With the shortage of psychologists in the public network, universities must significantly increase the number of students admitted to the professional doctorate in psychology.
This is the very first of the 18 recommendations of the working group on the optimization of training in psychology and mental health, chaired by Hélène David, former Minister of Higher Education.
“One can easily imagine that the proportion of permits issued by the Order [des psychologues] be increased to 75% to 80%,” reads the report obtained by The Press.
The report suggests that a budget of at least 4 million be reserved, for a minimum of three years, so that doctoral admissions are increased.
The general idea of the report is that we must speed up the entry into service of psychologists and no longer escape all those baccalaureate holders who, not having access to the doctorate and the title of psychologist, find themselves in a cul- of bag.
The report highlights the problem of the admissions funnel, caused by the very restricted access to the doctorate, for lack of enough professors for the close supervision that graduate studies require.
So many students enroll in bachelor’s degrees in psychology and too few graduates come to increase the numbers of the Ordre des Psychologues du Québec each year.
Extract from the report
The good news, according to Hélène David, is that “the vast majority of the universities consulted would be ready to significantly increase their number of admissions [au doctorat] provided they are able to hire more new professors and internship and internship supervisors.
The report does not recommend abandoning the requirement to do a doctorate in order to obtain the title of psychologist. On the other hand, the problem of graduation times must be solved, as students never stop finishing their studies in psychology.
In particular in question: the significant scope of the research test required of doctoral students, even when they are moving towards the practice of psychology and not towards a career as a researcher.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Helen David
The Ministry of Higher Education should therefore “take the necessary steps to ensure that students complete the program in a maximum of four years,” the report says.
Currently, it is specified, there are significant disparities between universities, doctoral students at UQAM taking an average of seven years full-time to obtain their degree, while those at the University of Montreal succeed. in about four years.
The report also recommends that the amount of support grants for psychology interns be increased to $30,000 annually and indexed to the cost of living.
For the creation of practical programs
The report does not refer only to the doctorate. “If the necessary conditions are met, there will soon be major developments in the training of bachelors and bachelors in psychology. »
The signatories of the report regret that the graduates who do not integrate the doctorate in psychology currently have “an inadequate practical preparation to work in the fields of social services, education or mental health”.
Universities should therefore put in place practical programs that will enable undergraduate graduates to work in health, education, social services and child protection, “without interfering with the degree, the profession and the reserved acts of psychologists and other mental health professionals”.
The report also recommends that the Ministry of Higher Education encourage the creation of university programs intended for members of professional orders who wish to obtain a psychotherapist’s license. (Psychotherapist licenses awarded to non-psychologists come from the ranks of guidance counsellors, sexologists, and social workers.)
Already, notes the report, many things are moving in this area, giving hope that “the obstacle course” to become a psychotherapist [soit] soon to be a thing of the past”.
7,000 undergraduate students in psychology
Psychology programs enjoy “tremendous popularity,” says Ms.me David, adding that “there are currently more than 7,000 undergraduate students in this discipline in Quebec”.
Some groups told the committee “that there is not really a significant shortage of psychologists in Quebec”, can we read.
“Their total number indeed indicates that Quebec has nearly half of the psychologists in Canada. »
But where it is lacking is in the public network. With a trend of “increasing privatization of psychological services”, we must act, pleads Hélène David, otherwise all trained psychologists will only multiply private practices.
“Our position is clear: society has and will always need psychologists in the public sector, and they will respond if they feel recognized and valued on the level of the training and expertise they possess. »
Hélène David, the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, as well as the Minister for Health and Social Services, Lionel Carmant, did not comment on Tuesday. A press conference that will contain announcements based on this report will be held Thursday in Quebec.
The story so far
In November, The Press has shed light on the wall against which thousands of psychology graduates come up against. Admitted to the first cycle, they are then prevented from accessing the doctorate, which is compulsory for obtaining the title of psychologist.
This is a “rat race” between students, said Hélène David, arrested as former Minister of Higher Education and former professor of psychology at the University of Montreal.
Quebec then entrusted him with the presidency of a committee aimed at finding solutions.
Learn more
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- Less than 20%
- Share of psychologists who have the health and social services network as their main place of employment
Source: Report of the working group on the optimization of training in psychology and mental health
- 232
- Number of admissions to the Order of Psychologists of Quebec in 2022
Source: Report of the working group on the optimization of training in psychology and mental health