When choosing a mental health professional there are a lot of different things they can be called. But how do you know what they mean? And how do you choose?
I have complied some of the most common titles that I see and that can be confusing to help you navigate what type of professional you want to hire as your therapist.
Counsellor
This is the most common title for talk therapy services. It is an umbrella term that refers to anyone in the field who fills the therapeutic role. The term is unprotected meaning anyone can use it.
What's important are the letters that come behind the persons name. When looking for a mental health counsellor one set of letters to look for is CCC. This stands for Canadian Certified Counsellor.
The CCC means that that professional is a member of the Canadian Counsellors and Psychotherapist Association (CCPA). To earn this designation the counsellor would have to;
Hold a graduate degree from an approved university in counselling or a related field (ie, social work, education, etc.)
Applied with 2 references from graduate level counsellors, supervisors or counselling educators who can speak to applicants counselling competencies
Have professional liability insurance
Pay a yearly membership fee
And have a criminal record check with no previous criminal offences
CCC's must meet a number of required CE's (continuing education) credits each year to maintain their certification.
To learn more about the CCPA use the link below
Psychotherapist [RP or RP(Q)]
Psychotherapist is a legally protected title. Meaning that the therapist is registered and regulated by the Canadian Registered Psychotherapist of Ontario (CRPO). To become a psychotherapist you must;
Have a minimum of 500 direct counselling hours (1 therapy session = 1 hour)
Have a minimum of 100 hours of clinical supervision from an approved CRPO clinical supervisor
Complete and pass a Professional Practice and Jurisprudence learning module
Pass the CRPO licensing exam
have a criminal record check with no previous criminal offences
Hold a graduate degree in counselling or related field from an approved university
Have professional liability insurance
And pay a yearly membership fee
As you can imagine this process can be lengthy and typically take between 1-2 years to become fully licensed. When you see the letters RP(Q), this means your therapist is in the process of becoming certified and is under direct supervision from a primary supervisor.
Supervisors are highly experienced therapists who use their expertises to guide upcoming therapist to be competent and ethical professionals. To be a CRPO supervisor you must have minimum of 5 years clinical experience, completed 1000 direct counselling hours, 150 hours of supervision and 30 hours of direct learning about becoming a supervisor.
To maintain the psychotherapy certification therapists must continue ongoing supervision throughout their careers and continue training in therapeutic techniques.
To learn more about the CRPO click the link below
Registered Social Worker (RSW)
Like psychotherapist, social worker is a legally protected title. Meaning that only individuals who have undergone social work training can call themselves social workers. Social work is a broad professional field that covers a variety disciplines such advocacy work, community capacity building, and counselling. Social work is a regulated profession across Canada and to become a registered social worker you must;
hold a minimum of a bachelor's degree in social work
submit a criminal record check and vulnerable sector check (it is important to note that according to the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) you can have a criminal record, however guidelines may differ per province)
Pass the Association of Social Work Board (ASWB) exam
Pay a yearly membership fee
For more information about registered social workers in Newfoundland please visit the website below
If you would like to learn more about the Canadian Association of Social Workers please see the link below
Naturotherapist / Naturopath (ND)
This designation is excellent for insurance purposes! Often times a client's insurance will only cover so much therapy, but insurance companies also tend to offer some coverage for natural health. Meaning with an ND certification your therapist would be covered under the natural health that category as well; allowing you to benefit from getting the most out of your coverage.
This designation means your therapist has specialized in alternative forms of medicine or healing that do not use prescription medications. To become a naturotherapist or naturopath you must apply through the Academy of Naturopaths and Naturotherapists of Canada (ANNC). Your ND must have completed;
A minimum of 400 hours of training in alternative medicine
Proof of professional liability insurance
And must not have been found guilty or in the process of being prosecuted of a criminal offense in Canada or in another country
It is important to note that naturopathy and naturotherapy is an unregulated profession in select provinces. If you are seeing a naturopathic doctor they would use the same professional abbreviation but have a very different level of training. When hiring someone using this abbreviation, ND (particularly when this is their only professional abbreviation) ask them about their professional scope, skills and education to ensure you will receive the quality of care you are looking for.
To learn more about the ANNC please click below
Regulated Versus Unregulated Provinces
Above I mentioned the words regulated and unregulated with regards to the counselling/therapy professions. This means that not every province in Canada has a professional body to oversee professionals.
Essentially, in unregulated provinces anyone can call themselves a therapist because there is no regulatory body. In these provinces it is not a requirement to be a member of any regulatory body.
This is why the letters behind your therapists name are so important, they indicate what college or organization they are being regulated by and what standards they have agreed to uphold as a professional.
Here are a list of regulated and unregulated provinces across Canada for the counselling profession.
Regulated Provinces | Unregulated Provinces |
Ontario | Newfoundland and Labrador |
Quebec | Manitoba |
New Brunswick | Saskatchewan |
Nova Scotia | British Columbia (BC) |
Prince Edward Island (PEI) | Yukon |
** Alberta - legislation for a regulatory body has passed, but a regulatory college has not yet opened | North West Territories |
Nunavut |
If you would like to learn more about Newfoundland and Labrador's pursuit of regulation for mental health counsellors and therapists please click the link below.
If you have read to the end I hope you found this article helpful and informative! If you have any questions you can contact me directly at osmiththerapy@gmail.com, or connect with your provinces regulatory board (if you have one).
If your province does not have a regulatory board you can also connect the CCPA or ANNC.
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