Mental health concerns represent a growing public health issue in Canada, yet access to affordable and accessible psychological care remains limited. Approximately one in five Canadians experiences a treatable mental health condition that would benefit from intervention, and the varying and complex etiology of these concerns make effective treatment difficult without appropriately trained clinicians. Despite this need, Canada faces a critical shortage of licensed psychologists driven by lengthy training requirements, limited graduate program capacity, and restricted supervisory and financial resources. Within this context, psychology training clinics serve as a critical stopgap solution by expanding community access to psychological services while simultaneously supporting the training of future psychologists. The present study examined the organizational health of professional psychology training clinics across Canada using data from a national survey of clinic directors. Results indicate that training clinics provide a wide range of low- or no-cost psychological services and support substantial numbers of graduate trainees; however, clinics face persistent challenges related to unstable funding, insufficient administrative and supervisory support, infrastructure limitations, and increasing pressure to achieve financial self-sufficiency. These constraints frequently conflict with accreditation standards, training quality, and equitable service delivery. Overall, these findings highlight the essential yet precarious role of psychology training clinics within Canada's mental health care system and underscore the need for sustained university and government investment to expand access to care and train the next generation of psychologists.
The purpose of this invited article is to examine the healing power of mattering. Mattering and its facets are described, and relevant research is cited to illustrate that mattering is double-edged; feelings of mattering are a source of strength and protection linked with well-being, but feelings of not mattering are highly deleterious, as discussed in this article by examining links with depression, loneliness, and physical health problems. Unique themes examined in this article include the psychological pain of not mattering and how it can evolve into a feeling of unbearable insignificance characterized by feeling alone and insignificant and that no one cares. The central focus is the topic of how and why mattering is fundamental and has enormous potential for healing among people with mental health and physical health problems. This article also examines who is most susceptible to the pain of not mattering and, by extension, who stands to benefit most from the healing power of mattering. These themes are explored within the context of the relevance of mattering in terms of the client-therapist relationship and the delivery of services so that people in need can feel cared for and cared about.
Little research to date has investigated the experiences of students applying for the doctoral internship in professional psychology (i.e., clinical psychology, counselling psychology, school psychology, clinical neuropsychology) in Canada. Thus, the goal of the present study was to identify doctoral students' perceived barriers and supports to applying to internship sites in Canada. Ten internship applicants from Canadian graduate programs were invited to participate in three semistructured virtual interviews scheduled throughout the 2023 Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers Match. During these interviews, participants discussed the application process, including perceived barriers and supports in applying to certain internship sites. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we identified five themes from the interview transcripts: (a) site information, (b) mismatch between graduate training experiences and site expectations, (c) geographic mobility, (d) financial cost of applying, and (e) social support. These findings suggest ways in which institutions may continue to support as well as better support students.
In this article, I offer a reflexive and theoretically grounded examination of critical social justice within Canadian professional psychology. Drawing on 25 years of engagement in professional psychology, and my lived experience as a second-generation immigrant and settler in Canada, I situate my work at the intersection of counselling psychology's social justice movement and more recent equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization and accessibility initiatives in higher education. Guided by standpoint epistemology, intersectionality theory, critical pedagogy, relational-cultural theory and decolonial scholarship, I argue that while important advances have been made, professional psychology continues to grapple with colonial legacies, hierarchical knowledge structures and performative institutional responses. Through a synthesis of positional reflection and disciplinary analysis, I offer a set of lessons learned that emphasize relationships as foundational, various conceptualizations of social justice, collective learning, sustained advocacy and the necessity of systemic change. I contend that meaningful transformation in Canadian psychology requires moving beyond additive approaches to social justice towards structural reorientation within practice, training, supervision, research, service and leadership. This article invites psychologists to critically examine how power circulates within the discipline and embrace relational accountability as central to ethical and socially responsive practice.
This article offers a reflective examination of education, training, and professional service in Canadian psychology, informed by the author's career trajectory as a clinical psychologist practicing in rural and northern contexts. Drawing on lived experience in clinical service, training leadership, governance, and volunteer engagement, the article highlights how formative professional experiences shape approaches to mentorship, leadership, and lifelong learning. Particular attention is given to the role of professional engagement and volunteerism in strengthening education and training systems, addressing workforce challenges, and advancing the profession's responsibility to society. The reflections underscore the importance of openness to diverse perspectives, systems-level thinking, and collaborative leadership. Collectively, these insights aim to encourage psychologists and trainees to engage intentionally in education, training, and service as integral components of professional identity and ethical practice in Canada.
