Psychotherapy Frequently Asked Questions & Answers

OHIP does not cover psychotherapy. Your employer or extended health plan may provide full or partial reimbursement based on the coverage your health plan provides. Our therapists’ charge fees starting from $100.00 and above per session. There is no HST charge for psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy can help you take charge of your life and deal with daily problems in a more effective way. With your therapist you can work towards feeling stronger, happier, and having greater control in the choices you make. Psychotherapy is a healing as well as a learning process.

Psychotherapy provides a place to safely explore whatever is troubling you. It offers a place to express your fears and anxieties and to strengthen your emotional responses to them.

As a result of therapy, you may feel less alone, less victimized, and more able to cope with life. You may even be encouraged to express yourself more creatively and confidently.

Psychotherapy encourages you to deal with daily problems in new and more functional ways. Sessions involve you and your therapist usually meeting once a week in a private office, virtually or via phone for about an hour, whichever mode the two if you decide on. Typically, in sessions you begin a conversation about your life and the challenges you are experiencing.

Some people come with very specific problems or with the larger purpose of perhaps understanding themselves better, of finding their true selves, or of freeing up energy for living more fully. Others may not articulate a specific situation, but express a feeling – or lack of feeling – that is impacting their well-being negatively. (This work takes time, sometimes months, often longer.)

They are as different as the people who seek it. Some feel life is unfulfilling. Some want to add depth to their life. Many are experiencing emotional pain. Whenever you feel that life should be better, you can’t cope, or can’t go on, it’s a sign that psychotherapy can be of assistance. To see a full list of what our therapists can assist you with, click here.

The length of the therapy is determined by the challenges you want to resolve, and what outcome you are seeking. Some people stay in therapy for a short time. For others, psychotherapy becomes a vehicle for personal development and greater self-awareness over a longer period. How long you stay in therapy is always your choice.

The frequency of sessions can vary depending on your needs. The most common frequency is once per week. Most of our therapists work on a 50 minute hour, but again, this is determined by your needs.

Online therapy provides you the opportunity to meet with your therapist ‘face-to-face” on a platform such as zoom.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, our whole community of psychotherapists had to adapt very quickly in order to be able to safely treat our clients. We all shared concerns about therapeutic outcomes when we were not able to meet our clients in person.

Now, after this necessary shift, we are pleased to see how well online therapy works – to the degree that some of our members have permanently shifted to an online-only practice. Most therapists here on PRS carry on a hybrid practice; offering online or in-person sessions, as best suits each client.

To learn more about PRS, click here.