Become a member of The College of Licensed Counselling Therapists of New Brunswick
CCTNB NEWSLETTER
July 2023
A warm welcome to our new Registrar:
Dr. Lesley Dickson
Lesley has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, a Master’s in clinical psychology, and a Doctorate (PsyD) in Psychology. She also has a vested interest in Neuropsychology. She has held positions at the school district, community, and university levels, which have contributed to molding the clinician that she is today. Lesley has been a member of the college since 2017. Lesley is an advocate for mental health both personally and professionally.
Currently, Lesley is working part time as the Registrar for the College, a new position that she is holding this year. In addition to this, Lesley has a private practice in the Miramichi area where she offers counselling and neurofeedback services.
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Welcome Lesley!
The Five Pillars of CCTNB Governance
As the College moves forward with our new Registrar it seems the perfect time to review the roles & responsibilities of a Regulatory College.
The College lead by the Board of Directors, must ensure that all actions taken by the College are based on Five Governance Documents and the principles inherent in these documents:
I
Pillar I
“Bill 64 The Licensed Counselling Therapy Act 3rd session, 58th Legislature New Brunswick 65-66 Elizabeth II. 2016-2017 was read for the first time on March 29th, 2017, and Proclaimed into Law, with the signature of the Lieutenant Governor on May 5, 2017.”
And so, with the stroke of a pen, Counselling Therapists moved from seeking regulation to an immediate focus on developing governance practices to meet the responsibilities of a Regulatory College.
Specifically, the second paragraph of Bill 64 The Licensing Counselling Therapy Act states that CCTNB has been Granted the authority to “...advancing and maintaining the standard of counselling therapy in the Province, for governing and regulating members offering services to the public and providing for the welfare of members of the public and the profession;”
Can changes be made to the Act:
Yes and No! The College itself cannot make changes to the Act. As Bill 64 is an Act of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick changes may only be made by The Legislature upon an application by the College to the Legislature. Any desire by The College to make changes requires an application to The Department of Health, Legislative Division and would generate a series of very specific actions; retention of a legal representative to draft the requested changes with the relevant legal expenses. The application by our solicitor on our behalf would require the College to follow all current Department of Health, Legislative division requirements which would include a consultation process with all other Colleges that may be affected by our request to ascertain if there are any objections to our requested amendments. Any decision to request changes to our Act would necessitate careful consideration on the part of the College.
Special Note:
As CCTNB welcomes our new Registrar, Dr. Dickson, it offers all members a great opportunity to review sections of our Act which specify the vital responsibilities of the role of the registrar such as.
Part 3 – Registrations and Membership,
Part 4- Professional Corporations,
Part 5- Offences and enforcement
Part 6- Complaints, Discipline, and fitness to Practice
Part 7- Appeals
Reminder:
All members of the College are required to read and be familiar with Bill 64, The Licensed Counselling Therapist Act.
II
Pillar II : By-Laws
Our CCTNB By-Laws were drafted by our Legal representatives in 2017 with full consultation and involvement of the transition Board of the College. Those By-Laws were presented at the first College Board meeting for approval. Approval was by a unanimous vote.
By-Laws form the structure and definitions that further refine elements of Bill 64 and CCTNB members must read, become familiar with, and follow the By-laws. By-Laws, unlike the Act are under the care and control of the Board and the Board may, after due diligence, add or amend an existing by-Law. The new or amended By-Law comes into effect immediately and ratification or rejection of the By-law takes place by members at the AGM.
If changes are to be presented at the AGM as directed by the Act, section 5(3) “The Board shall at least thirty days before the next meeting of the members of the College submit all by-laws or amendments or repeal of any by-law made under section (1) to the members of the College and the members may, at that meeting by ordinary resolution confirm, reject or amend the by-laws, amend or repeal thereof.”
Reminder:
All members of the college are required to read the By-Laws and make themselves familiar with the content and intent of the By-Laws.
