The Future of Counselling Psychology Education and Training in Canada: A Post-Conference Reflection

Abstract

This article summarizes and elaborates upon the themes discussed by members of the “Future of Counselling Psychology Education and Training in Canada” working group at the 2018 Canadian Counselling Psychology Conference (2018 CCPC) by 19 participants in attendance. Complexities in program requirements, external and internal program regulations, research competency and advancement, and cultural/social justice responsiveness and internationalization are explicated and analyzed. The current state of counselling psychology education and training is highly intricate and nuanced, while many strengths and opportunities for growth exist despite some long-standing tensions. It is hoped that this article not only will help outline and contextualize the current status and challenges facing the future of counselling psychology education and training in Canada but also will recruit others in helping to improve Canadian counselling psychology education and training. Advocating for what is needed to achieve this is consistent with the theme of the 2018 CCPC. Continued dialogue, program evaluation, theorizing, and research are needed on the nature and dynamics of Canadian counselling psychology education and training.

Becoming a culturally responsive and socially just clinical supervisor.

“…Perhaps underpinning such concerns, the participants found that there was a limited focus on MCSJ topics across their graduate training. This finding echoes previous research, as graduate psychology students at both master's and PhD levels have been found to want more focus placed on empowerment, social change, multicultural identities and culturally sensitive models in their supervision course (Jang et al, 2014;Kassan et al, 2015) and general graduate course work (Cohen et al, 2022;Collins et al, 2013;Wada et al, 2020). Despite calls to further increase the focus on diversity and social justice in clinical supervision training and education (R. K. Goodyear et al, 2016;Lund et al, 2020;Peters et al, 2022), the doctoral student SITs' experiences exemplify that there is still much to do in this area.…”

Differences Between Canadian Psychological Association Nonmember and Member Counseling Psychologists

“…The current study estimates that counseling psychologists in Canada are nearly equally split between those possessing a doctorate or a master’s degree as their highest credential. In comparing the results of Bedi et al (2016) with the present results, it seems that the proportion of master’s trained counseling psychologists is actually increasing in Canada, which is partly the result of federal government mandated interprovincial mobility for psychologists (Wada et al, 2020). With many provinces or territories only requiring a master’s degree for psychologist licensure at the time this national legislation was enacted, provinces with a doctoral entry standard have had to find ways to accommodate those seeking relocation from a jurisdiction in which they were already licensed at the master’s level (Wada et al, 2020).…”

“…Although the terms “license” and “registration” and their derivatives are often used interchangeably in Canada, government legislation typically favors the latter term. Some jurisdictions allow for voluntary psychology specialization declarations, but only a few provinces recognize counseling psychology as a specialization area (Wada et al, 2020). Unfortunately, this means that licensure bodies do not usually have information that would allow for an accurate representation of the characteristics of counseling psychologists and counseling psychology in Canada; as a result, researchers are relied upon to describe the profession and its professionals.…”

“…Generally speaking, master's-level registered psychologists identifying as counseling psychologists have completed a master's degree comparable to a typical counselor education program in Canada with the addition of coursework in the core areas of psychology (biological bases of behavior, cognitive/affective bases of behavior, social bases of behavior, and psychology of the individual), either as part of their original master's program or in addition to it, plus an additional 1,600+ hours of supervised practice, which is analogous to a predoctoral internship (e.g., College of Alberta Psychologists, 2017). Although, against recommendations by the CPA, the abundance of counseling psychologists with only a master's degree (Bedi, Christiani, & Sinacore, 2020) is promoted by two circumstances: first, initial registration as a psychologist is permitted by most jurisdictions with only a master's degree (Wada et al, 2020); second, full membership in the Section of Counseling Psychology (SCP) of the CPA also only requires a master's degree. Further, it is not uncommon to selfidentify as a counseling psychologist in Canada even if one's doctoral degree is in another psychology specialization, and occasionally even without a master's degree in counseling psychology (Bedi, Christiani, & Sinacore, 2020;Bedi et al, 2016).…”