What is the difference between Counselling and Psychotherapy?

Counselling is meant to help people find solutions, explore options, identify strengths and needs, locate information, provide resources and promote a variety of coping strategies.

Psychotherapy can assist in treatment for psycho-social or emotional difficulties, behavioural maladaptations and/or other problems that are assumed to be of an emotional nature, where a professional relationship with the client is established to promote positive growth and development. (Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice Handbook, Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers)

When to consult a Professional?

Have you ever felt depressed, anxious, overwhelmed or stressed? Do you feel like there are things that you don’t know exactly how to handle or how to help your loved ones?

Have you been in a ​Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) and need a Psychological Assessment or Treatment plan?

Maybe something in your relationship with your kids or what to tell them about your separation/divorce, or how to help with homework so as not to engage in a power struggle every day…

Or maybe your child is having difficulties at school such as in writing, reading or math or with making friends or having trouble listening to the teachers, or is very shy or anxious…

Or even with your little ones that are having troubles with sleeping or eating or having temper tantrums very often….

Do you have a child with special needs and would like to enhance his/her strengths and abilities? Are there certain situations that you don’t know how to handle or explain?

Are you pregnant or have had recently a baby and feel anxious, insecure, sad or simply have questions that books and friends or family are not answering?

If you have one of these concerns or others related to yourself, your kids or family, Supportive Family Services can help you!

If you have tried to solve any of these problems or similar ones by yourself or following the advice of friends, relatives or colleagues and are still not satisfied, try with Supportive Family Services. Sometimes the challenges we face in our daily lives become too difficult to manage alone. We may need to talk to a professional who can help us find better strategies to improve our lives.

With Supportive Family Services you can rest assure that you are getting the best professional service in counselling and psychotherapy.

We work one-on-one and in groups, with adults, children, couples and families to help them cope with the challenges of:

• Relationships, parenting and family problems;
• Developmental disabilities;
• Children dealing with parent’s separation, divorce and new relationships;
• School problems
• Emotional problems and so much more.

What to expect from your Psychotherapy or Counselling consultation?

Once you make the decision of seeking professional help, at Supportive Family Services we meet with the client/s for a first session. If your concern is regarding your child or children, we first meet with parents or caregivers. This introductory session, is the opportunity that you have to talk about your concerns. The psychotherapist/counsellor, taking your concerns into account will offer you some options to work on the solutions. Depending on your concerns and desires we can offer short-term or long-term therapy with weekly, bi-weekly or monthly sessions, in individual, group, couple or family sessions. All these options and more would be discussed in the first session.

Recognizing that we are working with people and everyone is different and has different needs and feelings, together we will build a plan that best fits you and your family’s needs.

Once you decide to start, the psychotherapist/counsellor will work with you and/or your children to identify and address feelings and behaviours that might be keeping you from fulfilling your full potential.

When working with children and teenagers, the psychotherapist/counsellor uses strategies according to their interests. When working with children, as usually their natural way of communicating is through play, this is a tool that is very often used in therapy with them at Supportive Family Services, as well as drawings and verbal communication. With teenagers, depending on their interests and preferred way of communication the psychotherapist/counsellor might use some other tools too other than verbal communication.

It is important to emphasize once again, that throughout the whole process, the most important goal at Supportive Family Services is to work with people’s strengths. Even though sometimes it is hard for people to find the positive side and strengths of someone else or even themselves, the psychotherapist/counsellor at Supportive Family Services is skilled and trained to find these and work with them, promoting the desirable changes.

What are the Fees for Psychotherapy?

Generally, our therapy sessions are scheduled for 50 minutes. However, sessions with couples and families usually need to be longer and, on the other hand, sessions with children with special needs might be shorter. In any case, considering that at Supportive Family Services we work for and with the people we serve, the length and frequency of the sessions are discussed with the patients, taking into consideration their unique case, making sure to meet their expectations and reach their goals easier and faster.

Depending on our patients’ needs, affordability and availability, our fees range from $75 plus HST to $220 per 50-minute-session.
Although OHIP does not cover Psychotherapy or Psychological services, most extended health benefits programs do.
We offer counselling, psychotherapy and psychological services. The latter, under the supervision of a Registered Psychologist, who is a member of the College of Psychologists of Ontario.
We have a wide range of professionals with different qualifications and experience, which allows us to offer different services and fees.

If you have extended health insurance, we highly recommend that you check with your insurance company your coverage and claim procedures, as you would be responsible for submitting the invoice to your insurance for reimbursement.

If you are interested in our services and would like to get some more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can email, call or send us a secure message clicking on the button below