Office Hours

Monday to Thursday: 8:30 am – 8:30 pm

Friday & Saturday: 8:30 am – 4:30 pm

Your first appointment

When you call to make your first appointment, an intake worker will ask you a few questions to match you with an appropriate counsellor. They respect your privacy and only share your information with the staff members who need to know, such as your counsellor. The intake worker will also explain a few of our policies and discuss your fee.  Our fees are set with a sliding scale based on income, so the intake worker will need to ask about your gross household income as well as any insurance or benefits that may cover your fee for counselling.

Please come 15 minutes early to your first appointment to fill in the intake forms.  Some of the forms may be downloaded and filled out ahead of time. (link to forms page)

When arriving, you will first pay for your appointment and be asked to fill out the forms. Once you return the forms to the receptionist, your counsellor will come out to meet you and show you to their office.

At the first session, you and your counsellor will plan future appointments. Continuity of treatment is an important part of gaining all the benefits of counselling so please plan ahead in scheduling appointments.

The length of one session is generally 50 minutes, leaving the counsellor 10 minutes to make notes before the next session.

Cancellations and Missed Appointments

Your appointment requires your therapist to reserve a significant amount of time exclusively for your benefit. Because it is reserved for you, we charge for missed appointments that are not cancelled within 24 hours.
Note that charges for missed appointments often cannot be submitted for health insurance reimbursement.

Fees

Fees are based on your gross household income. The sliding fee scale ranges from $50 to $170 per counselling hour.
We also have student psychologists on site at a rate of $20 per counselling hour. They are supervised by our registered psychologists.
Receipts not submitted for insurance claims may be tax deductible.

Payments

Fees must be paid in full at the time of each appointment unless alternate third party payment arrangements have been made in advance.

Other Charges

In addition, fees are charged for reports and letters written on behalf of clients, photocopying and NSF cheques.

Insurance

Clients who have extended health benefits through their employer may be reimbursed for all or a portion of their counselling fees.

Employee and Family Assistance Programs (EFAP)

Several local employers will pay for short-term counselling services for their employees under “Employee and Family Assistance Programs” (EFAP). Such services may include counselling, training, assessments and workshops. Please check with your employer.
EFAP programs are designed to help employees and their families deal with issues that affect their life. Personal problems and work stress can result in increased absenteeism, lower productivity and work place conflicts. We can offer help that will get struggling employees back on track. This results in a more stable workforce and increased productivity on the job. We can also offer proactive programming to preserve employees’ wellness such as Lunch and Learns to educate them on workplace issues. Talk to your employer about setting up an EFAP to cover your counselling sessions.