What should I except after making a complaint ?

Opening of a file

Once you have made a complaint, you will be sent an acknowledgement of receipt. Treating your request for an inquiry may take about six months. The Office of the Syndic will periodically report back to you about the status of the inquiry. Your request may be transferred fairly quickly to the professional inspection committee if your complaint is related to professional skills rather than ethics.

Inquiry

When the syndic is ready to start the investigation, he will notify the psychologist. Once the psychologist has been notified that an inquiry is being held, he can no longer contact you without previous authorization from the syndic. We recommend that you do not try to contact him and that you notify us if there is any deviation from this rule.

To carry out his investigation, the syndic who is responsible for the case will examine the psychologist’s file. The syndic may meet the psychologist, the plaintiff, and witnesses, and will sometimes call on various experts in order to gain an accurate understanding of the facts in the case.

Outcome of the inquiry

At the end of his inquiry, the syndic may decide:

• not to lodge a complaint with the Disciplinary Council
• to refer the case to the Professional Inspection Committee
• to attempt to conciliation between the person requesting the inquiry and the psychologist
• to lodge a complaint with the Disciplinary Council

In the first case, the syndic may conclude that there has been no unethical conduct and close the file. If derogatory acts are observed, he may ask for the psychologist’s cooperation in identifying non-disciplinary measures to correct or improve the situation. For instance:

• The syndic may provide the psychologist with recommendations or warnings.
• The psychologist may voluntarily undertake to receive training or supervision, curtail his practice, correct certain problems, etc.

Regardless of the nature of the decision, the syndic will provide both you and the psychologist with written notification. If you are not satisfied with the syndic’s decision not to lodge a complaint, you may, within 30 days of the decision, ask the Review Committee to give its opinion on the case. Also, if the complaint does not deal with every aspect of your request for an inquiry, you may ask the Review Committee to examine elements that were not included in the complaint.