There are exceptions to the policy of releasing information which include our legal, and/or ethical obligations, which means breaking confidentiality and disclosing your personal information without your consent. Exceptions include: (1) To inform an appropriate family member, health care professional or the police if a client tell us that s/he intends to harm him/herself or end his/her life; (2) To inform the potential victim of violence or the police of a client’s intention to harm an intended victim; (3) To inform child and family services, if there is suspicion of a child being at risk or in need of protection due to neglect, or physical, sexual or emotional abuse; (4) To release a client’s file, if there is a court order to do so; (5) To report a regulated health professional, who has sexually abused a client, to the organization that regulates that profession; (6) To report child pornography; (7) To report elder abuse, and (8) To share information with a supervisor or the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario for auditing purposes.

We collect information such as physical and mental health history (i.e. developmental, family, social, academic, occupational). This information is used to better understand your challenges, help assess your needs, assessing your needs, and guide your treatment plan. Personal information pertains to information about an identifiable individual and includes information that relates to an individual’s personal characteristics (i.e. name, date of birth, home address and telephone number), their health (i.e. presenting problem, health history, health services received by the individual) or their activities and views (i.e. opinions expressed by an individual, an opinion or evaluation of an individual). Personal information is not the same as business information (i.e. an individual’s business address and telephone number), which is not protected by privacy legislation.

Coaching or Psychotherapy is not covered by OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan). You may be covered for all or part of your psychotherapy services, if you have extended health benefits (EHB) insurance through your employer. It is recommended that you contact your extended health insurance for details of your benefits coverage. Some questions to ask include: Do you cover Registered Psychotherapists? What is the yearly limit of my coverage? What is the coverage amount per session? Is a referral required from my family doctor? Please contact us by telephone regarding fees for service.

Insurance: The fees for a motor-vehicle accident, workplace injury and disability assessment are usually paid by the third party insurance. The fees for an adoption, immigration, vocational or educational assessment are paid by the individual, but may be covered as part of your extended health benefits. ***TIP: If your extended health benefits provides coverage for psychological services at $500 per year, an assessment can be conducted over a two-year period, if done at the end of a year and the beginning of the following year.

Our psychotherapy fees are covered by many health insurance plans including GreenShield, Medavie Blue Cross, OTIP, Sunlife. Contact your Extended Health Benefit provider or employer about Psychotherapy Benefits with a Registered Psychotherapist. We accept e-transfers; due at the end of each appointment. A receipt will be provided for each session that may be submitted to your insurance company for reimbursement or used as part of your medical expenses on your income tax, so please retain the receipt.

Outstanding Payments:  If we have not received payment for a session, we may close a client’s file and discontinue services.  The file can be reopened and services continue upon receipt of payment.

Don’t worry! We certainly understand that things come up. All we ask is that you give us 24 hours notice, so that someone else can take advantage of the available time. When an appointment is made for you, we reserve that time just for you. If you miss your appointment, this is time that could have been spent with another client. Therefore, if you do not show or late cancel for an appointment, you will be billed the full session fee for the missed appointment . Please remember that if you are late for your appointment, there may not be the possibility of lengthening your session to provide you with your full time.

An individual psychotherapy session is scheduled for 60 minutes with 45 minutes for the session and 15 minutes for clinical notes. A couples and family psychotherapy session is scheduled for 75 minutes with 60 minutes for the session and 15 minutes for clinical notes. You can also extend your session for an additional cost, and you can also request 30 minutes sessions.  If interested, please let us know. There is no wait list.