Advocates call on the Alberta government to regulate counsellors to protect clients
CBC
Advocates are heightening calls for the Alberta government to regulate counsellors after a former family doctor in northern Alberta, who was barred from practising in the province, is now taking appointments as an addictions counsellor.
Dr. Brianne Hudson had her medical practice permit cancelled in December 2023 by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) after she was found to have committed sexual abuse when she admitted to being in a relationship with a patient.
The former 37-year-old patient became paraplegic after a workplace accident, experienced homelessness and incarceration and struggled with substance use, according to details from a hearing conducted by the CPSA.
Hudson said she had no contact with the patient from April 2021 onward.
The former patient died of a drug overdose in his apartment in August 2022.
CBC News requested comment from Hudson by phone and by email about the capacity in which she is offering counselling services at her business, Within Balance, but did not hear back.
An Alberta corporation registration search shows Brianne Hudson is the sole director and shareholder of Within Balance Inc. The registration shows the company's name changed on Jan. 25; it was previously named Brianne Hudson Professional Corporation. A searchable database of therapists and counsellors operated by Psychology Today also listed Hudson's credentials in mid-January, but is no longer available.
Laura Hanh, interim CEO and registrar with the Association Of Counselling Therapy of Alberta (ACTA), said the situation demonstrates why regulation is needed to protect the public.
"It's really quite sad that Albertans do not have basic health safety to ensure that their counsellor is trained, ethical and accountable," Hanh said in an interview.
The ACTA was set up after the previous NDP government passed Bill 30, the Mental Health Services Protection Act, in December 2018. ACTA aims to lay the groundwork to become the College of Counselling Therapy of Alberta (CCTA).
The college would be a regulatory health body that would be granted the legislated authority to oversee the conduct of those required to register with the college, such as counselling therapists, addiction counsellors, and child and youth care counsellors.
The association says the main hurdle in having regulatory powers is the Alberta government's delay in proclaiming the bill.
That proclamation was expected in the summer of 2021, but by September of that year, then-minister of health Tyler Shandro informed the association that creating the CCTA was no longer a priority for his government.
CBC requested an interview with Dan Williams, minister of mental health and addictions, on the progress of creating the college.
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