Board Nominations

R. Psych. Alberta (#4219)

In my role as director of Mental Health Solutions for a large insurance company, Director of Professional Affairs for the Psychological Association of Alberta, and Registered Psychologist in the province of Alberta I am aware of the many challenges faced by our practitioner community. I am passionate about the unique value of psychology and our leadership role in the healthcare ecosystem. I am of the firm view that psychology has a responsibility to continue leading by providing evidence-based treatment for Canadians and for practitioners to be guided by the discipline’s rich tradition of empirical excellence. As a member of the board, I commit to being a strong voice for the needs of the discipline by working collaboratively with fellow board members to fully animate the vision and mission of the association. It is my strongly held view that through the efforts of CPA’s three pillars the psychology community can bring considerable wisdom to guide and influence policy at a time of considerable challenge for Canadian society.

I have remained active in the Canadian Psychological Association since my term on the board in (2017- 2020) through my membership on the Professional Affairs Committee, various tasks forces and most recently as co-editor of Psynopsis on Navigating the Insurance Landscape. I look forward to serving on the board to continue to advocate for the needs of practitioners within an increasingly fractured mental health landscape and provide a strong voice for this pillar.

Dr. Mitch Colp is the Chief Executive Officer of Hexagon Psychology and a Registered Psychologist who practices in 9 out of the 13 Canadian provinces and territories. He comes to the Director Representing Practice nomination with unique perspectives as being a practicing clinician, teaching academic, publishing scholar, and bold advocate for mental health care. Having grown-up in a small fishing hamlet in Nova Scotia, Dr. Colp has a passion for increasing mental health access for underserved, rural, and remote communities. He plans to engage in activities that look towards the future of psychology and reduce wait-times for mental health care. These activities include but is not limited to:

1. Advocating for the use of tele-psychological services as a training and practice standard.
2. Exploring how cross-jurisdictional practice barriers can be reduced.
3. Increasing the availability of cultural competency training that support clinical work within underserved, rural, and remote marginalized communities.
4. Working alongside training institutions, provincial regulators, and associations to address the mass shortage of psychologists found across Canada.
5. Developing an early career mentorship pathway that can support young professionals in psychology gain connection and guidance from seasoned professionals.
6. Protecting the unique and restricted roles provided by psychologists.

On the lighter side, Dr. Colp is an avid curler and dog-lover - although he dislikes the cold and is allergic to dogs. He lives in Airdrie, AB with his wife Jennifer, enjoys playing the guitar, and believes that in an alternative reality he would have wound up being a DJ.

Highest degree: Masters Degree. I am currently a PhD Candidate.

Current position: Founder & President of Invictus Psychology & Consulting Inc. (since 2003)

I am currently the co-chair of CPA’s CSIOP EDI Leadership Committee. I am also a member of the CPA’s

VIP Group, The CPA’s Black Psychology Group, The CPA’s Women’s Group.

Licences: C.Psych. (Ontario), R.Psych. (Alberta), R.Psych. (Courtesy Register) (Nova Scotia), Registered

Psychologist (South Africa), CPHR (Ret.),

Credentials: EMDR Certified

Major Awards:

• John C Service Award (2021): Canadian Psychologists Association (CPA)
• Key Contributor (2020): Psychologists Association of Alberta
• Recipient of PHD scholarship: University of South Africa (2016- Present)
• Volunteer of the month: Woods Homes (2015)
• Recipient: Best Participant Award, Gordon Institute of Business Sciences (2005)
• Recipient: Best Syndicate Award, Gordon Institute of Business Sciences (2005)

I am a seasoned Psychologist with 20 years of experience specialising in I/O Psychology and Counselling Psychology. I am also an HR professional with over 30 years of experience in all aspects of Human Resources. I also have experience in Change Management and Human Factors Management. I was born in Apartheid South Africa, was an Anti-Apartheid activist and was part of the first wave of BIPOC intelligentsia in Post Apartheid South Africa to transform the country to a democracy. I am a domestic violence survivor and thriver and a single mom. I immigrated to Canada in 2006. Nelson Mandela and my lived experiences under apartheid and post-apartheid, have shaped, sharpened, and refined my advocacy, activism, and social justice skills. I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, deep-seated commitment, leadership, passion, insight, activism, and resiliency to this role. I am keenly aware of the nuances, challenges, and opportunities that societal change and social justice work entails. I have successfully collaborated with numerous stakeholders and have contributed to several societal changes as well as social justice policy and legislative changes initiatives in South Africa and in Canada. For e.g. In South Africa, I was part of the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration’s Project Secretariat tasked with the creation of the organisation. In Canada, I collaborated with community partners to successfully introduce amendments to the OHS Alberta legislation to address psychological violence in the workplace in order to protect employees from being exposed to hazardous work environments due to workplace psychological violence. The legislation was successfully amended.

