The Emotional Health CBT Clinic: who are we?
We are a private clinic affiliated with the MUHC.
Dr. Michael Spevack founded the clinic in 1972 at the Montreal General Hospital. In 2002, the clinic moved to the Queen Elizabeth Health Complex. The mission of the clinic is to provide quality CBT services. We are a team of over 15 therapists specialized in CBT.
What is the procedure?
The client calls and is given an appointment within the next two to four weeks at the most (we work hard to not have wait lists).
The goal of the evaluation with the psychologist is to ensure that CBT is likely to have a successful outcome given the presenting problem. The client also completes a life history questionnaire that covers detailed information about his/her health, family, work, and the problem for which he/she is seeking help, as well as the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS).
The case is then assigned to a therapist from our specialized team who is best suited to work with a particular client.
Useful info in making a referral to the clinic:
- The fee is based on the level of expertise of the therapist, from $140 for a supervised therapist to $180 for a licensed therapist.
- We offer day appointments, and for an additional fee evening and weekend appointments. Services are offered in English and in French.
- We are truly specialized in CBT (it is all we do!).
- CBT usually lasts about 10-20 sessions, although some individuals stay on for supportive counselling after the core CBT treatment is complete, and in cases where there are multiple problems or Axis-II pathology, treatment may take longer.
Do I need to write a referral note?
The majority of our clients are referred by their GPs or by their psychiatrists. We prefer to have a referral note when possible.
During the evaluation process, we ask new clients if they were referred, and if they do have a GP or psychiatrist.
If this is the case, we ask for permission to write a brief note to the GP and/or psychiatrist to let him/her know that their patient is receiving CBT at our Clinic, and in the case of a referral, to also thank the physician for the referral.
If appropriate, we may also write an update note as treatment progresses.
If you have any question about CBT and/or the Emotional Health CBT Clinic, please contact
Dr. Luisa Cameli at (514) 485-7772.
Does CBT work?
CBT is an empirically-supported form of therapy. The efficacy of CBT has been established in the treatment of these disorders:
Anxiety: including GAD, Social anxiety, OCD, PTSD
Meta-analyses of well controlled trials have confirmed the efficacy of CBT for anxiety disorders. In a recent meta-analysis, Norton & Price (2007) showed that treatments with CBT have significantly larger treatment outcome effect sizes than no treatment or placebo, as did Deacon & Abramowitz (2004) earlier.
Norton, P.J., & Price, E.C. (2007). A meta-analytic review of adult cognitive-behavioral treatment outcome across the anxiety disorders. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 195, 521-531.
Deacon, B., & Abramowitz (2004). Cognitive and behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders: A review of meta-analytic findings. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60, 429-441.
Depression: major depression
Meta-analyses have also confirmed the efficacy of CBT for the treatment of MDD, with examples below:
Butler, A.C., Chapman, J.E., Forman, E. M., & Beck, A.T. (2006). The empirical status of cognitive-behavioral therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 17-31.
Westen, D., & Morrison, K. (2001). A multidimensional meta-analysis of treatments for depression, panic, and generalized anxiety disorder: An empirical examination of the status of empirically supported therapies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69 (6), 875-899.
CBT works in well-controlled studies, but does it work in clinical practice?
Stewart, R. E., & Chambless, D. L. (2009) ran a meta-analysis of effectiveness studies (i.e., studies that are clinically representative: studies in a clinically representative setting, with clinically representative monitoring, no pre-training of therapists, etc) and the results demonstrate that CBT is effective in clinical settings.
Stewart, R. E., & Chambless, D. L. (2009). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for adult anxiety disorders in clinical practice: A meta-analysis of effectiveness studies. Journal of consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77 (4), 595-606.