Strategic Plan 2017 - 2022 Guiding the Profession and Protecting the Public
ENCOURAGE
EXCEL
ENSURE
OUR VISION Ensuring the interests of the public are protected by enhancing the practice of psychology and engaging psychologists to excel.
ENDORSE
ENGAGE
ENHANCE
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OUR MISSION
The College of Alberta Psychologists is the regulator for the profession of psychology in Alberta within a diverse, dynamic and increasingly complex discipline. We protect the public, by determining entry-to-practice requirements, enhancing psychologists’ ethical awareness, establishing standards of practice and ensuring that the profession holds the welfare of the people they serve as their highest duty. We are the regulatory voice for Alberta psychology - locally, nationally and globally. Our goal is to create compassionate, caring and competent psychologists.
OUR VALUES
The College of Alberta Psychologists staff, Council and members recognize it is a privilege to act as a self-governing profession. We work within a social contract, with the expressed commitment to ensure members act ethically and in accordance with professional standards when engaged in the practice of psychology. This social contract explicitly places a higher duty of care to the people we serve and to society than to our profession. The College has adopted the core values of the Canadian code of Ethics for Psychologists (2017) : • Respect for the dignity of persons and peoples. We recognize the inherent worth of all individuals through non-discriminatory practices that respect the knowledge, insight and experiences of those we serve, our colleagues and other professionals. • Responsible caring. This requires competence, compassion, maximization of benefit and minimization of harm, and must always be carried out in ways that respect the dignity of persons and peoples. • Integrity in relationships. We demonstrate the highest integrity in all relationships by empowering the people we serve through openness, straightforwardness and the provision of counsel that enables informed choices. • Responsibility to society. Psychologists contribute to the understanding of psychological knowledge within both the discipline and society through inquiry, innovation, research and scientific evidence within an ethical framework that protects applied skills and interpretations from being misinterpreted and/or misused.
OUR LEGISLATED MANDATE & ROLES As defined by the Health Professions Act (2000 cH-7) Section 3(1) A College: • Must carry out its activities and govern its regulated members in a manner that protects and serves the public interest, • Must provide direction to and regulate the practice of the regulated profession by its regulated members, • Must establish, maintain and enforce standards for registration and continuing competence and standards of practice of the regulated profession, • Must establish, maintain and enforce a code of ethics, • Must carry on the activities of the college and perform other duties and functions by the exercise of the powers conferred by this Act, and • May approve programs of study and education courses for the purposes of registration requirements.
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Strategic Objectives
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ENSURE the ethical principles and standards of practice that govern the
profession are enforced in a manner consistent with the stated values of the College and the legislative requirements - protecting the public, guiding the profession and instilling confidence in the self-regulated profession of psychology.
ENGAGE and connect with psychologists on a routine basis to foster and instill their commitment to both the profession and practice of psychology.
ENHANCE the profession by promoting psychologists practicing to
their full scope of practice and examining expansion opportunities while simultaneously meeting our public protection mandate.
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ENDORSE evidence-based decision-making in all applied and scientific
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EXCEL as a regulator, implementing state of the art operations, leading
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activities as a critical element in defining professional psychology.
edge technologies, and elegant, efficient and accessible systems.
ENCOURAGE and inspire psychologists to incorporate the principles of
continuous learning, self-care and work-life balance into their professional identities thereby exemplifying the values of the profession.
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1 Ensure ENSURE the ethical principles and standards of practice that govern the
profession are enforced in a manner consistent with the stated values of the College and the legislative requirements - protecting the public, guiding the profession and instilling confidence in the self-regulated profession of psychology. Through the development, advancement and application of ethical principles, professional practice standards and guidelines, the College will foster a professional community of highly ethical educators, students, supervisors, provisional and registered psychologists. This culture will be nurtured and sustained through foundational/continuous learning as well as the application of the principles of restorative/natural justice, including reparation, deterrence, transparency, objectivity and fairness in all professional discipline activities. STRATEGY
i:
Ensure all prospective members of the profession have successfully completed postgraduate coursework that has, as its primary focus, the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists.
ii:
Ensure the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists and the College of Alberta Psychologists’ Standards of Practice are routinely considered during the evaluated, supervised practice registration requirement.
iii:
Ensure that prior to engaging in independent professional practice, all psychologists have successfully completed the College of Alberta Psychologists’ jurisprudence examination.
iv:
Ensure all psychologists are routinely offered a variety of College and other continuous learning opportunities in the areas of ethics and professional practice.
v:
Ensure that, when appropriate, all members of the public are provided a voice and role in any informal and formal professional conduct resolution activities.
vi:
Ensure all professional discipline activities are governed by the principles of natural justice, including transparency, objectivity and fairness.
vii:
Ensure all professional discipline outcomes are well articulated, fair and formulated with the principles of both specific and general deterrence, as well as respect for the dignity of all.
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2 Engage ENGAGE and connect with psychologists on a routine basis to foster and instill their commitment to both the profession and practice of psychology.
