What is counselling?

Counselling is provided as a means to explore behavior, relationships, feelings, or thoughts, and act as a source of support for areas that are causing difficulty in your life. It will enhance understanding and bring personal awareness to facilitate positive coping strategies. Counselling will aim to provide a safe space to experience your feelings and support you in transforming your life into one that you love. 

Yes. However, there are limits to confidentiality. These are:

• If a child under the age of 19 years of age is, or may, be at risk of abuse or neglect, or in need of protection (section 13 of the Child and Family Services Act);
• If a counsellor believes that you or another person is at clear risk of imminent harm or, a risk of a serious crime being committed;
• For the purpose of complying with a legal order such as a subpoena, or if the      disclosure is otherwise required or authorized by law;
• In an effort to serve you better, information may be shared with a Clinical Supervisor for the purpose of a professional consultation, to ensure you are receiving the best service possible;
• Also, if necessary, you can provide written consent for a counsellor to speak to other professionals involved. This is your decision. 

The following are a few suggestions to help make your counselling experience most effective:

· You may find it helpful to write down questions, topics, or issues you would like to focus on in your session.

· Please communicate your expectations to me so that we are working together toward your goals.

· I appreciate ongoing feedback so that I know how you are doing (example, “I want to focus on my anger more” or “I like doing relaxation exercises”).

· If you feel a need to increase or decrease the frequency of your sessions, or to end counselling, please feel free to communicate that to me.

· If you feel a need to bring a partner, relative, or friend in with you for your session in order to work on interpersonal issues, please feel free to do so. Please discuss it with me in advance prior to their arrival. 

· Please try to make a commitment to yourself to remain in therapy and attend regular sessions for as long as you feel necessary as well as select and carry out activities between sessions. 

The following are a few guidelines for parents who have a child/youth in therapy:

· I typically use the age of 12 years old to determine whether a youth can provide consent.

· It is recommended that a parent stay in the waiting room while their child be in session. This is to ensure that should your child need you, you are available for them.

· Regularity and consistency of attendance is extremely important so that your child can develop a trusting therapeutic relationship with me.

· Do not question your child about their counselling session. Your child will share what they feel comfortable with.

· Do not press a child to attend counselling or to talk about a particular issue in counselling. The child will address issues as they feel safe and ready to do so, or they may be addressing them in other ways, i.e. through play or art. Pressure from a parent/caregiver may place undue stress on a child and may in fact be detrimental to the counselling process.

· Do support your child as they courageously face their issues in counselling.

· Do be open to participating in counselling yourself.

These are general guidelines only. We can discuss these in depth and develop a plan about how you can best be of support to your child in counselling.

For the first session, we will review consent, confidentiality, and begin to complete an intake and assessment form where we will discuss presenting concerns and therapeutic goals. 

Call or email me. 

Please check with me about times and days.

Appointments are usually held once a week for 60 minutes. To begin with, weekly appointments are recommended. Thereafter, we can discuss whether to change this to bi-weekly, monthly and when to finish. 

Please give 24 hours notice to cancel an appointment as this can then be offered to another person. Full payment will be required for late cancellations. 

Individual session per hour is $165.00 (plus GST). 

Family or relationship session per hour is $195.00 (plus GST). 

How do I make payment?

Payment is made at the end of each session via cash or cheque. You will be issued a receipt for payment. 

Are counselling services covered by my extended health plan?

Please check your extended health plan for the following:

• What is the maximum amount for which you can be reimbursed in a given year? 
• Does the plan cover 100% of the bill? 
• When does the year change? Most plans start a new year on January 1st. However, some may start at different times in the year.
• Does the coverage require that you have a physician referral? I do not require this but your insurer might.
• Does the plan require that your provider be a Registered Psychologist or a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC)? Registered Psychologists have a Doctorate degree and RCC’s have a Master’s degree. 

If you have additional questions about me, my approach or, anything that is not listed here, please feel free to talk to me about it.