Welcome to the Manitoba Psychological Society (MPS) Webpage. We thank you for taking the time to learn more about our association whether you are a psychologist, psychology student, other professional or community member. As you can see, we are a non-profit, professional association committed to advocating for the further study and use of psychology in Manitoba.
I am very excited to be starting my term as President of MPS. I joined the board in 2020, serving as Diversity Director for the last 4 years. In March of 2023, I was please to accept the role of President-Elect. MPS has a long history, with many great leaders in the Manitoba Psychology community who have stepped into various roles over the years. I am honoured to be included in this list and looking forward to helping represent the practice of Psychology in our Province.
In the last four years on the board I have spent time listening, learning and gaining knowledge to develop my skills for the leadership of this association. I truly appreciate and acknowledge the wisdom of our current board members and our outgoing President (and now current Past-President and Advocacy Director) Dr. Jo Ann Unger and our Executive Director, Dr. Karen Dyck. The hard work from our board has had a significant impact thus far and has resulted in many great steps towards advocacy, especially for increasing the number of training and practice spaces for Psychologists in our Province. The recent Legislative Reception and follow up meetings in May 2024 with the Honorable Ministers of Health and Homelessness, Housing and Addictions indicated that the work of Psychologists is honoured and valued in our Government. We look forward to continued collaboration and connection.
In my role of Diversity Director, I had the chance to be involved with the work taking place in various groups focused on making steps towards Reconciliation and increasing diversity in our profession. The Pathways working group had a focus on increasing the number of Indigenous graduate students in Psychology and examining how we can gain cultural literacy to ensure these diverse students have a culturally safe environment in which to learn. MPS will continue to examine our own responses to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report and the recommendations that arose from the Psychological Association of Manitoba TRC committee report.
I am looking forward to my term as President, as we continue to build on the work of previous years. Our committees are hard at work, as they speak up for our community and our membership on important psychological issues such as access to appropriate psychological services including both behavioural health and mental health care.
I would like to encourage all of our MPS members to become involved in our profession in some way. This could include joining a committee, joining the board, coming to MPS related events, or sharing information in your place of work.
Thank you again for your interest in our website and in the Manitoba Psychological Society. Please feel free to contact us should you have any questions or would like to become more involved.
Dr. Lindsay Woods, C. Psych.
MPS President
