Question 1

What can I gain from therapy?

Accepted Answer

People often come to individual therapy because they want to improve their lives in some way. Many people seek therapy for many reasons including personal growth, self-understanding, feeling stuck, or being in crisis. You do not need a formal diagnosis to benefit from individual therapy. Sometimes people aren't exactly sure what they want help with, an that's OK too!

Therapy provides a safe, trusting, and confidential environment for you to explore the issues in your life with a trained and licensed professional. With our expertise, we provide structure and natural flow of a session. We use our evidence-based approaches while also allowing room to simply connect on a human-to-human level.

Question 2

How does it work?

Accepted Answer

Individual therapy works because people have the ability to change. Neuroplasticity -- our brain's ability to adapt and make new connections -- is our superpower. Sometimes emotional or behavioral changes happen little by little, and other times a single therapeutic breakthrough will set off a huge chain reaction. Having a safe, trusting, and authentic relationship with a therapist is also a key to success and change. We work with a number of different therapy modalities as humans are all unique, and there is no one size fits all approach to therapy. Great therapy is often flexible and integrative, moving from one approach to another as sessions demand.

Therapy starts with an initial assessment to help you identify some things that you might like to work on, and an explanation about the ways in which therapy can help you achieve your goals. Following the assessment, we recommend booking sessions weekly or biweekly. Therapy on a regular basis can help speed the process of change along and allow you to have regular support in your reasons you came to therapy. The number of counselling sessions needed depends on the complexity of your goals and on the other factors that will be discussed.

Question 3

What is a Registered Clinical Counsellor?

Accepted Answer

A registered clinical counsellor (RCC) is a counsellor governed by the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC) which regulates the standards of practise and ethical code for counsellors. An RCC must meet specific educational and training standards to help ensure clients receive the highest degree of support that is governed by a professional body. To learn more, click here.

Question 4

What is a consultation/regular session/ extended session?

Accepted Answer

We provide free 15-minute consultations which allows you to get to know me better, learn more about Elemental, ask questions, and to explore how we may be of support to you.

Regular sessions are 50 minutes and extended sessions are 75 minutes. Preference of length of a session may depend on personal preference other factors to be discussed.

Question 5

How many sessions will it take?

Accepted Answer

There is no set number of sessions it may take as everyone is different. We generally recommend booking weekly or biweekly sessions for a minimum of three months as research shows on average 15-20 sessions for clinically significant improvements.

Question 6

How confidential are sessions?

Accepted Answer

What makes therapy unique is that everything discussed in sessions are confidential and will not be communicated to anyone without your knowledge and written consent. By law, there are exceptions which are:

Imminent risk of you harming yourself or others
when there is suspicion or disclosure of abuse/neglect of a child
when client records are subpoenaed by court order

We make it a priority to discuss these circumstances with you and are always available to answer questions or concerns.

Question 7

What are your fees and how do I pay?

Accepted Answer

For individual counselling, are rates are $160/50 minute session and $240/75 minute session. For relationship counselling, our rates are $200/ 50-minute session and $260/ 75-minute session. We also offer free consultations to learn more about us and your hopes for therapy

All scheduling and payments are done through or booking system (Jane) which is linked to on our website. Once you have uploaded your credit card on the secured system, payments for sessions will conveniently be processed at the beginning of your session through the system.

Question 8

What is your rescheduling/cancellation policy?

Accepted Answer

You can reschedule or cancel appointments free of charge as long as it does not fall within 24 hours of your scheduled appointment. Please note it is your responsibility to cancel or reschedule appointments as requesting to do so with an email may not be seen in time. Full payment of a session will be charged if you do not do so within 24 hours of your appointment as this holds space for someone else who could have sought support.

Question 9

Can you provide direct billing?

Accepted Answer

Many major insurance providers cover Registered Clinical Counselling. We will provide an invoice after payment which you can submit for reimbursement. Please note all insurance providers are different, and we encourage you to have an understanding on what is covered in your plan for registered clinical counsellors (RCCs) registered with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC). Please note we do not direct bill to any third parties.

Question 10

What are the different theoretical approaches used?

Accepted Answer

At Elemental, we practice a trauma informed, integrative and humanistic therapy approach which allows integrating various approaches depending on the client and issues. The primary theoretical foundations of our work include Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Somatic Experiencing, Internal Family Systems, Solution Focused Therapy and Psychoeducation while incorporating an emphasis on emotional processing and nervous system regulation. For relationship counselling, our primary approach is Gottman Method while incorporating other tools and modalities for further success in the process. In our first session, we do give space if you wish to learn more about our approach and we encourage you to ask more at any time in our work together. If you wish to learn more of these modalities please click here for further education. It is also important to note that it is not necessary to understand these approaches for them to be successful.

Our structure of therapy allows fluidity of therapeutic approach as everyone is different and growth take place in different ways. We customize our approach dynamically to work with you and your hopes for therapy.

Question 11

How do we communicate outside of session?

Accepted Answer

We believe the healthiest communication is done specifically in session as it allows us to hold boundaries of communication. You are always free to email us about general admin, questions, or inquiries and we will be our best to get back to you within a 48-hour window Monday-Friday. Please note we are not a crisis center, and if you seek immediate support, we recommend reaching out to your local crisis line. Here is a link to crisis support phone numbers here in BC.

Crisis Centre

Question 12

Where are you located?

Accepted Answer

We are located in the beautiful downtown office of Peak Resilience at 808 Nelson St, Suite 601. Vancouver, BC.

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