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For the moment, there are no provisions that specifically govern psychotherapy. The recognition of an acquired right will allow anyone who currently practises this activity, within the meaning of the definition provided in the Bill, to continue to do so, as long as they satisfy certain conditions set out below. Moreover, from now on, practitioners in this category will be subject to the regulations applicable to the holder of a psychotherapist’s permit and will be required to participate in continuing education activities. Note that the possibility to request recognition of acquired rights will be temporary and will have to be exercised within a time limit set in advance.
Three categories of people will be eligible to claim an acquired right: members of a professional order, people who are eligible to be a member of a professional order but who are not a member, and those who are not eligible to be a member of a professional order. To take advantage of their acquired rights, they must:
- hold a bachelor’s degree in a discipline or a field of the mental health and human relations sectors;
- demonstrate that, in the last three years, they have given 600 hours of psychotherapy related to at least one of the four recognized models;
- demonstrate that they have completed a minimum of 90 hours of continuous education related to at least one of the four recognized models over the five years preceding the request for recognition;
- have received – and certify that they have received – a minimum of 50 hours of individual supervision used to analyze at least 200 hours of psychotherapy practice, at any time during their practice as a psychotherapist; if they are unable to certify that they have received individual supervision, they must make a sworn statement to this effect.
The following can also take advantage of acquired rights:
- Members of the Ordre des conseillers et conseillère d’orientation et des psychoéducatrices et psychoéducateur accredited as psychotherapists;
- Psychotherapists not eligible to be members of a professional order who are members of the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society, the Association des psychothérapeutes psychanalytiques du Québec (association of psychoanalytic psychotherapists of Quebec) or the Société québécoise des psychothérapeutes professionnels (Quebec society of professional psychotherapists).
Finally, a person who is not eligible to be a member of a professional order and to whom a permit to practise psychotherapy is issued will, in order to continue practising, be asked to present the diploma entitling him or her to the permit. This category might include a doctor of philosophy who is practising as a psychotherapist, for example.
