A national imperative: Public funding of psychological services

This article discusses the history of Canadian psychology and the publicly funded health care system. Reasons are provided for the Current situation, in which psychology is largely riot publicly funded, and the current situation in psychology is contrasted with that history, to make the argument that modifications are possible. Different models and methods of funding, related to service providers, service recipients, and the actual services themselves are reviewed. An argument is made that public funding should be provided to clinical psychologists who provide empirically supported set-vices to patients with diagnosable mental health problems. The article concludes with a response to some anticipated criticisms of tire position taken, and ideas about political advocacy to advance the agenda of public funding of psychological services.