Editor:
Eleven years ago this month, I sent a letter to Coast Reporter expressing my concerns about the fact that anyone in B.C. can call themselves a therapist. This is still the case. The public is at significant risk of harm from unsupervised, unregistered, potentially unethical or impaired individuals putting out a shingle this way. The most vulnerable members of society, those least able to make careful decisions about what to look for when they go for help with mental health issues, or to seek accountability if they are exploited or abused, are those most at risk.
FACT BC has attempted for two decades to bring a regulatory college to this province. This would bring a universal umbrella of ethical standards, competence, and accountability to this field. Ethical counsellors would be delighted to have such a standard of care put into place; some pay annual fees to register themselves under the present lack of regulation. This seems unfair, and still leaves others able to do as they please. The present lack of regulation is akin to anyone being free to call themselves a doctor. Is a broken spirit less worthy of a standard of care than a broken leg?
Janice Williams, Gibsons
