Frequently Asked
Questions

We require 48 hours of notice to cancel or reschedule your appointment. The reason for this is that our therapists are usually pretty busy, and a late cancellation or missed visit leaves a hole in the practitioner's day that could have been filled by another patient. 

We do allow for one "freebie" per client each calendar year. (This may not apply for no-shows). Beyond the first cancellation however, if you need to cancel or reschedule during the cancellation period, you will be charged the full session fee.

YEG Family Counselling does not use a traditional sliding scale for all clients based on income. However, we do provide a limited number of equity spots per clinician each quarter. This is one of the ways we lean into our anti-oppressive values: to provide the most help to people most in need and most harmed by traditional systems of power. This is especially true for those who are multiply marginalized due to race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or neurodiversity.

If you are looking for general low-fee therapy, check out our Affordable Therapy Program.  You can apply for this program right on our Intake Form. Our student therapists are incredibly skilled and work really hard for their clients at an amazing hourly rate. If you identify as multiply marginalized are in need of an equity rate, please call or email our fantastic and welcoming administrative assistant and she will get some basic info from you. Then one of our therapists will reach out to let you know our availability.

It's totally normal to feel a mix of feelings leading up to your first therapy session, including, relief, fear, anxiety, anticipation, and excitement. Be gentle with yourself and rest assured that your therapist will take good care of you, no matter how you are coming. You don't have to have your story all sorted out, or even be able to explain with total clarity what is going on for you. You are a complex person and therapy is a place to get some things sorted out, with a little help.

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There is plenty of paid parking available right in the garage underneath our office building and easy access to public transportation. While you are in the area, grab a delicious chai or coffee before of after your session. We think you'll like the neighbourhood.

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Check your email for a link to your consent forms. Please have these filled out prior to the start of your session. If you can't find the forms, send us an email.

Online Counselling has allowed us to be able to help folks who would ordinarily have more difficulty finding the right therapist! As long as you reside in Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Yukon, we can see you for online sessions.

You will receive a calendar invite within one hour of your session from your therapist. If you do not have an invite please send an email directly to your therapist or to hello@yegfamilycounselling.com and we will sort it out.

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Check your tech. Make sure you have a stable internet connection and a quiet, private space to do therapy where you can feel safe. Car therapy is ok in a pinch, but it's best to find a quiet indoor room where you can connect with wifi.

This is a tough question to answer! Your insurance provider will be the best person to ask, and we recommend reaching out to them before scheduling an appointment. 

Almost all insurance providers that have mental health coverage will cover Registered Psychologists, Masters-level Social Workers (MSW), and Provisional Psychologists. For Students, Canadian Certified Counsellors, and Mental Health Therapists you will have to reach out to them directly, OR you can call our administrator to get some help and clarity.

Yes! We are working on setting up direct billing for the most common insurance programs. Our ability to direct bill depends on who your insurance provider is, what your coverage is, and which therapist you are seeing. Please call our administrator to ask about how this works.

Individual Therapy

We generally book clients for one-hour sessions, which includes 50 minutes of treatment time and 10 minutes for administration.

Weekly or biweekly sessions are usually a good place to start, and depending on what you are struggling with, therapy may last only 6 sessions, or 20. Some clients find they improve to a great degree and then appreciate attending therapy every 3-4 weeks to continue their growth and healing. You and your therapist will talk this through given your needs, your coping, and your financial situation.

Couples and Family Therapy

When there is more than one person in the room, we find that 50 minutes is just not enough time. For that reason, we book these sessions for a minimum of 75 minutes. For 90-120 minute sessions, 15 minutes are reserved for administration.

How long your relationship takes to improve varies greatly. For families, we find that 8-12 sessions can shift things really significantly, especially when the problems within the family are fairly straight-forward.

With couples, dynamics tend to be much more complex. Clients will often start to see a difference in their levels of distress by about 8-10 sessions. We sometimes have clients who experience significant healing and reconnection by session 12, but at times this work takes much longer. This depends on the depth of pain that has been experienced within the relationship, how long the problems have been going on, and what other life experiences (especially traumatic ones) the members of the couple have experienced in their lives.

Not every therapist works best in the same way. At YEG family counselling, we believe in creating good boundaries around session times while also being flexible to what happens in session. Not all therapy is the same, and sometimes therapy isn't perfectly complete right exactly at the 50-minute mark. For that reason, we book couples and families for longer sessions quite often.

Even when we are working with the typical length session, we like to book a bit of extra time between clients in order to make room for things to happen in session the way they are supposed to, whether that takes 47 minutes or 54. We also use that time to get a drink of water, write our notes, send a text to a friend, or have a minute to reset before we see our next client. In short, you matter, and we matter, and sometimes that isn't neat and tidy.

We are located in the Plaza 124 building on the corner of 124th street and 102 Ave. There is paid parking in the parking garage beneath the building which is accessible from 124 street. If you are unfamiliar with the area, you can find a detailed map of free parking here.

This is a wheelchair accessible building and a scent-aware space. If you have any other accessibility needs please let us know. ​​

We really regret that this building does not have gender-neutral washrooms available. There are washrooms accessible to you just a few doors down from our office, and we welcome you to use whichever washroom you like. 

The washrooms are usually not terribly busy, and we have found the folks in this building to be kind on the whole. We have also chatted with Remedy Cafe, which is just a block away, and they have welcomed our clients to use their gender-neutral washroom if they prefer.

We are constantly trying to balance the wellness of our practitioners and the wellness of our clients, both emotionally and physically. That means that we are always trying to be safe but not rigid around expectations for masking, physical distancing, and what to do if a client comes to session with symptoms.

This also means that we do not have one hard and fast rule. We will have clear signage posted at the entrance if masking in the common areas should again be required. Then you and your therapist can decide together based on both of your comfort levels whether masking in session is going to help or harm your sense of safety. Should you prefer your therapist wear a mask, they will gladly do so.

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Please do not come to session while sick. If you have flu-like symptoms, please get in touch with you therapist or our administrator. They will gladly and quickly reschedule you for an online session. We want to work together to protect the most vulnerable, and some of the most vulnerable are those with limited immune systems. Thanks for working with us on this.