I’ve never been for counselling before and I don’t know what to expect
Counselling can be a scary event if we were to believe everything we see on television or in the media, but it does not have to be that way. At ACT Associates, we have 3 ways to connect with us. If you have extended health benefits that include coverage for a psychologist, we are able to provide you with that coverage. Please call Dalton Associates at 1-888-245-5516 and request either Jurgen Czechowsky or Janice Dinsmore Czechowsky as your therapist. If you have any questions about this process, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Booking an appointment
Appointments can be scheduled either by phoning our office (902-852-2963) and speaking with our Office Manager, or you can email us at admin@actassociates.ca and they will assist you in scheduling an appointment. We will do our very best to schedule something that suits both your time schedule and our availability but may be dependent on which time zone you may be connecting from. Our Office Manager will also take a few details from you, like your name, address, phone number, email address and preference for Video Counselling, if that is how you would like to arrange for counselling. If however, you wish to see someone in the office, we will email you directions to our office from your vicinity. Also, if you require other information or our brochures, we will email them to you as well.
Counselling Rates
Our rates are negotiable and can be paid by Visa, MasterCard, Interac, PayPal or cheque. There is no cash kept on the premises so change cannot be made if you choose to pay by cash. Income tax receipts are issued at the time of payment and can be deducted from your income tax under the Medical section of your income tax.
Telephone counselling
Also known as tele-counselling, it provides the opportunity to “attend” counselling from the privacy of your home or office, but with no need to arrange for travel time.
This mode of counselling may be most helpful for those with young children at home who may be napping, but with no one to babysit. Also, individuals who are not within a reasonable distance or who are experiencing bad weather or providing care to someone else, may find that tele-counselling better suits their needs.
After you have scheduled your appointment, you can arrange for payment of your session through PayPal. At ACT Associates, we ask that you complete this transaction 24 hours ahead to ensure your session. Sessions that are not paid for risk being assigned to someone who may require an immediate appointment. Then, all you need to do is be available to meet, without interruptions for your counselling session, which is 50 minutes in length.
Your therapist will call you at the designated time and you do not incur any long distance charges on your phone bill.
We would encourage you to please use a land line to ensure a secure and private conversation. At the conclusion of your session, your therapist will schedule your next appointment with you.
Video Counselling
For those individuals who wish to have a face to face session but are unable to attend at the office, perhaps because of distance, you can still attend counselling in the privacy of your own home or office. After you have scheduled your appointment, you can arrange for payment of your session through PayPal. At ACT Associates, we ask that you complete this transaction 24 hours ahead to ensure your session. Sessions that are not paid for risk being assigned to someone else who may require an immediate appointment. Then, all you need to do is be available to meet, without interruptions for your counselling session, which is 50 minutes in length. At the time of scheduling your appointment, you will be asked to provide your email address so that your therapist can connect with you ON our OnCall Health Platform, which is PHIPA and PIPEDA compliant to protect your privacy and confidentiality.. OnCall Health will email you with instructions on signing into the platform.
There are no additional costs associated with using OnCall Health. At the conclusion of the session, your therapist will schedule your next appointment directly with you.
In office appointments
When you arrive at our office, there is free parking, either on the street or in the double driveway. You will notice a walkway alongside of the garage. Please follow the walkway and go to the 2nd door. That is where the offices are located. Please walk in and be our guest. That means, help yourself to a coffee, tea, hot chocolate or apple cider (when available) while you wait for your appointment.
A accessible washroom is available and is straight ahead when you come into the waiting area. Our offices are wheelchair accessible, including the washroom so no need to worry about accessibility issues. We want to take the worry out of your visit to our office.
At your scheduled appointment time, your therapist will come out to the waiting room to greet you and invite you into the counselling offices. At the conclusion of your appointment, your therapist will schedule your next appointment with you.
During the appointment itself
All counselling sessions are 50 minutes in length. The process of counselling is to help you resolve the issues that have created the problem that has brought you to counselling in the first place. At ACT Associates, we will develop a specific plan to help you resolve the issues, including the number of anticipated sessions. However, as you go through the counselling process, if other issues arise or resolve themselves, we can adjust the number of sessions, either by adding or cancelling sessions. The important piece here is that your needs are met and issues resolved.
Sometimes individuals feel hesitant to talk about the real issues they are experiencing out of a fear of being judged by the therapist. We want to remind you that each one of our therapists has an extensive clinical history of helping people resolve issues that are painful in their lives. This is the place you can bring your secrets, pain, shame and questions and be able to work through them with a trained therapist.