In 2016, the Canadian government passed legislation amending the federal criminal code to allow for medical assistance in dying (MAiD), provided certain conditions are met. Several court challenges led to the expansion of the eligibility criteria, resulting in two pathways under which an individual can qualify for MAiD. The two pathways and their associated safeguards are described. Although the most recent iteration of MAiD legislation makes it possible for an individual whose sole medical condition is a mental disorder to undergo MAiD, hearings held by the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying in 2023 concluded that the Canadian health care system has not reached a point of readiness to proceed with MAiD when a mental disorder is the sole underlying medical condition. The article will begin with a brief overview of the evolution of Canadian MAiD legislation. This will be followed by a focus on the question of system readiness with emphasis on the criteria of irremediability and the challenge of disentangling a request for MAiD and suicidality.
It is an honour to receive the Gold Medal from the Canadian Psychological Association for distinguished lifetime contributions to Canadian psychology. One of my important career goals has been to have a positive impact on people's sexual well-being. It is important to enhance our understanding of sexual well-being both because high sexual well-being is important to people and because it has been shown to be associated with a range of positive sexual, relationship, and mental health outcomes. In this article, I offer some reflections on my 46-year academic career and in retirement. My reflections include a summary of some of my key contributions related to sexual well-being, including identifying a number of findings we found surprising. They also include key aspects of my journey as well as important things I have learned along the way that might be useful to graduate students and early career scholars with respect to maintaining a work-life balance and a happy transition to retirement. I also point to threats to sexual well-being arising from the sociopolitical context.
Trauma-exposed professionals (TExP) are repeatedly exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events as a function of their work. TExP include health care workers (e.g., nurses, physicians), first responders (e.g., firefighters, paramedics, police), and other public safety personnel (e.g., border services, correctional workers, Indigenous emergency managers, public safety communicators, search and rescue), military, and Veterans. The exposures interact with other organizational, operational, environmental, and socio-geo-political stressors, resulting in TExP reporting substantially more mental health challenges, including suicidal behaviours, than the general public. The past decade has evidenced growing research and clinical efforts to better support TExP with evidence-informed and evidence-based solutions. There have also been national and federal initiatives, such as Canada's Federal Framework on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and National Action Plan on Posttraumatic Stress Injuries, alongside provincial and local initiatives, all designed to mitigate the challenges TExP experience when serving their communities. The current article summarizes the current intersecting challenges facing TExP, recent efforts to support TExP, potential benefits from exploring positive psychology concepts, and recommendations for how psychologists can help TExP and, by extension, all Canadians.
Over the past 4 decades, three surveys on the status of community psychology training in Canada have been published. In the most recent survey, Aubry et al. (2010) described in Canadian Psychology a trend of growth among community psychology course offerings at Canadian universities. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the status of community psychology training within undergraduate and graduate psychology programs in Canada and how this has changed since the last survey conducted 15 years ago. This study employed a two-step methodological approach involving a search of community psychology courses in university course catalogues available online, followed by a survey of program directors of psychology programs to confirm identified community psychology courses. Of the total 70 Canadian universities searched, 22 (31%) had no community psychology courses at the undergraduate or graduate levels, 38 (55%) had undergraduate courses, and 24 (34%) had graduate courses. Compared to the previous study conducted in 2009, there was an increase in the number of undergraduate and graduate community psychology courses. The results are discussed in the context of professional psychology in Canada, such as promoting competencies in social and cultural diversity, as well as program development and evaluation.
This reply addresses some of the issues raised in the Canadian Psychological Association leadership's commentary on "Lions at the Gate," clarifying core arguments and updating the record where accreditation standards have since changed. We note that while the Canadian Psychological Association correctly notes jurisdictional limits, it also holds substantial de facto power to shape professional norms and pathways. We welcome the sixth revisions of the accreditation standards, which several of the authors helped develop, but stress that without measurable requirements and transparent enforcement even rigorous standards can be weaponized to permit exclusionary practices to persist. We recommend collecting anonymized student race/ethnicity data collection as an accreditation standard and structurally diversify governance with designated Black, Indigenous, and other people of colour seats on the board of directors to align the Canadian Psychological Association's leadership with Canada's diversity. Our goal is corrective: aligning policies and enforcement with the profession's ethical commitments so training pathways and leadership better reflect Canada's population. We invite constructive dialogue grounded in shared evidence, clear timelines, and accountability.