The future of regulated psychology is ensured by building and strengthening confidence, connection and professional community through a focus on shared knowledge, values, principles and skills, and by commitment to the public interest. STRATEGY
i:
Create and support professional learning opportunities, initiatives and activities that bring together psychologists and the College.
ii:
Enhance and support the number of positive interactions between psychologists and College staff, Council and volunteers .
iii:
Enhance the number of opportunities for psychologists to be involved with the College as valued volunteer experts and committee, tribunal and Council members.
iv:
Enhance and support opportunities to recognize the achievements and contributions of psychologists to the field of psychology, the profession and the public good.
v:
Enhance and support the personal and professional well-being of members by recognizing the unique humanness of all, and by supporting both applied and scientific initiatives while recognizing the primacy of the public interest.
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3 Enhance ENHANCE the profession by promoting psychologists practicing to their full scope of practice and examining expansion opportunities while simultaneously meeting our public protection mandate.
By recognizing both the multiplicity of educational pathways and the diversity of the psychological community, the College builds on the strengths of all psychologists by embracing these differences while recognizing the commonality of a shared professional community bound by the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists and the College of Alberta Psychologists’ Standards of Practice in the interest of the public. STRATEGY
i:
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Ensure that all qualified local and international applicants are given careful consideration through the application of a well-articulated, principled registration and substantial equivalency process. Ensure that all psychologists, no matter their pathway to registration, are afforded opportunities to share, honour and celebrate their diversity within an inclusive professional community that values the commonalities that bind the profession.
iii:
Ensure that any artificial barriers to registration are identified, addressed/ reconciled and/or eliminated in a timely manner.
iv:
Ensure that appropriate resources, opportunities and bridges are available in a variety of forms to all psychologists to facilitate professional inclusion/ identity so that the profession is representative of all and is sustained.
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4 Endorse ENDORSE evidence-based decision-making in all applied and scientific activities as a critical element in defining professional psychology.
Psychologists increasingly recognize the need to develop and use evidencebased research and practices in the prevention, treatment and mitigation of psychological difficulties. This includes the recognition that not all psychological difficulties are atypical and do not all respond equally/solely to one specific intervention modality. Psychologists respect the contributions of allied health professions and recognize the benefits of professional collaboration in the public interest. STRATEGY
i:
Ensure evidence-based practice is reflected, highlighted and promoted in all aspects of professional regulation.
ii:
Embrace evidence-based technological advances in the foundational and continuous learning of psychological knowledge.
iii:
Promote the scientist-practitioner model to bridge the gap between applied psychological research and intervention.
iv:
Encourage psychologists to routinely evaluate the outcomes of all professional activities, to ensure the public interest is foremost.
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5 Excel EXCEL as a regulator, implementing state-of-the-art operations, leading-edge technologies and elegant, efficient and accessible systems.
The College of Alberta Psychologists establishes and implements the minimum entry-to-practice requirements, ethical principles and standards of practice, to ensure psychologists possess and demonstrate the foundational knowledge and skills to safely engage in the profession while meeting the public interest. Notwithstanding, the College aspires to engage in best practices in all administrative, regulatory and professional activities. In this light, the College serves as an exemplar to students, members, the profession and the public at large. STRATEGY
i:
Excel as the first point of contact with the public and the profession by being accessible, respectful and informative.
ii:
Excel as a voice for regulated psychology by providing information that is relevant, easily understood, accurate and timely to the public and the profession.
iii:
Excel as a regulator by ensuring all actions are governed by the principles of transparency, objectivity, impartiality and fairness.
iv:
Excel as a regulator by promoting organizational values of continuous, collaborative and reflective learning and innovation.
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Excel as an employer by striving to achieve best practices in human resource management and development.
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6 Encourage ENCOURAGE and inspire psychologists to incorporate the principles of
continuous learning, self-care and work-life balance into their professional identities, thereby exemplifying the values of the profession. Through the development and implementation of a broad and holistic continuing competence program that recognizes the importance of professional growth and personal well-being, the interests of the public and the profession are served simultaneously. This culture will be nurtured and sustained through the provision, promotion and recognition that continuous learning and personal growth activities are fundamental to maintaining both competency and the capacity to provide services unfettered by cognitive, emotional or physiological conditions that may inadvertently jeopardize the public interest. STRATEGY
i:
Encourage all psychologists to engage in professional self-reflection and assessment.
ii:
Encourage all psychologists to be mindful of their own changing uniqueness and needs throughout their professional lifespans.
iii:
Encourage all psychologists to maintain active contact with colleagues, allowing for peer consultation, guidance and support.
iv:
Encourage all psychologists, through the development of specific standards of practice, guidelines and supports, to be mindful of their obligations to themselves, their colleagues and, most of all, the public in determining their ability to provide professional services.
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Encourage all psychologists to participate in the College’s Continuing Competence Program throughout their professional lifespans.
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