered, several public consultations, many resources launched and two registration exam sittings. Countless members were supported with fulfilling QA requirements, and dozens of meetings were held for our statutory committees and their panels. I’m grateful for the CRPO staff who worked diligently in so many ways to ensure that the psychotherapy services the public receives are competent, safe and effective.

I hope that you, too, feel a sense of accomplishment about 2018. I wish all members and stakeholders of CRPO a healthy, enjoyable, restful holiday season and all the best in 2019.
Two Public Consultations Now Open
CRPO Council recently authorized the 60-day circulation of a draft  Electronic Practice Guideline . Electronic practice is the second-most frequent topic of practice inquiries received by the College. Issues related to electronic practice are also commonly seen in the Peer & Practice Review component of the Quality Assurance Program. As such, the Quality Assurance Committee identified the need for a guideline on the topic to assist members in their practice.Please review the draft guideline here and provide feedback  via survey link  by February 8, 2019.

CRPO Council has also authorized a 60-day circulation of a draft regulation on Defining “Client” for Sexual Abuse Provisions . CRPO drafted this regulation as a way of clarifying and preventing one particular type of sexual abuse: sexual contact between psychotherapists and their clients after care of the client has been completed. This draft regulation proposes that the client-therapist relationship extends to a period of five years after the conclusion of therapy. The significance of this change is that health care providers who engage in sexual contact with a client or patient without waiting for five years after therapy ends would be investigated for professional misconduct. The Sexual Contact with Former Clients Within Five Years Post-Termination of Care policy   will continue to be posted on the CRPO website and enforced alongside this proposed regulation. The draft regulation is available here .   Please provide feedback via survey link by February 8, 2019.
Membership Renewals Begin February 1
This year, the renewal period for CRPO membership will open on February 1. Full details will be in the January Communiqué and are available here.

If you will be transferring to the Inactive category for the 2019 – 2020 membership year, you must upload  this completed form  to your CRPO account and notify College staff by  January 15, 2019. Members who submit forms after this date will be invoiced for the full RP annual fee . Going inactive is not intended for leaves less than 12 months.
When Professional Practice Standards Clash With Employer Policies
CRPO member Veronica called our practice advisory service because she was feeling concerned that the policies at her place of employment clashed with CRPO’s professional practice standards. She explained that she provides psychotherapy to people using their employee assistance plans. The problem is that her employer does not want Veronica to disclose to clients that they are only entitled to have four to five appointments with her.
Town Hall Questions Answered
After the success of our four town hall meetings, we’ve pulled together a Q&A of members’ top questions. For those who asked for a simple explanation around supervision, we delivered. You can also check out the video from the Toronto meeting for even more detailed answers.
Securing Your CRPO Account
Users who forget the password to their CRPO member account can simply click “Forgot password?” to reset it. Users who forget their login name, however, need to email CRPO at info@crpo.ca . Avoid the hassle of both by storing this information in a secure place, or even better, by using a password manager .
And those security questions the system prompted you to answer when you created your account? Don’t use real answers. Thanks to Facebook, information like your mother’s maiden name or your favourite food is not private anymore. Create fake answers and then save that information in your password manager . 
Supervision Reminders
Gentle reminder: Qualifying members and RPs who have not yet completed 1,000 direct client contact hours and 150 clinical supervision hours are required to practise with clinical supervision. For more information, see section 4.2 Practising with Clinical Supervision in the Professional Practice Standards.

Check your profile on CRPO’s Public Register to see if you have terms, conditions, and limitations on your certificate of registration requiring you to practise with clinical supervision. To update your clinical experience hours, upload a completed DCC Confirmation Form and/or Clinical Supervision Attestation Form to the Documents tab of your user account and notify staff.

For an overview of who can supervise whom, check out our website.
New Member QA Requirements
Did you join CRPO this fall? Remember, all members who have registered as of September 1, 2018, have two months to fulfill their new member PD requirements. Get more info here or email qa@crpo.ca for assistance.
Upcoming Council Meeting

The next meeting of CRPO Council will take place on March 1, 9:30 - 3:30 at the CRPO office . Want to attend? Be sure to register ahead of time and review the guidelines on attendance . Seating is limited and so you are asked to ensure you have a confirmation before attending!
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