What is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC)?
A Registered Clinical Counsellor is professional who holds a Master´s Degree in Counselling Psychology or a related field, and is a member of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors. In order to become a member, an RCC needs to fulfill several requirements in terms of education, supervision and therapeutic experience, and adhere to the BCACC´s Code of Conduct, Ethics and Standards of Practice.
It is important to note that a Registered Clinical Counsellor is different than a Psychologist, and a Psychiatrist. In summary, Psychologists hold a PhD and can provide formal diagnosis. Psychiatrists are medical doctors (MD) who have specialized in psychiatry, and can prescribe medications.
There are also other counselling designations -such as RSW, RTC and CCC-, whose members also provide therapy/counselling services. One of the reasons why it is important to the difference between professional designations is that different extended health insurances cover different types of professionals. In that context, if you want to book sessions with Intention Lab Counselling, we recommend checking with your provider if they cover Registered Clinical Counsellors (RCCs).
What are the payment methods?
You can pay by credit card, by securely storing a credit card on Jane App; after each session, we will process the payment. Otherwise, you can pay by e-transfer at least 24 hours before the session to the email [email protected]. In both cases, after I receive the payment, I will send you an invoice.
Are your services covered by extended health insurance?
If you have extended health insurance, I recommend checking with them to see if they cover Registered Clinical Counsellors, and if they do, ask how much they cover; many extended health plans cover Registered Clinical Counsellors! After every session, you will receive a receipt that you can submit to your provider for reimbursement. We do not offer direct billing.
Counselling fees are not covered by the MSP (BC Medical Services Plan).
What is your cancellation policy?
We require clients to cancel or re-schedule at least 48 hours in advance, in order to avoid paying the full session fee. We also charge the full session fee if a client misses an appointment. Thank you for your understanding!
Do I need a referral from a doctor to see a Registered Clinical Counsellor?
No, you do not need a referral. You can just book in!
How do I make an appointment?
You can press the button “Book now” and you will be redirected to Jane App, where you can book a free 15 minute consultation, or any other type of session you need.
What are the session fees?
- 50 minute individual session – 175 + GST
- 80 minute individual session – 280 + GST
- 50 minute couples session – 195 + GST
- 80 minute couples session – 312 + GST
- Also, I have a few sliding scale spots for people from marginalized groups (BIPOC, neurodivergent, 2SLBTQIA+, among others) who are experiencing financial barriers.
Do you accept third party counselling -such as ICBC, FHNA and CVAP?
Not at the moment!
What can I expect from an individual first session?
The purpose of our first appointment is to get to know each other better, and to understand more about what brought you to counselling and what your goals/hopes for therapy are. During the first session, we will also briefly talk about the informed consent -to make sure we are on the same page- and we might identify a schedule and frequency of sessions. You will also have a chance to ask any questions you might have about the therapeutic process.
What can I expect from the individual therapy process?
After a few sessions of understanding more of what brings you here, who you are and what are your intentions, we will do a summary of what are the most important things that we have noticed during our talks together, and agree on the goals for the therapy process. During this session, I also like to ask for feedback -what is working for you, and what is not working so much-, to adapt the process to what works for you.
In the beginning of each session, I tend to incorporate certain grounding exercises (meditation, breathing, etc) to allow us to be present during session, and at the end of each session I always ask about sensations after the session, takeaways and I check if there is anything clients want to talk about next session. Sometimes, we might discuss homeworks/practices (optional) to do before our next session.
PS: I highly recommend having a journal for therapy, to write your takeaways after every session and to write about your experience with certain homeworks/exercises that we might agree upon.
What can I expect from a couples first session?
The purpose of our first appointment is to get to know each other better, and to understand more about what brought you to counselling, what your goals/intentions for therapy are, what is the story of the relationship, and what are the conflicts that you tend to have as a couple. During the first session, we will also briefly talk about the informed consent -to make sure we are on the same page- and we might identify a schedule and frequency of sessions. You will also have a chance to ask any questions you might have about the therapeutic process.
What can I expect from the couples therapy process?
After the first session, I like to have individual sessions with each person, to get to know each other better as individuals and not only as a couple. In this session, I ask about family of origin, their perspective, individual mental health, commitment to the relationship, etc. After the individual sessions, we have another couples session and we agree on goals to work towards. After this session, the therapy will be mostly a mix of Emotionally Focused therapy and Gottman therapy, and I will include any other tools that seem relevant.
“Your task is not to seek love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. “
– Rumi