Counselling Rates and FAQ

My counselling hours are Monday to Friday – 8 am to 5 pm PST. After-hours and emergency sessions may be available upon request. If you have an emergency and are unable to reach me please call the crisis hotline in your area. USE OUR CRISI HOTLINE PAGE

How many sessions and how often they will be scheduled will depend on several key factors: the type of problem you wish to address, your current level of resilience, your availability, and your finances. We can discuss this during your consultation.

Sessions are generally 50 minutes long but some clients choose to extend their session time to 80 minutes at an additional fee. The first few sessions sometimes take longer as we are just getting to know one another and I will be assessing your history and goals.

Visa & Mastercard & American Express

 If sessions are covered by insurance please contact your provider for details.

I accept Interact e-transfer 48 hours before scheduled sessions. 

My cancellation policy is simple: you need to provide a minimum of 48 hours notice for all cancellations. Appointments that are cancelled or missed without 48 hours notice will be charged the full amount of the scheduled appointment. 

You will be charged a half session fee for missed or cancelled appointments unless you have given 24 hours advance notice by telephone or email. I will wait for the entirety of the session if I have not heard from you. Should I, as a counsellor, miss a session or have to cancel within 24 hrs of our session, when we reschedule you will only be charged half price for the next session. 

The exception to this policy is in the unlikely circumstance that an unforeseeable and unpreventable situation occurred in the last 24 hours that did not allow either party to cancel or attend (accident, injury, illness emergency). In the case of ongoing illness that may foresee-ably cause you to miss our session I would rather have you cancel ahead.

Should you happen to arrive late to a session, we will begin the session when you arrive and still end at the pre-arranged end time. Should I as a counsellor arrive late to a session, we will begin the session when I arrive and you will either be provided with the time on the end of the session, or reimbursed for the time missed. 

Cancellations or changes to your appointment can be made by emailing or calling my office at (438) 496-8312.

In the case of a declared weather emergency, it is possible for your in-person session to be held at the appointed time by using ZOOM on-line video conferencing.

From time to time I will make referrals. When I believe that another professional (doctor, psychiatrist, naturopath) would be therapeutically beneficial for you, we will discuss the suggestion together and I will support the two of you in making contact. 

You are welcome to connect with me on my business Facebook page, while my personal Facebook page is for my personal life and I limit that to family and friends. Please do not message me through the social media (facebook, skype, linkedin, etc.) – contact me through my business email or phone please. 

Yes. Fees are charged for counselling time, not the method. Online counselling is provided as a convenience to you.

You can book a FREE 30-minute Discovery Session to see if we are a good fit. I will ask you about your goals and let you know if I need to refer you to someone who can better help you.

Before we begin any session we will sign a confidentiality contract. It stipulates that what transpires in our sessions is private and cannot be shared unless you provide consent in writing. There are legal requirements regarding the revelation of details that I am bound to follow if one of the following should occur:

• The courts subpoena my files.
  I am subpoenaed as a witness in court.
  I suspect a case of child abuse that has not been previously reported. In this case, I am required by law to report to the Ministry for Children and Families.
  If you threaten to harm yourself or another. In this case, I am also required to report this to the proper authorities.

*Note: These duties override all other claims of confidentiality.

It is important for you to understand that you are the primary decision-maker in the direction your therapy takes, and therefore you have the right to full and active participation in the decisions that affect you. In addition, you have certain rights, which include: 

1. the right to refuse treatment. 

2. the right to end our therapeutic work at any time. 

The GASMA is the gateway to access mental health continuum services in the territory of the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal. The GASMA has the mandate to assess users in order to direct them to services corresponding to the needs presented. The GASMA assessment process is decision-making. The services offered are:

• Reception of requests for adult mental health services;
• Evaluation of applications by a multidisciplinary team;
• Prioritization and referral of the person and their loved ones to the appropriate service – 1st, 2nd and 3rd line and community organizations and liaison/consultation with these teams;
• Initiation of screening, assessment, care and treatment protocols.

GASMA promotes the best practices of the Quebec Program for Mental Disorders (PQPTM) . It promotes access to services for users by identifying the best service at the best time by the best professional. The use of evidence supports the clinical judgment of professionals to achieve this. The service proven effective is offered according to the priority need identified in collaboration with the user.

For more information, please visit the Quebec Program for Mental Disorders (PQPTM) page .

If you have concerns about your mental health or that of a loved one, you can contact a psychosocial worker 24/7 by calling Info-social at 811 , option 2. You can also go to one of the psychosocial reception centers of a CLSC of our CIUSSS. Finally, if you already have access to a health professional, you can ask them to send us a service request.

If you are a healthcare professional, please send the form below by email ( gasma.ccomtl@ssss.gouv.qc.ca ) or by fax (514-731-5337)

 Reference to Mental Health Access Desks

Head of the
Moana Desbiens program

3. the right to receive an appropriate referral to other resources as needed. 

4. the right to accept or reject any task, exercise or procedure suggested by me. 

5. the right to be made aware of the rationale, risks, benefits, alternatives, and interpretations of any and all counselling interventions.