FAQs

This is a great opportunity to get a feel for the therapist and to see if they feel like a fit for the work you would like to do in counselling.

Here are a few important details to go over in the M&G to help you make this decision, the answers will vary based on our different services:

• Schedules & scheduling

• Number & frequency of sessions (a typical treatment plan is minimum 12-sessions)

• Intake and assessment process

• Length of sessions

• Fees & payment options

Of course, we want to hear from you about:

• Generally, what brings you to counselling

• Therapeutic goals (what are you hoping to work on or achieve?)

• Questions you have for the therapist

Intern Counselling Program

• Individual therapy - $125.00 (+HST) per 60-minutes

• Couple therapy - $150.00 (+HST) per 60-minutes

Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)

• Individual therapy - $175.00 (+HST) per 60-minute

• Couple therapy - $200.00 (+HST) per 60-minute

• Family therapy - $200.00 (+HST) per 60-minute

Registered Psychotherapist

• Individual therapy - $200.00 (+HST) per 60-minute

• Couple therapy - $225.00 (+HST) per 60-minute

• Family therapy - $225.00 (+HST) per 60-minute

Social Worker

• Individual therapy - $200.00 per 60-minute

• Couple therapy - $225.00 per 60-minute

• Family therapy - $225.00 per 60-minute

Letter Writing & Summary Reports

• $125.00 (+HST) per 60-minutes

Chart Copying

Please keep in mind all of our services are subject to being prorated based on the session length (for example, our ongoing couple sessions are 75-minutes in length which means we prorate the hourly rate accordingly).

HST - In Ontario, Psychotherapy services are not HST exempt. Psychotherapy services will have an additional 13% added to the invoice to reflect HST.

After the Meet & Greet, your therapist will email you our intake and consent forms. Please have those completed prior to your initial session so your therapist can review them before meeting with you.

Within your initial session, your therapist will start by going through some of the important information about consent, therapeutic process and other housekeeping items to make this experience as smooth as possible. We want you to be well informed and will hold space for any of your questions that come up along the way!

Then your therapist will take the time to begin to get to know you, what brings you to therapy (more deeply then discussed in the Meet & Greet), your attachment history, and ask questions about information shared on your intake forms. While this is the beginning of our assessment process (assessment is always ongoing), we want this to feel like an organic conversation and not a question and answer period.

Towards the end of the initial session, your therapist will check in with you about how the session felt and invite any feedback you may have about what worked well and any suggestions to make it feel even better. The therapeutic relationship and alliance is at the heart of all the work we do here. This is a great time to plan ahead for future sessions as our therapists schedules do book up quickly and we want to ensure you have a time reserved just for you. This eliminates having to spend any time in session discussing scheduling, which leaves more time for therapy! Many of our therapists book their session up to 3-months in advance as this helps everyone plan ahead and accordingly.

Voila, you have completed your first session!

Individual

• Initial Sessions are 90-minutes

• Ongoing Sessions are 60-minutes

• 90-minutes sessions are also available if it has been a longer stretch between appointments or if it has been a particularly difficult week. These can also be great in the beginning of therapy as you are helping catch your therapist up to speed

• We also provide pre-scheduled 30-minute check-in appointments if you need to connect with your therapist between sessions or after a particularly difficult experience

Couple

• Initial Sessions are 90 to 120-minutes

• Individual Assessment Sessions are 90 to 120-minutes

• Ongoing Sessions are 75-minutes

• Session lengths are based on the therapist treatment plan and will be discussed in the Meet & Greet

Family

• Initial Sessions are 90 to 120-minutes

• Individual Assessment Sessions are between 60 to 120-minutes

• Ongoing Sessions are between 75 to 90-minutes

• Session lengths are based on the therapist treatment plan and will be discussed in the Meet & Greet

We get this question often and it is the most difficult question to answer. It's really dependent on the complexity of the issues that bring you to therapy, your attachment and trauma history, any relational injuries endured, the duration of the distress, and so much more. No two people are alike.

Regardless of how many sessions you may ultimately need, we tend to see some positive shifts between six to twelve sessions. We often provide medium to long term counselling based on our client demographic. Therapy is voluntary and we want to ensure we are meeting your needs and creating sustainable change.

When we first meet, we like to schedule sessions weekly while we establish our relationship, fine tune your goals, and develop a plan. That's when we start to see some momentum in those first few weeks. As things improve we can certainly reduce the frequency as needed, we always invite open dialogue about this.

• e-Transfer (preference)

• Credit Card: Visa, Mastercard & American Express

While e-Transfer is our preferred way, we require all clients to have a credit card on file prior to booking a first appointment regardless of payment method.

