PART 2 - Psychotherapy: the legal and organizational aspects of practice (25 hours)

Welcome... again!

Chances are this is the second course you sign up for with Medipsy. Most people who sign up for this course will have already completed our other course titled Part 1: the legal and organizational aspects of practice.

There is, of course, a simple reason for this. In order to meet the requirements of Bill 21 and obtain your psychotherapy permit to work in Quebec, you need to complete 50 hours of training dedicated to the legal and organizational aspects of psychotherapy. Because some candidates for the psychotherapy permit may have some previous training in this domain already, we decided to break the course into two courses, Part 1 and Part 2, so that they don't have to do 50 hours of training when they are not required to.  

Training in this domain (the legal and organizational aspects of psychotherapy) is hard to find, so odds are you were required to do a full 50 hours of training. Normally, if that is the case, you should complete Part 1 before you move on to Part 2 (which is where you are now). Part 1 is perhaps more... boring than Part 2, but it covers the basics and without those basics, well, you might be missing some important information...

This course is not for you if...

This course is not for you if you are already a licensed psychologist, a licensed physician, or if you already have a valid psychotherapy permit, as delivered by the Order of Psychologists of Quebec. If you are in one of those three situations, then what you might be needing is accredited continuing education. That means this course is not for you—what you need is continuing education designed specifically for you. It turns out Medipsy offers that as well! Take a look at the Medipsy website for such workshops. As you will see, we offer both in person workshops, as well as online workshops.

So who is this course for?

This course is for anyone aiming to meet the requirements of Bill 21 for the practice of psychotherapy in Quebec. It is the basic, mandatory training that anyone wishing to practice psychotherapy in Quebec has to successfully complete.

Will this course count for my psychotherapy permit?

Now as you read these lines, you are probably wondering if this course will be recognized by the Order of psychologists of Quebec (OPQ)? Will it really count and get me one step closer to meeting the OPQ's (and Bill 21's) requirements for the psychotherapy permit?

The answer is YES! We've run Part 2 by the OPQ to make sure we meet all their requirements. This course, Part 2: the legal and organizational aspects of practice, falls under what the Order of psychologists refers to as the LEG domain (meaning the legal and organizational aspects of psychotherapy).

What will this course cover?

This course will focus on the following topics:

• Evidence based practice: what is it?; how it is defined—different models and ways of understanding evidence based practice; what it means in routine clinical practice; bringing research into your practice; progress tracking (see below).
• Practice guidelines in psychotherapy: what they are; who produces them; where to find them; how to assess their quality overall and more specifically with scales; how to build them into your practice; how to use them to inform and empower clients/patients; your obligations as a professional to be knowledgeable about guidelines; good guidelines vs. bad guidelines; guidelines and best practice; guidelines and your legal obligations; etc.
• Starting a private practice and the day-to-day organization of a practice: setting up a space; scheduling appointments (software, etc.); note-taking and handling of patient files; progress tracking (measures available, advantages and disadvantages); consent forms and forms for release of information; etc.
• The business of psychotherapy: money matters; insurance (your own and the insurance of your clients); advantages and limitations of diverse legal entities (incorporation, etc.); laws and regulations surrounding the incorporation of a practice; building a network; marketing; taxes; etc.
• Progress tracking and professional competence: what is progress tracking; how to demonstrate competence; competence and training; etc.  
• Working and collaborating with other professionals: who does what?; shared care.
• Psychotherapy and technology: long distance interventions; telepsychotherapy; cyberpsychology; guidelines, laws and regulations related to the use of new technologies.

The course outline

You can download the course outline here. If you wish you can send it to the Order of psychologists of Quebec (OPQ) to get it approved as part of the training they require for you specifically. But as mentioned earlier, they've seen this outline already and found it to be in line with the training they require in the LEG domain (legal and organizational aspects of a psychotherapy practice). If you have questions, please feel free to email me at drapeau@medipsy.ca!

Important information about the registration fee and refunds

The registration fee includes all applicable taxes. Our GST number is 82873 8880 RT0001 and our QST number is 1218616310.

IMPORTANT: Refunds are not possible unfortunately because of the agreement with our online platform provider.

I hope you have fun going through this course. If you have any questions, please email me at drapeau@medipsy.ca

Dr. Martin Drapeau, Ph.D., psychologist