We have just been alerted to the fact that the new College of Registered Psychotherapists (CRPO) seems to be engaged in a slick communications campaign, designed to keep you confused and in the dark about the totality of the new psychotherapy-related legislation affecting millions of residents and many thousands of holistic practitioners in Ontario. VIOLATION OF DUTY OF CARE TO ONTARIANS Below is a letter sent by a distressed practitioner to CRPO, followed by CRPO’s response. Her questions were specific to her modality, Therapeutic Touch, and she seems to have been aware only of the Psychotherapy Act, but not of the existence of the more harmful ‘controlled act of psychotherapy’ contained in the RHPA. It is obvious that this practitioner had no idea what to ask in order to get the information she needed, and that the CRPO took advantage of this. "From: Sharron Parrott Sent: Monday, May 25, 2015 7:45 AM To: Info Subject: Psychotherapy Act and Therapeutic Touch Good Morning Ms Rowland My name is Sharron Parrott and I am chair of the Therapeutic Touch Network of Ontario Throughout this past year I have been receiving emails from a group called "stoppsychotherapytakeover.ca" I looked into how the new Psychotherapy Act would affect Therapeutic Touch Practitioners a year ago From what was relayed to me, and as I understand it, basically if you are not a licensed Psychotherapist then you can not call yourself a psychotherapist or offer psychotherapy or counseling Further, that this Act does not impact on complementary healing modalities or complementary healing practitioners. Over the last week I have been receiving emails from this group again Wanting petitions signed and full of warnings etc. Several of the TTNO membership have expressed confusion and concern about the new Psychotherapy Act and how it will impact them. Would you be so kind as to send me something ,or point me in the direction ,of exactly how the new Psychotherapy Act will impact those who are practitioners of Complementary Therapies. In particular, Therapeutic Touch. Thank you for taking the time to clear up this confusion and these concerns With appreciation, Sharron, Chair, the Therapeutic Touch Network of Ontario" As you can see below, CRPO staff did not clarify that right now the College cannot prosecute her and her group of Therapeutic Touch practitioners, BUT once the Controlled Act of Psychotherapy is also proclaimed, it can and likely will prosecute her and her colleagues. CRPO’S CRAFTY RESPONSE: "From: Info Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2015 1:12 PM To: Sharron Parrott Subject: RE: Psychotherapy Act and Therapeutic Touch Sharron, The Psychotherapy Act establishes psychotherapists as a regulated profession, and requires that anyone using the title “psychotherapist” or “registered psychotherapist” (including abbreviations or variations), or who holds out as qualified to practise as a psychotherapist in Ontario, be registered as a member of the College. We have sent Communiqués to our stakeholders in the past in response to communications from SPT (here and here), addressing the misleading information provided by this group. The archived Communiqués mention a proposed controlled act that is part of the Psychotherapy Act, but this was not proclaimed with the rest of the Act on April 1, 2015. As you correctly indicated in your email, if a practitioner isn’t using a protected title or holding out, they don’t need to be registered, and the Psychotherapy Act would not impact their practice. Regards, Sean Sean Knight | Council & Outreach Coordinator College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario 163 Queen Street East, 4th Floor, Toronto ON, M5A 1S1 Email: s.knight@crpo.ca Phone: 416-862-4769 Fax: 416-874-4079 Visit us at crpo.ca or call us toll-free at 1-888-661-4801." CRPO told Ms. Parrott only the bare minimum, and crafted their reply to sound as though she has nothing to be concerned about. Without the additional relevant facts about the controlled act, Ms. Parrott probably believes the legislation does not apply to the Therapeutic Touch treatments offered by her and her colleagues! RELEVANT FACTS THE CRPO NEGLECTED TO DISCLOSE: - The controlled act is already law, and only awaits the final formality of proclamation to become enforceable. This is the legislation that makes ALL treatment, verbal or non-verbal, an ‘act of psychotherapy’. The Psychotherapy Act, on the other hand, gives the CRPO the power to prosecute, once the controlled act is also proclaimed, anyone who engages in these acts/treatments who is not AUTHORIZED specifically by the legislation. - The ONLY individuals authorized to communicate with another human being in Ontario for the purposes of assisting them with the bumps and bruises of life, are registered psychotherapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, medical doctors, occupational therapists and social workers. - The Psychotherapy Act amendments have been proclaimed, except for the section on enforcement of the RHPA controlled act of psychotherapy, which is automatic the instant the controlled act itself is proclaimed. - It did not stipulate that while Ms. Parrott and her group were not presently affected because the controlled act of psychotherapy has not yet been proclaimed, she could be prosecuted once it was, which could be any day, and therefore she was vulnerable to all future activities of the College. AN ONGOING DECEPTION: CONTROLLED ACT TERMINOLOGY CRPO has repeatedly stated they would not define the important terms in the legislation. They misleadingly neglect to mention that in fact, “psychotherapy technique" and other important terms have already been defined in various dictionaries of psychology, starting in 2006 (see http://www.stoppsychotherapytakeover.ca/all-known-sources-of-definition-of-psychotherapeutic-techniques/ AND http://www.stoppsychotherapytakeover.ca/definitions-psychotherapeutic-techniques/), AND that the crafty terms ‘serious disorder’ and ‘serious impairment’ have already been defined by Canadian case law, where it could be concluded from court decisions that these terms can apply to every possible issue that is either diagnosed or DIAGNOSABLE. (see here: http://www.stoppsychotherapytakeover.ca/case-law-re-definition-of-serious-disorder-and-serious-impairment/) Please note that the CRPO did not state that Ms. Parrott and her Therapeutic Touch colleagues are ‘safe’, which is what she was apparently looking for. The only way Ms. Parrott and her group can comply with the controlled act is to close their practices. Otherwise, they risk investigation, prosecution, imprisonment for up to one year and fines up to $25,000 for a first ‘offense’ of engaging in an act of psychotherapy, once the controlled act is proclaimed and the College can enforce it. Your financial help is needed NOW to keep the controlled act from being proclaimed and to prevent our legal action from stalling. For more information, links to a petition and pre-written letters to MPPs, to donate to a legal fund, to subscribe to Stop Psychotherapy Takeover updates or volunteer, and for information about a Legal Defense Protection Program, please visit www.stoppsychotherapytakeover.ca