Increasing Access to Mental Health Care Through Government-Funded Psychotherapy: The Perspectives of Clinicians

The lack of accessibility to mental health care in Canada has been described as a silent crisis with the Canadian Psychological Association proposing possible actions that could be taken to achieve increased accessibility (Peachey, Hicks, & Adams, 2013). Efforts to make psychotherapy more accessible have been implemented in both the United Kingdom (U. K.) and Australian health care systems through government-funded services (Clark et al., 2009; Hickie & Groom, 2002). The aim of the present study was to document the attitudes of psychologists and psychotherapists licensed to practice in Quebec toward accessibility to psychotherapy and government-funded psychotherapy programs. Participants (N = 1,275) completed an online questionnaire; results indicated that 77% of the sample strongly agreed that accessibility to psychotherapy should be increased. Participants indicated that priority for government-funded psychotherapy should be given to those with diagnosable mental health disorders, particularly mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, and psychological functioning related to health, injury and illness, and family difficulties. Participants indicated that treatment priority should be based on severity of illness. There was stronger agreement that clinicians working within a government-funded psychotherapy program should be paid on a session-to-session basis as opposed to receiving a yearly salary; to be able to set their own fee; and to have freedom to choose the appropriate psychotherapeutic approach (e. g., cognitive behavioural therapy [CBT], emotion-focused therapy [EFT]) and appropriate treatment materials (e. g., psychoeducational handouts) to be used in treatment. Other results concerning the structure of a government-funded psychotherapy program and the implications for increasing accessibility in a Canadian context are discussed.