Editor:
Sadly, this bitter and angry letter I’m sending today was published in Coast Reporter back in May 2005 when I wrote it. B.C. still lacks any regulation in the field of counselling therapies, despite the tireless efforts of FACT BC, an organization representing thousands of mental health professionals. I am still hoping to help bring in this crucial safety net. For more information on this vital mental health issue, please check out FACT BC’s website (www.factbc.org).
“It’s Mental Health Week, and I’d like to express my concerns about the Ministry of Health Services still giving free rein to anyone in B.C. wishing to call themselves a therapist, despite ongoing efforts by mental health associations to make regulation mandatory. At present, any self-styled ‘helper’ can help themselves to your money, time, and mind. If you felt depressed or anxious before meeting one of them, try enduring the feelings that surface as you search in vain for some way to bring a ‘guru’ to account after they’ve messed with your head. The government will send you form letters saying sorry, nothing we can do, no regulatory body. Why isn’t there one? Because they rejected all the proposals! Ironically, ethical therapists pay fees to be registered with their associations, while ‘healers’ don’t have to bother. If you consider bringing a lawsuit against one, you find it costs thousands of dollars, maybe eight years of your life, and tons more anxiety. So if you’re stressed, grieving, or feeling down, why not avoid the miracle workers, fairy godmothers, and New Age control freaks? The Mental Health Unit at St. Mary’s [Sechelt Hospital] has professional, registered, supervised and accountable workers using therapy techniques that have proven to be effective.”
Janice Williams, Gibsons
