FAQ

While counselling therapy can help most people overcome life difficulties, not every person who is struggling with a life transition needs therapy.

Many people heal their minor emotional wounds by relying on friends or family for support, while others might learn from books or support groups.

Each of us experiences difficulties at some point in our life – usually after a major life event. Or sometimes when you feel like you are stuck in a rut and need a change.  Counselling therapy is most effective for basically healthy people who have experiencing some distressing events (a mental or emotional injury) – the end of a relationship, the loss of a loved one, a job or career change, family conflicts, addictions or physical illnesses.

In our therapeutic dialogue I hope to help you find more clarity and ways to overcome life’s difficulties, as well as creating new personal opportunities.
Counselling therapy occurs in a unique relationship that cannot be found elsewhere, in which the therapists is the instrument.

As a Registered Clinical Counsellors / Social Workers, we adhere to a code of ethics which insures your privacy and confidentiality.

There are some important exceptions to this rule. We are legally and ethically bound to breach confidentiality and report to proper authorities if we suspect that you are a clear and present danger to yourself or anyone else.

It is our duty to warn any person who may be in danger from your actions. We are bound by law to report any suspected child abuse, elder abuse or animal abuse.

In the case of court proceedings involving my client, we may be subpoenaed to release confidential information or if we are the defendant in a client initiated lawsuit or malpractice claim we may be required to breach confidentiality.

Outside of these very rare exceptions, all counselling session communications are strictly confidential within our circle of care. Although, we may at times feel the need to obtain peer supervision regarding some issues relating to information brought forth in a session, the client is not identified in any way.

The client is the holder of Privilege which basically means that all counselling session communications belong to the client. Any release of information outside the exceptions listed above, must be explicitly approved by the client in writing.

Online counselling therapy, sometimes referred to as cyber-counselling or e-therapy, has some unique benefits such as being discrete and accessible. With these benefits comes a few challenges. By law, a minor must have parental consent to participate in counselling. Obviously, it is not difficult for a minor to pass as an adult on the Internet. As such, part of distance counselling informed consent is the acknowledgement that a person requesting counselling sessions is an adult. Should a minor wish counselling sessions, parental consent must be obtained through email and fax and verified through phone contact.

An additional concern of Internet counselling is client identity.  To help avoid any imposter concerns and verify client identity, a special codeword, password or nickname may be decided upon to then verify identity at the beginning of each email communication.

With technology there is always the possibility of failure and computer crashes, alternate modes of communication need to be established at the onset of counselling sessions.

Last, but by far not the least of special concerns, is the issue of misunderstanding. Because online counselling is devoid of so many verbal and visual cues, misunderstanding is possible. Every attempt is made to be as clear and straight forward as possible. Nevertheless, if a misunderstanding does occur, the client is encouraged to clarify and no extra charge for emails on clarification shall be charged.