Psychotherapy refers to planned and structured interventions aimed at influencing behaviour and function, by psychotherapeutic means. Psychotherapy is delivered through a therapeutic relationship to change an individual’s disorder of thought, cognition, mood, emotional patterns, perception, or memory that may impair the individual’s judgement, insight, behaviour, communication, or social functioning as it relates to the performance of daily activities (Standards of Psychotherapy, 2018, College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario)

Occupational therapists can perform the controlled act of psychotherapy. At Different Way, we are OT psychotherapists, which means we have the training and experience to treat diagnosed mental health conditions such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, to name a few.

Our services are considered private health care services, and therefore will not be covered under OHIP.

If you have extended health care benefits, our services can be covered under your ‘Occupational Therapy’ benefits. Unfortunately, if you only have psychotherapy benefits, they will likely NOT cover our services. We recommend checking with your insurance provider prior to scheduling a meet and greet phone call to confirm.

We will work together to develop a treatment plan that meets your individualized needs and considers your life roles and commitments, schedule, finances, and the severity of your specific symptoms, to name a few. We do our best to balance these various factors and make evidence-based recommendations to offer you the best care possible.

We feel people can benefit from sessions at varying frequencies if they make a commitment to themselves to practice the skills outside of their schedule sessions.

We welcome a conversation regarding financial assistance. We want to ensure access is for everyone so if you are motivated and willing to engage in treatment, please be in touch! We can discuss rates and your unique needs when we connect.

We aim to spend 50 minutes with you per session. If you feel you’ll benefit from sessions that are shorter or longer, let’s talk more about this. We want your treatment to make the most sense for you.

Psychotherapy often involves learning new skills. This requires practicing the skill during the session and in between sessions to make meaningful changes. It also involves reflecting on your progress and areas for growth. We believe skill practice and reflection is integral to making change and benefitting from therapy.

That’s okay. It takes time to figure this piece out, and support will likely help. There is a lot to think about, and it can be overwhelming. We can start by having a session to navigate this decision together. Ultimately, you decide, and you can change your mind at any time.

You have 24 hours before your scheduled session to cancel. If you cancel within the 24 hour period you will be billed. Exceptions to this policy are made on a case by case basis.

While availability varies week to week, we do our best to get back to people as soon as possible (24-48 hours) and can typically begin working with you within 1-2 weeks.