90 Making Connections (IntroPSYC and Health): Helping Professions
By Meghan E. Norris, Devin Fowlie, and Riley J.T. Bonar
Our last unit focused on positive psychology and wellness. We continue exploring mental health in this next unit, but shift our focus to when things are not going well. Typically, this is referred to as psychopathology.
There are many professionals who can help when someone is experiencing mental illness, or psychopathology. This is because the type of help that is best suited for an individual context can vary, and professional expertise in types of helping is important. When someone is struggling, we want to ensure that the professional they see is competent and qualified. If not, it can cause harm.
Queen’s University is located in Ontario, and so we will focus on Ontario-specific information for the purposes of this Making Connections. Psychotherapy is a term used to encompass talk therapy. According to Ontario law, “The practice of psychotherapy is the assessment and treatment of cognitive, emotional or behavioural disturbances by psychotherapeutic means, delivered through a therapeutic relationship based primarily on verbal or non-verbal communication.” Importantly, not just anyone can provide psychotherapy. It is considered a controlled act. This means that you need to be specifically authorized to administer psychotherapy, a process which is outlined by a separate act called the Psychotherapy Act (Psychotherapy Act, 2007).
In Canada, health care is regulated provincially. This means that definitions, qualifications, and requirements can (and do!) differ by province. If you plan to work in a career that involves psychotherapy, you will want to understand the requirements for training in the province in which you intend to live and work. With this in mind, we provide overviews of professions below who may have options to become licensed to provide the controlled act of psychotherapy, but we do so with the acknowledgement that laws and requirements can (and do!!) vary.
Clinical Psychologists: Clinical Psychologists can assess, diagnose, and treat mental illness. Not all psychologists are able to be licensed to do these tasks—you must complete the appropriate training, be licensed and registered to provide services. To become registered as a Clinical Psychologist, you must attend a program that is acceptable to the provincial licensing board, complete required exams, and complete required supervised hours. In Ontario, the licensing board for clinical psychologists is the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario (CPBAO, Who we are – CPBAO Public).
The Canadian Psychological Association supports a Doctoral standard as the strongest qualification for practice (e.g., either a PhD, PsyD, or EdD in Clinical Psychology), although some provinces have pathways for registration as a clinical psychologist at the master’s level (Canadian Psychological Association, 2023).
To learn more about becoming a Clinical Psychologist, please see resources from the Canadian Psychological Association (Canadian Psychological Association, n.d.).
Psychiatrists: Like clinical psychologists, psychiatrists can assess, diagnose, and treat mental illness. Unlike clinical psychologists, psychiatrists are licensed medical doctors (MDs) and can prescribe medication.
To become a psychiatrist in Canada, you must first attend a medical school accredited by the Canadian Medical Association (Accredited Programs – CACMS | CAFMC) and then complete a minimum 5-year residency in a psychiatry program that is approved by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (https://www.royalcollege.ca/en.html).
To learn more about Psychiatry, please see the webpage of the Canadian Psychiatric Association.
Psychotherapists: Psychotherapists are also registered professionals who are registered to provide the controlled act of psychotherapy. However, psychotherapists are not authorized to diagnose mental disorders in Ontario.
To learn more about psychotherapists in Ontario, please see this website from the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario.
Occupational Therapists: Occupational therapists (often referred to as OTs) are registered professionals who integrate knowledge of medical, physical, and psychosocial factors that affect the functioning, health, and wellness of the whole person (Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy, 2024). They can be licensed to provide psychotherapy.
To become an occupational therapist in Canada, you would complete an appropriate undergraduate degree, and then complete an approved Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy. There are also pathways to complete a doctoral degree in Occupational Therapy (OTD/PhD), especially if you are interested in research.
To learn more about Occupational Therapy, please see the webpage of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy.
Social Workers: Social workers are also regulated health professionals. They may work with individuals, families, groups and communities. Their focus is on improving individual and collective well-being through addressing social issues including racism, poverty and unemployment. Social workers also advocate for social justice, human rights and fair access to health and social services. Although social workers have traditionally taken systems-level approaches to mental illness and mental health, they are increasingly becoming licensed to provide psychotherapy.
To become a social worker in Canada, you may complete a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW), or a Master’s in Social Work (MSW). There are also pathways to pursue a PhD in Social Work, especially if you are interested in research.
To learn more about social work, please see the webpage of the Canadian Association of Social Workers.
Nurses: Nursing is a healthcare profession where nurses can also be licensed to provide psychotherapy.
To learn more about the controlled act of psychotherapy in a nursing context in Ontario, please see the following resource from the College of Nurses of Ontario (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2026).
This is a very brief introduction to professions that can commonly be licensed to provide the controlled act of psychotherapy. To learn more, we encourage you to connect with licensing bodies of interest as they hold the most accurate and up-to-date information on the profession you are considering pursuing.
References
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. (n.d.). Who we are and what we do. https://caot.ca/site/about/caot/overview
Canadian Association of Social Workers. (n.d.). https://www.casw-acts.ca/en
Canadian Psychiatric Association. (n.d.). https://www.cpa-apc.org/
Canadian Psychological Association. (2023). Accreditation standards for doctoral and residency programs in professional psychology (6th rev.). https://cpa.ca/docs/File/Accreditation/CPA%202023%20Accreditation%20Standards_EN_Web.pdf
Canadian Psychological Association. (n.d.). Becoming a psychologist. https://cpa.ca/students/career/becomingapsychologist/
College of Nurses of Ontario. (2026). Psychotherapy and the controlled act component of psychotherapy. https://www.cno.org/standards-learning/practice-support/practice-support-faqs/psychotherapy-and-the-controlled-act-component-of-psychotherapy#psychotherapy-faqs-as-a-nurse-can-i-open-an-independent-psychotherapy-practice
College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario. (n.d.). Who we are. https://cpbao.ca/about-cpbao/who-we-are/
College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. (n.d.). https://crpo.ca/
Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools. (n.d.). Accredited programs. https://cacms-cafmc.ca/about-cacms/accredited-programs/
Psychotherapy Act, 2007, S.O. 2007, c. 10, Sched. R. https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/07p10
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. (n.d.). https://www.royalcollege.ca/en
How to cite this using APA Style:
Norris, M. E., Fowlie, D. I., & Bonar, R. J. T. (2026). Making connections (IntroPSYC and health): Helping professions. In PSYC 100: Principles of psychology. eCampusOntario. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/testbookje/chapter/making-connections-intropsyc-and-health-helping-professions/
