What is CBT?
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) targets the THOUGHTS and BEHAVIORS that affect our wellbeing and impact how well we cope with stress and difficult situations. The goal of CBT is to develop ways of thinking and behaving that promote better mood, stronger self-esteem and a richer quality of life.
CBT is an approach that is based on research, goal oriented, and present oriented. The techniques used are empirically tested and their efficacy demonstrated, and the emphasis is on the factors that maintain a problem, with history being relevant only to the extent that it informs us about the current problem.
How does it work to obtain services at the Emotional Health CBT Clinic?
In order to begin therapy, you must first schedule an appointment for an evaluation. Its purpose is to help us understand your current situation in order to determine which therapist would be best suited to helping you. The evaluation consists of filling out some forms and questionnaires, followed by a meeting of approximately 50 minutes in duration with one of our evaluating therapists by videoconference (Zoom) or phone, if you prefer.
Following the evaluation, the director will assign you to the therapist best suited to helping you, based on compatibility, your availability, and any other criteria you may have (such as preferences for in-person or virtual sessions, etc.).
How can I make a first appointment? Do I need a referral?
While many of our clients are referred by their doctor, a referral is not required to access our services, as we are a private clinic.
To make a first appointment, you can reach our Clinic Receptionist, Ms. Caitlin Miller, at (514) 485-7772 or by e-mail at info@cbtclinic.ca. Caitlin is available to answer the phone on Mondays from 9am-1pm and Tuesdays to Thursdays from 12pm-4pm every week. You can also leave us a voicemail outside of these hours and Caitlin will call you back within 1 business day. Emails will also be answered within 1 business day.
Do you offer receipts for insurance?
We provide receipts for the initial evaluation session as well as every therapy session that you can use to make your claims with your insurance provider. The receipts include the following information:
-Therapist’s name and signature
-Therapist’s license number from their professional association (e.g.: Order of Psychologists of Quebec)
-Name, signature and license number of their supervisor (in the case of an intern therapist)
Please note that we do not bill insurance providers directly.
What are the costs and how can I pay?
The cost of the initial evaluation session is 190$. The cost of therapy is 190$ per session for sessions with a licensed therapist or 155$ per session for sessions with a supervised therapist, with a 20$ extra fee for all evening sessions (after 5 pm). There is no tax on our services. The payment method that we accept is Interac e-transfer.
Do you offer online services?
Yes, we are happy to provide the option to be seen by videoconference to our clients, according to their preference. Current research has provided evidence that videoconference psychotherapy is as effective as in-person psychotherapy. We pride ourselves on using evidence-based techniques, and this is why we are confident in the use of videoconference psychotherapy and are happy to be able to provide this option to our clients.
Is online therapy confidential?
Ensuring confidentiality is a shared responsibility between you and your therapist.
Factors that increase security for the sessions are:
-Using a private wi-fi network only (e.g., the one you have at home that has a password associated with it)
-Being in a place where no one can hear you. Some ways to ensure this are placing a noise machine inside or outside of your door or using an app on your cell phone for that purpose, and always using headphones.
-The platform being used is of course also important. If you have any concern at all about this, please discuss it with your therapist or the Clinic Director.
Do you treat children and teens?
We currently only offer services to adults at our clinic (18 years of age or older).
Do you accept mandates from CNESST, IVAC or SAAQ?
Unfortunately, we do not accept mandates from CNESST, IVAC or SAAQ , neither do we accept EAP’s (employee assistance programs), or clients for whom the treatment is mandated by an official body (such as the courts, the DYP (Director of Youth Protection), etc.) or as part of parole conditions.
Do you offer sessions to people living outside the province of Quebec?
Yes, in addition to clients residing in the province of Quebec, we offer online sessions (by videoconference) to clients residing in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. We also can offer services to clients residing in Ontario, but have limited availability.
Are there mental health issues that you do not treat?
There are some mental health issues that are not part of our area of expertise at the Emotional Health CBT Clinic. These include personality disorders, substance use disorders (including alcoholism), anorexia nervosa or severe eating disorders, and schizophrenia. If you struggle with a mental health issue where medication is often necessary, such as a bipolar disorder, we may ask that you be under the care of a medical practitioner in order to receive services at our clinic.
Do you offer diagnostic services, or will I receive a report after the evaluation?
The initial evaluation appointment is not a diagnostic assessment, and no report will be provided. The evaluation is for internal purposes only and is used to help us understand your situation and assign you to the therapist best suited to helping you. Your assigned therapist will carefully review your file before seeing you for the first therapy session, where you will both discuss the results and treatment plan.
