FAQs

Q. DO YOU HAVE A CANCELLATION POLICY IF I CAN’T MAKE MY APPOINTMENT?

A. Yes. Our cancellation policy is 24 hours. You will receive a reminder email 72 hours prior to your appointment. If you cancel within 24 hours or miss your appointment, you are responsible for paying 50% of your session fee. With that said, we do understand that life happens and we can’t necessarily predict when an emergency may occur. In these unique circumstances we do our best to extend grace and accommodate our client’s situation.

Q. DO MY HEALTHCARE BENEFITS COVER THERAPY?

A. There are various levels of service at The Grief and Trauma Healing Centre and every healthcare plan is different. When booking appointments with our Registered Psychologists, Registered Provisional Psychologists, and Registered Social Workers, most plans cover some or all of the cost of services. However, it is best to check with your specific carrier as we don’t have direct access to your plan.

Some plans will also allow direct billing but others will ask for you to submit the claim after you’ve paid for the session. Additionally, some employers have Health Spending Accounts through which you can claim the uncovered portion of your sessions through that account.

Direct billing is available through Blue Cross and Greenshield when booking with a Registered/Provisional Psychologist or Social Worker only. Direct billing is also available through Canada Life and Manulife for Registered Psychologists only. Select therapists also offer coverage through NIHB and Medavie (RCMP, Veterans Affairs Canada, Canadian Armed Forces, Medavie Blue Cross, Interim Federal Health Program).

**If you aren’t sure about your coverage, please contact your benefits provider directly for that information as we don’t have direct access to your plan.

If your plan does not cover psychological services, we have Mental Health Therapists and a Master-level Clinical Intern available to work with you. These therapists offer their services at a significantly reduced rate and work under the supervision of a Registered Psychologist. They are great options for clients with limited or no healthcare benefits. 

Q. DO YOU OFFER ONLINE COUNSELLING SERVICES?

A. Yes. We offer both online counselling and face-to-face services. A majority of our teammates offer both to best accommodate the unique needs and circumstances of their clients. If you live in Alberta and have access to a computer, tablet, or cell phone, you may benefit from our online counselling services.

Q. WHAT AM I INVESTING IN?

A. Attending therapy regularly is an investment in your emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. Working with a trained therapist can help you to gain both clarity and insight into your particular form of suffering as well as to develop the skills and acquire the tools to heal after loss or address any other life circumstance. This investment requires small and consistent actions and a commitment to seeing your goals through. Your healing, growth, and change will begin to show in small, yet measurable ways over time. 

Q. HOW CAN THERAPY HELP ME?

A. Every individual’s reason for attending therapy will be unique and individual, thus, their outcomes will be different. With that said, some of the ways therapy can help include,

• reducing symptoms of grief, trauma, stress, anxiety, depression, and isolation 

• deepening awareness of behaviours, thoughts, and habits that are hindering progress

• providing actionable tools and strategies for coping, grounding, and healing 

• processing deep-seated issues from the past including unresolved grief and trauma

• finding meaning and purpose through loss 

 Often having someone bear witness to our pain and having a safe and compassionate space to explore painful feelings and difficult life circumstances can be incredibly helpful in moving forward in a healthy way.

Q. WHAT CAN I EXPECT DURING MY FIRST SESSION?

A. First sessions vary from person to person and therapist to therapist. However, there are some commonalities that are shared. Generally, you will be greeted by your therapist and offered a cup of coffee or tea. You will be invited to make yourself comfortable in the therapy room. Next, your therapist will go over the intake and informed consent process, empowering your understanding of what to expect on the therapeutic journey. Once this is complete, the remainder of the session will focus on what your hopes and expectations are for therapy, potential goals, and various treatment options to consider (ie. The Grief Recovery Method®, EMDR, etc.). Sometimes however, it is just important for the therapist to be a “heart with ears” and listen to your story, gathering background information to ensure that you have an opportunity to share and feel heard and that the right treatment plan is formulated to meet your needs and desires. Whether you begin by diving into the heart of the loss or issue that brought you in, or you begin by sharing general details of your life, we support you where you are at. By the end of the first session, our hope is that you leave feeling heard and validated and walk away with a clear plan of action and some new tools and strategies that you can begin to implement right away.

