Please be very careful with this so-called professional counselling practice. Both of the girls who work here hold only bachelor’s degrees, one being a bachelor’s degree in health sciences, which is not even a psychology or social work degree. It is NOT common practice within the mental health sector to be working as a therapist in private practice (and with very vulnerable populations, especially children) with only a bachelor’s degree. At the very minimum, a master’s degree from a respected university is required, plus supervision from someone long-established in the psychology field. Even more important, neither Ashlee or Abigail are registered psychologists or registered social workers from what I can gather.
My wife (who was a psychologist in BC before switching fields) and I reached out to Ashlee for counselling for our daughter and after looking closely at her website what we found was fairly disconcerting. Ashlee presents her credentials as being a “non-registered member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association” and a “verified therapist with Psychology Today”. For the average person without training in clinical or counselling psychology, these designations may seem relevant or even important, however they are not. She is misleading the public here. And this is extremely unethical.
Being a non-registered member of the CCPA means that she is NOT REGISTERED, because she does not have the appropriate education and experience to become registered. And the CCPA is NOT a regulatory body that oversees and regulates the sector, like the ‘Saskatchewan College of Psychologists’ is for professional psychologists. The CCPA is merely a member organization. And ‘Psychology Today’ is simply a third party marketing website that nearly anyone can pay to have a profile on. These are not hard-earned professional therapeutic designations with regulating bodies! Ashlee is misrepresenting herself as well as the value of these titles, which means she is being blatantly dishonest and also misleading the public.
As well, the Aspen & Oak website states that Ashlee “works in a teaching and research capacity at the University of Saskatchewan, and has done so for roughly ten years”. This is NOT TRUE! My wife and I reached out to the University of Saskatchewan, specifically to the College of psychiatry and the departments of social work and psychology and she does not teach in any of these colleges. She is not involved in conducting research either. The university is now investigating these claims.
Transparency and not misrepresenting your affiliations or your work experience is basic ethical practice within the mental health sector. And marketing oneself as a therapist/counsellor with only a bachelor’s degree and without proper training, education, competence, experience, and professional affiliation with a regulatory college is highly unethical and even dangerous, especially if trying to work with children. This place is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Please be extremely careful here.