III
Pillar III : Rules
Rules are created by the Board and become part of the standard operating procedures for the effective administration of the college. Committees of the Board such as Complaints, Discipline, Fitness to Practice were drafted by our lawyers, to refine sections of the Act. Committees such as Registration and Supervision, beginning in June 2017 drafted and recommended processes and standards of practice that were adopted by The Board. These committees review their Rules and recommend revisions to the Board for formal discussion as an ongoing practice. Following discussion and due diligence, a motion is made, seconded and a vote called. Some motions, depending on the substance, are passed as Rules, such as changes made to the Registration and Supervision process, and some, such as our Communication Protocol, are passed as a motion and do not become a rule. The difference in a matter becoming a protocol or rule is based on legal advice.
Effective December 2022 all Supervisors must under CCTNB Rules, ensure their supervision practices comply with the revised Rules. For example, all LCT-C’s must read and become familiar with the Act, the By-Laws, and their contents to ensure that the Public is protected in all action by members.
IV
Pillar IV : Code of Ethics (By-Law No. 13.01)
The Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, CCPA has been a major supporter through, time, energy, expertise since the first days of the regulation agenda in Canada. Based on that Expert Consultation and advice at CCTNB’s first Board meeting a request was made to CCPA for permission to adopt their Code of Ethics as our Code of Ethics. Permission was granted and that permission includes all updates to the Code of Ethics as revisions and updates are made by CCPA.
V
Pillar V : Standards of Practice
The Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, CCPA has over many years of research created Standards of Practice that are regularly reviewed and updated. Upon the request of CCTNB we were granted the permission to use the Standards of practice as that of the College.
Each member will find The Five Pillar documents on the CCTNB website (in the footer) for easy access. These documents represent our Mandate and its authorization, and the documents speak to our Professional Identity and the vital work we do as Counselling Therapists.
Recently, information has come to the Board concerning the content of members websites. To ensure any information on your website conforms to the requirements of the Code of Ethics please review and be sure to include sections A6, A13, I5, I10.
Please also refer to the Standards of Practice including A1, A3, A6.
Questions have revolved around two subjects; testimonials, which are prohibited on members websites and the list of “specialties" or expertise claimed by a member. To claim expertise, the member must have objective proof by way of verifiable education or training in these areas and provide service only after they have secured adequate supervision from supervisors with demonstrated expertise in the practice area. If you have questions ask!
Supervision
At the December 2022 Board meeting a report from the Supervision Committee recommended revisions and additions to the Supervision Rules. Due diligence was exercised, and a motion made for adoption of the report except for point D (11) which was referred to the Governance committee for further discussion. A revised section D (11) was passed at the February 2023 Board meeting. The updated Supervision Rules are now the rules Supervisors must be familiar with and comply with in their supervision practices.
Reminder to CCTNB Supervisors:
Under CCTNB Rules, each member must be familiar with the content of the Five Pillar documents, each member must also ensure that the intent of these foundational documents is visible and integrated into how we live our professional life as Licensed Counselling Therapists.
Reminder re-Liability Insurance
Under section 11 (1) of the ACT “no Counselling therapist shall engage in the private practice of counselling therapy without first providing the registrar with proof of valid professional liability insurance the minimum amount required by the by-laws and provide proof of renewal of such insurance ever year thereafter.”
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CCTNB Registration Rules require “proof of liability insurance in the amount of 2 million dollars”.
Board Vacancies
Public Member: there remains an opening on the CCTNB Board for a community minded citizen to fill the mandated role of public member. The responsibilities of the public member’s role are to attend Board meetings and exercise due diligence by raising questions in the interest of the Public we are mandated to protect. We are currently meeting monthly for two hours per month.
Mark your Calendars for the 2023 AGM to be held on October 21, 2023!
Have a question or an issue you would like address in our Newsletter? Please send a message to info@CCTNB.ca. We welcome your questions to be answered in the next newsletter!
Change of Address
CCTNB will no longer be using the PO Box address that might be found on older documents. Going forward, please make sure you are using updated forms, and, if required, that they are being mailed to:
205 - 236 St. George Street
Moncton, NB
E1C 1W1
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Official CCTNB Rules
Official CCTNB rules can now be found on our website (cctnb.ca) at the bottom of the webpage. Please do not save this document as it is important to always use the most up-to-date information and changes to the document may occur without notice.