CMHA and the Canadian Psychological Association recognize February as Psychology Month

Psychology Month is celebrated annually in February to highlight the many contributions of psychologists and to help educate Canadians about the role psychology plays in helping them live healthy and happy lives, helping their communities flourish, helping their employers create effective workplaces, and helping their governments develop good policies.

This year, our focus is on improving access to psychological treatment for all Canadians. Research shows psychological treatments are effective with a wide range of mental health disorders, yet our public healthcare system does not currently pay for services provided by psychologists in private practice and many private insurance plans put caps on coverage that are too low to allow a meaningful amount of care. Some quick facts:

1) Psychologists are concerned with how we think, feel, and behave.(1)

2) Psychologists have a Master’s or doctoral degree in psychology and are trained to research effective care, assess problems, diagnose mental disorders, treat those with mental disorders, and evaluate treatment to make sure it’s working.(1)

3) It takes an average of 10 years of university studies to complete a doctoral program in psychology in Canada.(1)

4) Psychologists work in hospitals, schools, clinics, prisons, and private offices. They may also work for universities, government, non-profit organizations, and private corporations.(1)

5) Mental illness costs the Canadian economy more than $51 billion annually in healthcare costs, lost productivity, and reductions in health-related quality of life.(2)

6) In any given week, 500,000 Canadians will miss work due to a mental health problem.(2)

7) There are approximately 18,000 registered psychologists in Canada, making them the largest group of regulated mental health care providers in Canada.(3)

8) No provincial* or territorial public healthcare plan currently pays for services provided by psychologists in private practice.(4)

9) Psychological treatments are less expensive than, and at least as effective as, medication for a number of common mental health conditions and work better than medication for most types of anxiety.(5)

Sources:

1 http://cpa.ca/public/whatisapsychologist/

2 http://www.camh.ca/en/hospital/about_camh/newsroom/for_reporters/Pages/addictionmentalhealthstatistics.aspx

3 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/psychotherapy-a-better-funding-model-must-be-found/article24596535/

4 https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-case-for-publicly-funded-therapy/article24567332/?ref+http://www.theglobeandmail.com

5 http://www.cpa.ca/docs/File/Practice/TheEfficacyAndEffectivenessOfPsychologicalTreatments_web.pdf; http://www.cpa.ca/cpasite/UserFiles/Documents/publications/Cost-Effectiveness.pdf