The Centre for Psychological Services and Research (CPSR) has three functions :

1. Offering training for doctoral students in clinical psychology.
2. Providing psychological services, in both English and French, to the Ottawa-Gatineau area. We are committed to create a safe and welcoming environment regardless of our clients’ origin, identity or family context (e.g., culture, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability).
3. Conducting research.

The Centre for Psychological Services and Research (CPSR) has a mandate to provide evidence-based psychological services to the community in a safe and welcoming environment regardless of our clients’ origin, identity or family context. Its mission it also to train doctoral students from the CPA-accredited doctoral program in clinical psychology at the University of Ottawa and the CPA-accredited pre-doctoral internship program in clinical psychology, and to conduct research to advance psychological science with a particular emphasis on mental health care delivery. Thus, CPSR’s mission focuses on service delivery to the community, training of clinical psychology doctoral students and interns, and research. The School of Psychology, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the University’s central administration support us in achieving this mission. We are not only accountable to them; we also benefit from their recognition of the importance of our work as part of the broader missions of the School, the Faculty and the University.

During the past year, CPSR staff, trainees and supervisors have continued to work hard to advance each of the three aspects of our mandate. Regarding our training mandate, we provided training in professional practice to 50 practicum students from the University of Ottawa’s doctoral program in clinical psychology and 8 full-time interns, 7 of whom are enrolled in the University of Ottawa’s doctoral program and one from the University of Regina. These trainees provided services to our clients under the expert supervision of 33 registered clinical psychologists who are either regular professors in the School of Psychology or professional psychologists from different practice settings in the community. Regarding our service mandate, during the 2018-2019 fiscal year we received nearly 600 requests for service, and provided services to 414 individuals, couples and families in English and French. Very often people with mental health concerns are not able to access care through the public system and are unable to afford services in the private sector. CPSR offers evidence-based mental health services on a sliding scale to match clients’ financial situations. Half of our clients paid less than our full fees for services, which are already significantly discounted as compared to current market prices. With the benefit of the recommendations of the organizational cross-cultural competency program evaluation conducted last year, we have begun the process of improving accessibility of our services to diverse groups of individuals from the community. We are proud to be able to contribute to the community in which we are situated including to University of Ottawa students. Regarding our research mandate, we continue to develop and support research initiatives, many of which are directly related to treatment outcomes at CPSR

As Director, it is a joy to be able to lead such a strong team of people training the next generation of psychologists and helping members of our community achieve well-being.

Andrea Ashbaugh, Ph.D., C.Psych.
Associate Professor
Interim Director of CPSR