Provision of psychological care within Rural, Northern, and Remote (RNR) Canadian communities necessitates being comfortable with being visible within the community. For individuals who live and work within RNR communities, overlapping relationships are unavoidable, and can create challenges for psychologists. The CPA Code of Ethics provides guidance on ethical navigation of dual roles and relationships, and the CPA Committee on Ethics sought to update this guidance specific to RNR communities. To this end, a working group was established consisting of psychologists who live and work in RNR communities. This presentation will review the literature as it relates to overlapping roles within psychological service provision for RNR, and provide an overview of completed work by the working group. Opportunity to discuss implications for RNR practice will be provided through the use of vignettes that illustrate common dual relationships that exist for psychologists practicing within RNR communities.
Amanda Lints-Martindale, PhD., C. Psych., grew up on a farm in rural Manitoba, so working and living within a rural setting is a satisfying fit with her personal and professional values. She completed her undergraduate degree at Brandon University and graduate degrees at the University of Regina, with a predoctoral residency through the Calgary Consortium in Clinical Psychology. She is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Clinical Health Psychology within the Max Rady College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba, with a cross appointment as consulting clinical psychologist with Southern Health-Santé Sud' community mental health program. She is a primary supervisor for the Rural Stream of the Clinical Health Psychology Predoctoral Residency, one of the only CPA-accredited rurally-focused psychology residency sites in Canada. She also serves as the Rural Lead for the Department of Clinical Health Psychology, and is currently the past-chair for the R&N Section of CPA. Dr. Lints-Martindale co-chairs the Working Group on Dual Roles within Rural and Northern Canadian Psychology, an initiative that is in partnership with the Committee on Ethics within CPA. Her clinical and research interests focus on rural psychological practice, with an emphasis on improved access to psychological services for rural Canadians.
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