The 2018 Canadian Psychological Association Task Force report, Psychology's Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Report, is a statement of responsibility and accountability of the harm done to Indigenous Peoples by professional psychology and an acknowledgement of its contravention of the Canadian Psychological Association's Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists. The report provides six general guiding principles-cultural allyship, humility, collaboration, critical reflection, respect, and social justice-that would facilitate reconciliation and help to create a culturally safe space for Indigenous individuals and communities who are in contact with psychologists. This article examines the meanings of these general guiding principles based on the extant literature provided by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars and researchers and their alignment with the principles and standards in the Canadian Psychological Association Code of Ethics.
Ethical behaviour is at the core of the discipline of psychology. It is a crucial and complex requirement for psychologists' training and for their practice, research, teaching, and supervision activities. Key developments designed to guide ethical behaviour include the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists (Canadian Psychological Association, 1986, 1991, 2000, 2017a), associated guidelines, codes of conduct, required ethics course for professional psychology programs, compulsory research ethics training, and continuing ethics education mandated by regulatory bodies. There are opportunities to educate trainees and employed psychologists about ethical behaviour throughout the career trajectory. What is less clear is how to use these opportunities to teach ethics in psychology effectively. In this article, the argument is made that effective teaching of ethics in psychology education is critical to the development of ethical psychologists and reduces the likelihood of their engaging in unethical behaviour. Although the article focuses on graduate-level teaching of ethics, the importance of ensuring ethics education across the entire continuum of professional development is acknowledged. A brief history of attitudes and activities regarding ethics teaching includes a review of the role of the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists in guiding the teaching of ethics. This is followed by a review of what the literature tells us about the importance and presence of ethics teaching in psychology. The article concludes with a review of what the evidence suggests should be included from both a content and process perspective in order to teach ethics effectively.
Across Canada, more allied health professionals are providing evidence-based psychotherapies (EBPs). EBPs are effective, time-limited psychological interventions. However, clients' response to these EBPs can depend on the providers' prior training, adherence to, and competence in these specific treatments. However, we did not know the extent that allied health professionals currently receive training in psychotherapy principles and specific EBPs in their academic programs in Canada. Our primary objective is to understand what exposure mental health professionals receive to EBPs in postsecondary programs, prior to entering the workforce. We reviewed program requirements of n = 290 accredited academic programs across six mental health-related disciplines: clinical psychology, counselling, occupational therapy, social work, nursing, and general medicine. We independently coded publicly available program materials (i.e., websites, brochures) to identify applied training (e.g., practicum training during the academic program) and coursework (i.e., general psychotherapy, specific EBP courses, multicultural/diversity psychotherapy). Finally, we also reviewed qualitative responses from a small sample of training directors. Most programs required some applied training; however, only a quarter required psychotherapy training. As for coursework, about half of the programs coded had at least one general psychotherapy course, far fewer offered courses in EBPs, and even less had courses considering multicultural/diversity psychotherapy. Given the limitations of our methodology, these findings should be replicated. However, there is likely a gap between students receiving EBP training and professionals providing EBPs in their careers. Therefore, training programs may consider adjusting their curricula to meet the changing mental health landscape in Canada.
We are delighted to introduce to the readership of Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne a special issue titled "Contributions of Psychological Science to Understanding and Addressing Global Challenges." The idea for this special issue was first proposed by several members of the International Relations Committee (IRC) of the Canadian Psychological Association/Soci & eacute;t & eacute; canadienne de psychologie (of which the three of us are members). Collectively, the five articles submitted by authors across 10 countries address a diverse range of themes, including the need to educate the next generation of psychologists about global challenges; climate change and climate action; modern slavery; and the challenges faced by women refugees and their support personnel. The special issue and IRC commentary bring attention to the many ways in which psychological science (and psychologists themselves) can contribute to an improved understanding of global challenges as captured in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as well as to their resolution.
