What is Counselling Psychology Compared to Clinical Psychology?
Counselling Psychology focuses on helping individuals solve problems, make decisions, and cope with the stressors of everyday life.
Clinical Psychology provides treatment for individuals with disorders of behaviour, emotions, and thought by offering assessment and/or diagnostic services which may be helpful in establishing targeted treatment plans and clinical opinions and reports.
What Happens During the First Session?
Our first session is to determine whether we're a good fit. It gives us a chance to get to know each other by discussing why you've come to counselling, your hopes and expectations of what you'll get from therapy, my treatment approach, fees, my cancellation policy, confidentiality issues, and any other questions that may arise.
We'll go over the intake forms to see if you have any questions, and you'll leave the first session with a plan for moving forward.
How Many Sessions Will I Need?
Each person is different, and it can be tricky to determine how many sessions will be required. But generally short-term therapy is approximately 6-8 sessions, and focuses on learning skills to cope with current symptoms and problems.
Clients may wish to have longer-term therapy, and this may be required if the goal is to resolve the underlying cause[s] of symptoms and problems.
What Are Your Fees?
Counselling sessions are 50 minutes (plus 10 minutes for file notation) and effective October 1st, 2024 the fee is $225 per session in NS and $235 per session in BC. The fee is collected at the end of your session and can be paid by e-Transfer, any Credit Card or Visa/MasterCard Debit.
Registered Psychologists are not covered by Medical Services Insurance (MSI in NS), or the Medical Services Plan (MSP in BC) but many extended health plans provide coverage, so please check with your provider to find out exactly what kind of coverage you have. You will receive an official receipt, with my registration number, at the end of your session, which you can submit to your insurance plan for reimbursement.
What is Your Cancellation Policy?
Please provide a minimum of 48 hours notice to cancel or change your appointment, as this will allow another client to be booked into the time that was reserved for you. To assist with this, an email reminder is sent to you 4 days before your appointment, in addition, a text reminder is sent to your mobile phone 48 hours before your appointment. All cancellations with less than 48 hours notice will be charged the full appointment fee. Please be advised that most insurance companies do not cover the cost of missed appointments.