Q. WHAT IS THERAPY LIKE?

A. Every individual’s experience of therapy will be unique and individual, thus, their perspective will be different. However, there is a general tone that you can expect working with our therapists. It involves sitting with a warm, compassionate, and skilled therapist in a comfortable setting for a 50-minute session. During your sessions you are encouraged to share details about the areas of your life that are burdensome and in need of change. This often requires great courage on your part, to vulnerably share details about your life that are not often known or openly talked about. The therapist will often ask helpful questions, which help her to better understand the issue and how she can best serve you. The therapist will focus on the moments of strength and resilience within your story and help draw your attention to these areas, as well as focus on the parts of your life requiring healing and growth. Finally, the therapist will make recommendations for treatment to address the areas of concern and the subsequent sessions will focus on carrying out that treatment plan (ie. The Grief Recovery Method®, EMDR, etc.).

Q. IS THERAPY BETTER THAN MEDICATION?

A. This is a great question. Medication can be helpful to stabilize some of the challenging symptoms you may be experiencing, including anxiety, depression, stress, and sleep disturbances. However, medication does not cure emotional, spiritual, and psychological problems in and of itself. Medication is meant to be utilized as a temporary solution while working simultaneously with a therapist to address deep-seated issues from the past including unresolved grief and trauma, as well as strengthening coping skills and healthy habits. Our hope for our clients is that through accomplishing the desired treatment goals, medication will no longer be a necessity for emotional, spiritual, and mental well-being. 

Q. DOES WHAT I SHARE IN THERAPY REMAIN CONFIDENTIAL?

A. Confidentiality is essential for a healthy therapist-client relationship. For the most part, what is shared in therapy, remains in therapy. However, there are certain circumstances where therapists are not permitted to keep disclosures confidential. These are called the limits to confidentiality. They occur in four cases:

1. A client discloses that he/she is planning to hurt himself/herself or someone else in a significant way, like having a plan for suicide or homicide. This risk is assessed by the therapist and acted upon if deemed a serious threat, reported to the police.

2. A client discloses that a vulnerable person, like a child or an elderly person, as an example, is being harmed significantly (abuse or neglect). Again, the risk is assessed and acted upon if deemed significant, reported to the police or Children’s Services.

3. The court subpoenas the therapist’s files for court.

4. A client reports a psychological injury resulting from their place of work.

Q. WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT THE GRIEF RECOVERY METHOD® VERSUS A GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP?

A. Imagine you are born with an empty suitcase that you get to carry with you throughout your life. Each time a loss occurs, you get to add a rock to your suitcase. Sometimes those rocks are just pebbles - like having your bike stolen as a child. Other times, those losses are huge boulders - like a death or divorce. The accumulation of those rocks in our suitcase ultimately weigh us down, impacting our emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental well-being, and making it more and more difficult to walk through life. The Grief Recovery Method® allows us to identify those rocks and boulders, recognize the emotional impact they have had on your life, and take action to heal, one loss at a time.

The Grief Recovery Method® is an evidence-based program that allows clients to do more than just retell their story over and over. The Grief Recovery Method® will provide a foundational understanding of what grief is, the various types of loss that create the feelings of grief, the misinformation that keeps us stuck, habits that don’t serve us in our healing, and the actions to emotionally complete a relationship that has ended or changed due to death, divorce, estrangement, or any other circumstance. This is all accomplished while honouring the unique emotions and experiences of the grieving person, ensuring they feel validated and heard along the way.

Traditional grief support groups often focus on either the intellectual facts of the story or the emotions around the loss, without providing correct information or strategies to heal from the loss and move forward in a healthy way. When we retell our story over and over without new action, we often become stuck, looping in the pain of the loss, rather than recovering from it. This is why it is not uncommon to hear individuals attending a grief support group for over 20 years following a loss.

Click here, for more information about The Grief Recovery Method® Program.

Q. WHAT IF I STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?

A. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us at info@healmyheart.ca or 780-288-8011 if you have any questions at all. We will be happy to answer them!