My interests are Policy, Legislative and Societal and Systemic Change; Social Justice (including AntiRacism; Anti-Violence); Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Domestic Violence and Resiliency, BIPOC Psychology; Women’s Issues

My goals are to leverage my knowledge and experience to advocate for the psychology profession; to inform societal change and social justice; and to be a voice for those who do not have one.

It is an honour to be nominated to run for Director-at-Large for CPA, where I have been a member for 9 years.

I am a clinical, rehabilitation neuropsychologist registered in British Columbia. I earned my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a specialisation in neuropsychology at University of Victoria after I completed a B.Sc. at University of Victoria and an M.A. at Queen’s University. I completed my predoctoral internship in Calgary. My research has been in the psychometric assessment of executive dysfunction.

I have served on the Board of Directors of the British Columbia Psychological Association for the past three years and am currently the Past President. I am also the voting member of the Council of Professional Associations in Psychology. Through these leadership positions I have learned a great deal about psychology advocacy, and I continue to develop important and meaningful relationships with peer psychologists across the country and in the US. My current advocacy focus is to drive provincial legislation for the integration of psychologists into primary care team settings. I have personally benefitted from working alongside other healthcare professionals in a healthcare environment and I believe our patients are best served when we use science to make sure people see the right professional at the right time using an integrative team approach.

Having worked in an inpatient and outpatient neurorehabilitation settings for approximately 5 years where I supervised trainees, created an implemented educational and cognitive behavioural therapy groups and competed hundreds of neuropsychological assessments, I am now working in my own private practice where I primarily serve adults with executive function challenges as a result of a developmental (e.g. ADHD) or acquired neurological conditions (e.g. TBI). I have recently joined forces with an entrepreneur to offer group education programs for adults with ADHD and their loved ones. We have also developed a mental and behavioural health software platform that I am excited to share with other psychologists and physicians to streamline their assessments.

When the pandemic started, I worked with BCPA to offer my experience in disaster response and psychological first aid. This led to other opportunities within BCPA eventually leading to roles on committees and on the Board of Directors. It’s been quite a change from working alone in my private practice and I’m grateful for the collegial and respectful relationships we have developed.

I am humbled to be nominated for a role within CPA’s Board of Directors and I am very grateful for the opportunity to advocate for Canadian psychologists and the people we serve as a Director-at Large for CPA.

I am currently the Head of Psychology (Interim) at the University of Guelph-Humber. I hold a Ph.D in Psychology (University of Aberdeen, UK). As an academic-administrator, I have maintained a program of research with the support of undergraduate research assistants, taught several courses in Psychology and research methods across the Greater Toronto Area including Honours Thesis courses, and chaired, co-chaired, or been actively involved in several university services including mentorship of students. Since 2016, I have served as the Chair of the Brain and Cognitive Science Section and the EduTrac Working Group (reporting to the Education and Training Committee). The EduTrac Working Group created surveys for students and employers to better understand their perspectives on career preparedness through curricular experiences, university services, and mentorship. In addition, I am also actively involved in the steering of the HRSJ Committee and the Co-Chair of the Climate Change Working Group.

With a continuing program of research primarily focused on face processing, an interest in myriad career paths for psychology students, and valuing of strong basic and applied psychological science for the betterment of society, I believe I have the required knowledge, skills, and characteristics to meaningful contribute to the CPA board. Specifically, in addition to collaborating with colleagues on the board on shared interests, I would advocate for consideration of application of psychological science, exploration of career paths for students, and advancement of important interests in the discipline (e.g., research funding, authenticity of curricular and extracurricular experiences, and support for contract faculty).