There are many reasons for seeing a therapist. A common misconception about therapy is that it’s only for treating intense mental issues or illnesses. In actuality, therapists provide support in many ways to individuals who need extra help or just want to have an interesting chat about themselves.

Therapy can be used as a space for safe self-expression and exploration; learning and understanding more about yourself; challenging yourself and what you know; information and resource gathering; identifying, setting, and achieving goals; learning new skills, strategies, and coping techniques; seeking guidance and clarity; processing and healing painful experiences; or just seeking a professional perspective. Your experience can be as practical or exploratory as you’d like or need it to be.

While there are limitations to what a psychotherapist could provide, in general, there are no concerns “too big” or “too small.”

Our therapists are independently practicing registered psychotherapists. This means we have completed all previous requirements for RPs plus successfully completing over 1,000 direct client contact hours and 150 hours of clinical supervision.

Prior categories for RPs and their requirements include:

Registered Psychotherapists (Qualifying) :
Completed a master’s level program accepted by the CRPO or demonstrated comparable education.
Completed Professional Practice & Jurisprudence eLearning Module.

Registered Psychotherapist:
Successfully pass the Registration Examination.
Successfully complete 450 direct client contact hours and 100 clinical supervision hours.

RPs are specifically trained in psychotherapy, engage in ongoing supervision, and are required to demonstrate continued professional development through routine assessments by the CRPO.

RPs cannot provide a diagnosis or prescribe medication but can provide recommendations if they notice the need for additional support from a Psychologist or Psychiatrist. Psychologists and Psychiatrists require a Ph.D. with the latter focusing on medical treatment.

Social workers cover a broad range of community support and those with master’s degrees can choose to focus their development and support around providing therapy. Psychotherapy-specific training is not mandatory for their initial or ongoing registration.

Psychotherapists are unable to assess and diagnose but here are some available options:

• Some family doctors and walk-ins are able to provide assessments, diagnoses, and medication for certain disorders such as anxiety and depression.

• A referral to a psychiatrist or psychologist by a general practitioner may be covered under the Ontario Health Insurance Program (OHIP) if they work in a public healthcare setting.

• Private practice psychologists and other private agencies can assess on a fee-for-service basis. To access a private psychologist, a person may self-refer, or be referred by their general practitioner. These fees would be out of pocket or may be funded by a private insurance plan (e.g., employment benefits)

• For ADHD only:

https://www.talkwithfrida.com/
https://findfocusnow.com/
https://beyondadhd.ca/
https://adultadhdcentre.com/
for BC, Alberta, and Ontario

https://www.getmaple.ca/providers/adhd/
https://adultadhdcentre.com/
for Quebec

Note: User experiences will vary- we recommend researching to find the best option for your needs and proceeding at your own discretion. Some options and practitioners are able to assess and diagnose but not prescribe and manage medication. Some have longer wait times and more intensive assessment processes than others. Private agencies’ and practitioners’ prices vary

It varies from person to person.

We believe that therapy is helpful for everyone and for everything, but we don’t believe that everyone has to see a therapist frequently forever. We have long-term and short-term relationships with our clients; some we see consistently and others check in here or there. Our goal is for you to feel empowered day-to-day while knowing there’s reliable, caring, and trustworthy support available whenever you need it.

Our therapists will also provide recommendations and observations along the way to help you decide what feels right.

Therapy sessions are usually 50-60 minutes. Longer and short durations are available, but something you’d discuss with your therapist to find the right fit for you.

Individuals typically start with weekly sessions and then space things out over time. However, this can vary depending on your needs, schedule, mental/emotional capacity, and whether there are risks or crises involved. We trust our clients to book at a frequency that works best for them but we will also provide helpful recommendations along the way.

RPs adhere to strict confidentiality and consent rules set by the CRPO which you could find here.

To summarize, we cannot share any identifying information about you or confirm that we are in contact with you unless you provide written consent. The limitations, and when we would need to break confidentiality, include: when we have reasonable grounds to believe that you’re in imminent risk of harming yourself or someone else; when we have reasonable grounds to believe that a child requires protection due to abuse or neglect; to facilitate an investigation or legal proceeding; during emergency situations where the client is unable to provide consent; if a complaint is made to the CRPO; and if we have grounds to believe that a client who is a healthcare provider has abused a patient/client.

We use Jane App to manage our clinic- it’s an online platform for health and wellness practitioners that is PIPEDA & HIPAA compliant.

You can access it through a web browser (no download required) or you could download the app on your phone.

Creating an account is very quick and easy. After that, you can schedule and reschedule sessions, receive reminder notifications by email and phone, process payments, and keep track of your activity.

For video sessions, Jane will email you a link to a virtual room.

For phone sessions, Jane will still send you a link but your practitioner will call the number on your file from a private number.

We accept e-transfers or credit card payments. Payments are processed and receipts are sent out online using Jane.

If a credit card is added to your account then you or your therapist can process the payment after your session and an invoice is emailed automatically. Your CC info is kept private and we can only see the last 4 digits and card type.

You can also e-transfer payments by email. Your therapist will confirm the payment on Jane and email your invoice within 24 hours.