At Counselling & Co. our team is a mixture of both Registered Psychotherapists and Social Workers.

Psychotherapy Services in Ontario are not HST exempt, which means you will see HST added to your invoice and receipt.

Social Work Therapy Services in Ontario are HST exempt.

At Counselling & Co. we require 48-hours or more notice to cancel a session without activating our late cancellation fee.

A late cancellation is when there is 48-hours or less between the time of cancellation and your scheduled session.

We are happy to reserve a time in our schedule for your session, we just ask that you provide us with the 48-hours or more notice to cancel or reschedule the session. This notice allows for the therapist to make adjustments to their schedule to ensure we can fill the spot.

48-hours or less prior to appointment:

• In the event that you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment with less than 48-hours notice, there will be a late cancellation fee equivalent to the full amount of your session. This fee needs to be paid in full 48-hours prior to the reschedule or next appointment, otherwise that session will be cancelled.

• To cancel or reschedule an appointment with less than 48-hours notice, please email our Client Care Coordinator Christine at info@counsellingandco.com (instead of your therapist directly) and to arrange to provide payment for the late cancellation fee.

• Please note that most insurance providers will not cover the cost of late cancellation or missed sessions.

• This policy also includes missed sessions.

48-hours or more prior to appointment:

• To cancel or reschedule an appointment with ample notice, 48-hours or more, you can do so directly from your Jane client account.

At Counselling & Co. our team is a mixture of primarily Masters level trained Registered Psychotherapists (Qualifying), Registered Psychotherapists and Social Workers.

Each person's health benefits vary, which is why it's important to verify with your insurance provider to see if you have coverage for a Registered Social Worker or Registered Psychotherapist/(Qualifying).

You are entitled to confidentiality and privacy of your personal information when you receive therapy. Client information will not be shared with anyone without your signed and informed consent, except in the following situations outlined below.

There are several important circumstances where disclosure of personal health information is required by law without consent. Notable limits of confidentiality include:

• To receive supervision. To provide you the best possible care, we receive supervision from other qualified therapists and professionals. The supervision process may entail the release of personal health information to a supervisor. We would be happy to provide the name and credentials of our supervisors.

• If a child under the age of 18 is at risk of or experiencing neglect and/or physical harm and/or sexual abuse, we are required under the Child and Family Services Act, 1990, to consult and report to the Children’s Aid Society. This also includes children witnessing violence or high levels of conflict in the home, when a child is not being adequately supervised and is at risk of harm, and when a client discloses that they were abused in childhood and there is a possibility that the person who was abusive may be a danger to other children now.

• If you are in danger of harming yourself (imminent risk of serious bodily harm), we will report the situation to appropriate authorities and/or advise a family member to take you to a hospital emergency department. This applies to cases of potential suicide.

• If you are intending to harm someone else, we will report the situation to appropriate authorities. This applies to cases of potential homicide.

• If your file or therapist is subpoenaed by court. Courts of law have the power to demand that we release your records for particular legal proceedings, which would include all information in the file and is subject to review by the courts.

• If there is knowledge of any abuse or neglect by another healthcare professional, this would need to be reported to their respective college.

All client records are securely and confidentially maintained within Jane for a period of 10-years following the last contact by you. After this time, the record will be destroyed in a complete and responsible manner. All electronic records are password protected.

If you would like to learn more about Janes PHIPA compliance, please visit https://jane.app/guide/basics/security-faq

All collected personal and medical information is confidential and will only be disclosed to third parties with your permission and separate signed consent form.

Great question, everyone is different. Many clients appreciate the convenience of connecting with their therapist from home, work, some clients even connect from their parked car! Virtual therapy offers easy access, no commute or need to look for childcare, which is a huge bonus for those who are stay at home parents or parents of young children. Those still working from home (or even those working in-office) can take a session during their lunch hour, which means no more needing to look for a therapist who is available in the evenings or weekends.

It is important to consider that the session running smoothly is based on internet connection, which means sometimes pivoting to phone or disconnecting and reconnecting to try and fix the issue. Virtual can limit the depth of communication, for example without being able to see body language, and not all MH conditions are appropriate to serve online. Some clients like the neutral space of a therapist's office, as they have an easier time staying focused depending on what's happening in their home environment.

Whatever your preference, we aim to offer a variety of options. Walk & Talk therapy, as well as In-home Visits are also available, when appropriate. If you are unsure of whats best for you, this is a great topic to discuss during the 15-minute Meet & Greet.

Just a note, some of our therapists work exclusively online while others offer a hybrid of in-person and online options.