WSIB’s
Community Mental Health Program
BY JOHN SNIDER, CO-CHAIR, WSIB COMMITTEE
In April 2016, after considerable campaigning from many first responder groups, the Ontario government enacted presumptive legislation for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Since the presumptive legislation, the WSIB committee has assisted and supported almost 300 members in filing compensable mental health claims. In the first six months after the presumptive PTSD legislation, there were a large number of claims filed. What quickly became obvious from these initial claims, is that there were a number of members already accessing therapy for PTSD; however, due to limitations of coverage under our extended health benefits, and/or the red tape and discriminatory past policies from WSIB, which restricted access to care, many members had chosen to fight their injury in secret and often were paying out-of-pocket for treatment. To this day, we continue to assist members in filing suspected PTSD claims at a rate of 1 new claim per week (on average). Contrary to the firehall rumour mill, we do NOT have 300 members off work on WSIB for compensable mental health injuries. At any given time, there are approximately 50 members off on WSIB Loss of Earnings for mental health injuries. Many members with approved PTSD claims never miss a day of work and receive therapy on a weekly basis. Sadly, due to the stigmas around mental health in the first responder community, many members wait far too long to reach out for help. There is a direct correlation between how long you have been suffering PTSD (before getting treatment) and how long you may need to be off to get the injury under control.
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So what happens when you file a possible mental health claim with WSIB? Shortly after the presumptive legislation was enacted, WSIB instituted a program called Community Mental Health Program (CMHP) with the purpose of streamlining access to a psychologist for an initial assessment and ongoing treatment. In general, the program has worked well for our members. The CMHP has allowed psychological assessments to be approved quickly and members to access approved psychologists for the initial assessment and treatment in a timely manner. Finding a therapist that works for you! WSIB has a list of pre-approved psychologists, so members can be directed to psychologists that work with WSIB clients under the CMHP. These are independent mental health professionals. They do NOT work for WSIB. The only issue with the pre-approved list is that there is no way to find psychologists that are familiar or work with first responders. This is a very important criterion, as not all therapists are comfortable or experienced with the realities of the first responder traumatic exposures. We encourage anyone looking for a therapist to engage with the TFS Peer Support Team or the TPFFA WSIB Committee for help in finding a suitable therapist. Ultimately, a relationship with a therapist is personal. We have had members rave about a psychologist and yet other members have not been happy with the same psychologist. This therapeutic relationship is based on trust and if you are not comfortable with your mental health professional, you should (and can) find another that works for you. We are often asked what type of mental health professional you should look for. In addition to the mental health professional having experience with first responders, we strongly recommend that you seek out a psychologist or a mental health professional that works under the direct clinical supervision of a psychologist. Psychologists and Psychiatrists are the only two regulated health professionals that can diagnose mental health injuries in Ontario (and that is required for a WSIB claim). Vo l u m e 1 5 | I s s u e 2 | F I R E WAT CH 38
