Going for therapy has become a highly acceptable practice for many people. Having stigma around going to therapy is outdated and more and more people are talking about having a therapist than ever before. Many people are under the misconception that you have to be in crisis to go to therapy, when in fact, therapy works best when you choose to seek out guidance long before a crisis hits. Many people today are prioritizing their mental health just as they would their physical or spiritual health.
Therapy helps us to recognize patterns in our lives that prevent us from moving forward and gaining what we want in our lives. Some people come to therapy because they do not want to “burden” the people in their lives with their inner struggles. Often when we share our struggles with the people in our lives we are faced with people who want to solve our problems versus offering a listening ear.
We believe that therapy is for everyone and everyone can benefit from having someone in their lives who is objective and has the ability to help you explore your internal world without pressure to change.
This is such an important question to ask. There has been a lot of research done that shows that 70-80% of what accounts for the change through counselling is the therapeutic relationship. One of our core values here is helping clients get paired with a therapist who is suitable for what they are looking for and who they feel they can personally connect with. All of our therapists offer free phone consultations (10-15 minutes) prior to the first appointment so that you can get to know them a little bit and ask any questions you might have.
Like in all human relationships, sometimes the magic isn’t there. If after your first session or two, you don’t feel like you’re able to build a connection with your therapist, don’t hesitate to let your therapist know or reach out to our office and we can help assist in finding another therapist who might be a better fit.
The therapy process is unique to the person receiving the experience. It is an entirely voluntary process and you can withdraw or resume at any time. It is normal for therapy to take anywhere from 1- 8 sessions and or up to several years, depending upon your circumstance and goals. Typically we start counselling on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, and when you’re feeling better or getting a handle on your goals we can transition to fewer sessions.
Life often brings unpredictable circumstances and humans change developmentally across the lifespan, bringing different problems to the surface in different seasons of life. Often clients will come back again after months or years to work on something else in their life. We call this the maintenance phase of therapy. People will enter back into sessions when they want to explore something else that may be coming to the surface or they are seeking someone to help them “unpack” something that is new to them. You can discuss this process with your therapist.
Currently we do not do direct billing. How this works, you will pay upfront for your therapy session. We accept most major credit cards and or Etransfers. Once we receive payment we will send you a receipt, you can submit this receipt to your insurance company and most insurance companies will pay out that amount within a few days. If you don’t have the cash on hand, some insurance companies will accept your invoice, they will pay you and you forward the payment to us. You will need to check with your insurance company to see if they will accept invoices or do they want receipts.