(Quebec) While Quebec is appealing to the private sector to reduce waiting lists for mental health, community psychotherapy organizations feel “forgotten” by the Legault government. They are asking for recognition and financial means to help relieve the public sector’s congestion.
“We focus on the mission of the public service and that’s normal, but we do not take into consideration what exists around,” laments the coordinator of the psychotherapy service of the Center St-Pierre, Pauline Herniou.
The Regroupement québécois des organisms communautaire de psychotherapy (RQOCP) is demanding to be recognized as an “alternative” to the public health and social services network to offer psychotherapy services to Quebecers, especially to the lower-income population.
The RQOCP says “trying to establish a collaboration” with Quebec for “several years”, in vain.
While the Minister for Health and Social Services, Lionel Carmant, is due to table his mental health action plan this fall, the Regroupement asks the government to provide “the means to further develop [son] service option ”across the province.
The RQOCP questioned the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, and Minister Carmant on this subject last May. “There was a discussion [avec le Ministère], but it stopped there ”, explains Mme Herniou.
Recurring and substantial funding
The Regroupement, which includes around ten community organizations mainly in Greater Montreal, would like to obtain recurrent and substantial funding, in particular to encourage psychotherapists who work within their resources to take care of more patients.
“We are already there, we already have psychotherapists in place,” argues the director general of Popular Psychotherapy Services, Richard Lavoie. The cost of a consultation is adjusted according to the patient’s income. We sometimes talk about a rate that reaches 50 to 60 $ per hour. These psychotherapists generously offer their skills, often because they support the cause, it is said.
In Mr. Carmant’s office, it was also pointed out that the members of the RQOCP “do excellent work with vulnerable clienteles”, but that “we cannot create a new program specifically to fund community organizations that provide services. psychotherapy ”.
“The request for funding that the Regroupement sent us is unfortunately not possible in the form presented”, one writes. The firm recalls that the Support Program for Community Organizations (PSOC) finances health and social services resources.
However, according to the RQOCP, only three of the ten members currently have access to the PSOC, which is far from sufficient to meet the needs.
“We are not counted in the plans”
As of October 10, a total of 18,842 Quebecers were waiting for a first and second line mental health service. A year ago, Quebec injected 100 million, of which 25 million was to be used to purchase services from the private sector. Despite this offensive, the lists are at the same point as in December 2020.
“We were not counted in the plans, actions and reflections [du gouvernement] », Laments Mme Herniou. “We have perhaps also sometimes forgotten the importance of the community and the importance of the work we do there. However, the community network often comes to the rescue of the public network, she argues.
At Center St-Pierre, for example, nearly 30% of the psychotherapy service clientele is referenced by the public sector, either because there are no places or because the limit on consultation hours is reached. This figure can reach nearly 60% for some community resources, she said.