We gave everything during our pre-doctoral studies to be accepted for the doctorate which we will complete – if all goes well – in six to seven years. A minimum of nine to ten years of study to practice the profession that fascinates us. We will then be able to apply all the knowledge and practical experience we have accumulated on the brain, emotions, psychopathology, assessments and diagnoses, prevention, intervention and psychotherapy to accompany and help the population.
Access to psychologists in the public network is very difficult. We know why. It is not because there is a lack of new workers to meet the needs of the population: Quebec has 10 psychologists for every 10,000 inhabitants, while Ontario has three. It is because the Quebec health network does not retain a sufficient number of psychologists. And can we really be surprised? The conditions offered to psychologists in the public sector do not come close to those they may have in the private sector.1
The accelerated exodus of psychologists to the private sector was predictable – it has been talked about for years. After a period of studies comparable to medical specialists, often accompanied by indebtedness, who would want to start their career with disadvantageous conditions?
Even when the public benefits and the costs of private practice are calculated, the psychologist who works in the public sector earns on average 44% less than one in the private sector.
Private psychologists have already been accused of “taking advantage” of their clients’ vulnerability to charge them a high fee. However, by way of comparison and without questioning the needs they meet, some life coaches (or “helping relationship therapists”) charge up to $300 per hour without university studies, without a professional order protecting the public and without accreditation to practice psychotherapy! A 44% increase in the public network would mean that psychologists would start at less than $50 an hour. It seems to us that the nature of our profession, our expertise and the years of study that accompany them are well worth the recognition that psychologists demand! But that, their current union categorically refuses them.
The fight of the Coalition of Psychologists of the Public Network of Quebec (CPRPQ) has been led head-on for four years by volunteer psychologists, including the tireless and resilient DD Karine Gauthier, psychologist and neuropsychologist. We have seen her, with more than a thousand psychologists in the public network, devoting herself body and soul to the cause. Finally, after years of interviews, letters, meetings with the government, briefs, demonstrations, and more, the CPRPQ obtains the support of Mr. Legault, Mr. Carmant and Mr.me LeBel. We are very grateful to them. This demonstrates a desire to prioritize mental health.
We are so close to the goal. Before, it is necessary that the law which prevents the formation of a trade union specific to the psychologists is modified. Recent remarks by Robert Comeau, President of the Alliance of Professional and Technical Personnel in Health and Social Services (APTS), may mislead the population. You can’t compare apples and oranges. One will not prevent the other. Let’s be more united! How can Mr. Comeau neglect all the data and messages shared for years with the public and the authorities? Psychologists represent only 3% of APTS members and are disadvantaged on all fronts.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: as future psychologists, our greatest wish is to work in the public sector, just like 85% of our colleagues studying psychology. But we will not do so in a context where we are not represented and where our expertise and our unique contribution to Quebec society are not valued. All mental health professions are essential; we absolutely need psychoeducators, social workers, mental health nurses, and so on. But let’s also recognize that psychologists are equally so! This is why the CPRPQ will not stop fighting for psychological care to be accessible to the population in the public network, and why, as students, we will not give up our desire to practice in this network. Despite a union seeking to curb it, our motivation to change things will not waver.
* Florence K is Vice-President of the General Association of Graduate Students in Psychology at UQAM (AGEPSY-CS) and Ambassador of the Coalition of Psychologists of the Public Network of Quebec; Nessa Ghassemi-Bakhtiari is president of AGEPSY-CS and speaker at Éco-Motion.