We do, however, have a neuropsychologist on staff, Dr. Esther Yakobov, who provides neuropsychological assessments. These can be useful for issues like ADHD, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) for instance. A neuropsychological assessment consists of a battery of standardized tests that are administered to identify your strengths and weaknesses relative to a normative sample. Different dimensions can be assessed such as IQ and memory (verbal and non-verbal), executive functions (things like planning, sequencing, etc.), processing speed, motor skills, etc. If you would like to learn more about our neuropsychological assessments, please click here (insert button).
How is my file kept safe?
Files are kept in a safe place that ensures confidentiality. Only our Clinic Director, Dr. Luisa Cameli, and your therapist may access your record, unless you provide us with explicit written permission to share information with another professional or third party, unless subpoenaed, or unless there is a clear and imminent threat to safety. The person responsible for the protection of personal data at our clinic is the Director, Dr. Luisa Cameli. Her contact email is: dr.cameli@cbtclinic.ca
Do you offer a sliding scale?
While we do not offer a sliding scale at our clinic, we do offer a reduced rate for clients who opt for treatment with one of our very competent and highly motivated intern therapists. The rate for sessions with an intern therapist is 155$ per session, as opposed to 185$ per session for a licensed therapist. Also, since CBT is a very active approach, it is possible to benefit from therapy every 2 weeks, if needed, as opposed to weekly sessions.
Who should I speak to if I have more questions?
If you are not yet a client at the clinic or have not yet been assigned to your therapist, please contact to our receptionist, Caitlin Miller. Caitlin is available to answer the phone on Mondays from 9 am to 1 pm, and on Tuesdays to Thursdays from 11 am to 4 pm. Calls and emails are returned within 24 hours on business days.
If you have a therapist, we encourage you to feel very comfortable to bring up any question that you may have or concern directly in your therapy session. The needs and preferences of each person are different and can often even change throughout the course of therapy. For instance, you may feel that you want more structure and to be provided with worksheets at one point in time, but want more support and active listening at another point. Or perhaps you feel like progress is not proceeding quickly enough to meet your expectations. These are important discussions to have and your therapist will welcome those, as it also helps them to better help you.
If the concern that you have is not one that you feel comfortable bringing up to your therapist, please contact our Office Administrator, Ruby Clark, who will either quickly be able to help or schedule a chat for you with our Clinic Director, Dr. Luisa Cameli.
Our whole team is dedicated to having you feel supported and meet your needs.
What if I want to make a referral to the clinic?
If you would like for an adult family member, colleague or friend to be seen at the clinic, we would encourage you to provide them with our coordinates and have them reach out to us directly. Due to confidentiality rules, we generally cannot make an appointment for someone else than the person contacting us. It will however be our pleasure to provide you will all of the information that the person may need in order to make an appointment and how we may be able to help.
If you already are a client at the clinic, we thank you for the sign of appreciation and trust. As a general rule and best-practice from an ethical standpoint, we may avoid assigning the person you are referring to your therapist, as this could pose a potential conflict of interest, but rest assured that the person you are referring will be receiving the same high-quality care you are receiving.
I had my evaluation appointment, paid the evaluation fee, and filled in all the evaluation documents over a week ago but have still not been contacted by my assigned therapist to begin sessions. What should I do?
We do our best to ensure that clients can be assigned to a therapist as quickly as possible following their evaluation appointment. It can sometimes happen that the initial email from your assigned therapist is sorted into your Junk Mail by mistake, so we suggest that you begin by checking your Junk Mail folder. If you have completed the evaluation appointment, filled out all your evaluation documents, and paid your evaluation fee and you have not received an email or call from your assigned therapist after 10 business days, please contact us right away so that we can resolve the situation as soon as possible
As mentioned at the time of booking and during the evaluation, very specific requests (such as the request to see an OCD specialist in person and in the evening, for example) can cause the amount of time necessary to assign you to a therapist to be longer than 10 business days, according to the availability of therapists on our team (as opposed to a request for a therapist for anxiety or depression, with openness to online sessions and daytime availability). If this is the case, we will contact you within the 10 business days following your evaluation appointment and receipt of your payment and evaluation documents, to notify you of the approximate wait time for a therapist matching your specific requests and the options for being assigned quicker (e.g. the option to wait around 20 business days for a therapist matching your specific requests, or to be assigned within the next 5 business days with another therapist).