Psychology Clinic

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Welcome to the Psychology Clinic at Queen's University

The Psychology Clinic at Queen's University was established in 2005.

Masking Policy Update

Effective Monday, June 19, 2023, masks are no longer mandatory for most circumstances at the Queen’s Psychology Clinic.

Routine masking is strongly advised for patients at higher risk for more serious outcomes from COVID-19 infection, and please refrain from attending the Clinic if you are experiencing symptoms. All individuals will be supported in their decision to wear a mask, and Queen’s Psychology Clinic staff, students, and faculty will adhere to patient requests for masking. Free masks are available at the Clinic, and Queen’s University is a mask-friendly campus.

We ask that our community be considerate and respectful of one another’s decisions regarding masking. Public Health information for the Kingston region can be accessed through KFL&A Public Health

Update to Services

At this time, we are accepting referrals for the following services:

Individual Therapy Services We are accepting a limited number of referrals for individual therapy in Fall 2023 and Winter 2024
Adult ASD Social Skills Group
Perinatal Mental Health Service
Sex and Relationship Therapy Service

To submit an electronic or paper referral, please visit Make a Referral on the left-hand menu.

The Clinic does not have psychiatric or emergency services on hand and therefore we do not provide services when there is a risk of frequent or severe crisis or involvement with the law. If you require urgent support please contact your local mental health crisis line. In Kingston and Frontenac you can call 613-544-4229.

Privacy Policy

We recognize that using the internet and other forms of electronic communication can help increase accessibility and reduce barriers to accessing our services, as well as allow us to obtain and respond to requests for services in a more timely and efficient manner. That being said, it is also important that individuals and service providers are aware of the potential risks associated with using electronic forms of communication to share personal information.

The staff and students at the Psychology Clinic at Queen’s understand the importance of your privacy and are committed to protecting it. We collect, use, disclose, retain and dispose of your personal health information in accordance with the Personal Health Information Protection Act (2004, PHIPA). Before proceeding to our electronic referral, please review the following information so that we know you are aware of these risks and alternative options to accessing our services. We will be collecting personal health information from the electronic referral form and using your personal email to communicate and book a subsequent phone screen.

What does the referral process involve?

Disclosing personal information such as contact information (e.g. telephone numbers and email) and details about the reason for referral. Our electronic referrals are collected and stored in a secure data management system that is protected by firewall system and updated through regular vulnerability scans. This data management system uses the email address you provide to send an immediate automated email confirming your referral and another email to invite you to a phone screen. If you proceed with services at the Clinic, the same system may be used to collect further information to support the services you receive.
A copy of each referral is downloaded for storage on to the password protected and encrypted Queen’s Psychology Clinic server.
The phone screen booking takes place through a secure practice management platform. You will be asked to create an account to book this appointment and any subsequent appointments. This electronic platform will also be used to collect contact information, complete any relevant consent forms, and provide details regarding service and fees.
We will communicate with you over email about appointment scheduling and fees, unless you indicate that you would prefer to be contacted by telephone. Your personal health information will not be shared via email without your permission.

Risks associated with electronic communication include, but are not limited to:

The privacy and security of email communication cannot be guaranteed.
It is impossible to verify the true identity of the sender and guarantee that only the intended recipient will read the email once it has been sent.
Emails can introduce viruses that damage or disrupt a computer or system.
Email messages can be modified, forwarded, intercepted and shared, without your knowledge or permission, making it particularly vulnerable to fraud, privacy breaches, and unintended disclosures to third parties.
The risks of interceptions or errors in sending email or text messages can be significant.
Email messages are permanent. Even after deleting copies of the email, back-up copies may exist on a computer, with an Internet Service Provider (ISP), on a server in another country, or elsewhere in cyberspace.
Your employer may have a legal right to inspect and keep emails that pass through their system if you use a work device or account to communicate with us.
Email messages may be subject to access requests and used as evidence in a court of law.

We may use or disclose your personal health information to:

Provide psychology services to you.
Plan, administer and manage our internal operations (for example, wait list prioritization, choosing clinicians to work with you and services to offer you).
Evaluate the quality and usefulness of our services.
Monitor wait times, patterns of referrals, and other statistics related to our services.
Provide clinical training and supervision.
Support you in accessing other services and supports. With your consent, we can share information with other service providers.
Comply with legal and regulatory requirements. We may be required to share your information if
- there are concerns about someone at risk of serious bodily harm,
- there is a vulnerable person in need of protection,
- there are concerns about abuse by a health care provider, or
- there is a subpoena authorizing its release.

We protect your personal health information by:

Only asking for information we believe is needed to provide you with clinical services.
Ensuring that only people involved with providing you services have access to your information.
Keeping your information in a secure, locked area, or in a secure electronic format (encrypted).
Retaining your file for at minimum 10 years after our final service or your 18th birthday, whichever is later.
Asking for your consent before using your information for research.

You can access your personal health information:

You have the right to see the information in your file. If we believe there is a possibility of harm to you or someone else by seeing the information, we may support you with accessing the information in a way that we feel protects your safety.
If you believe that information in your record is not accurate, you may make a written request to correct your record. If we do not agree with the correction you request, you may file a notice of disagreement into your record.

You can ask questions about the privacy policies:

All inquiries, questions and concerns about privacy policies may be addressed to the Queen's University Psychology Department Manager.

Dr. Sheelagh Jamieson
Director, Psychology Clinic at Queen's
613-533-2460
s.jamieson@queensu.ca

If you prefer to speak with someone other than the Director concerns and questions can be directed to Queen’s University’s Chief Privacy Officer

Carolyn Heald
613-533-6095
access.privacy@queensu.ca

You have the right to complain to The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario via www.ipc.on.ca.

Staff

Graduate students in clinical psychology provide the majority of the clinical services at the Psychology Clinic at Queen’s.

These graduate students are under the direct supervision of registered psychologists. Every supervisor is a member of the College of Psychologists, as such we follow the standards of practice established by the College of Psychologists of Ontario.

Our Clinical Psychology Program is accredited by the Canadian Psychological Association.