Departments

There are a lot of letters thrown around in this field and it can all get a little bit confusing! Here’s a brief explanation to help you understand the difference between these three professional titles.

RCC – Registered Clinical Counsellor. This is a common counselling classification here in BC and it relates to practitioners who have a counselling-related Master’s degree while also meeting other clinical standards. RCCs are members of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors.

RSW – Registered Social Worker. This designation is given to social workers with a degree in social work (bachelor, master or doctoral) providing they also meet other professional standards. RSWs are members of the BC College of Social Workers.

RCSW – Registered Clinical Social Worker. Going a step beyond RSW, RCSWs are required to have considerable clinical experience and coursework and they must also pass a national board exam. They’ll hold a minimum Masters degree in social work. RCSWs are also members of the BC College of Social Workers.

Our fees range from $100 to $180 per session, depending on the type of session needed and which therapist you work with. GST is added to counsellor sessions but excluded from a social worker’s sessions. It’s also worth knowing that RSW services are considered a tax write-off for health services, so please keep your receipts to receive a tax benefit at the end of the year.

We require payment before your sessions, and receipts will be provided, either in person or by email. If your extended health benefits plan provider covers our services, you may need to submit your receipts to them, so please retain them for your records.

Sliding Scale Fee

We’re proud to offer a sliding scale fee to ensure that our services are accessible to low-income families and individuals. However, our counsellors only have a limited number of sliding scale spots available. This scale is based on your gross family monthly income (before taxes). This helps to ensure that your fee is proportionate to your income. Therefore, be prepared to provide your financial information if you’re requesting a sliding scale fee.

We realize your financial circumstances may change. If that happens, we’d be happy to reassess your fee, which could increase or decrease depending on your circumstances.

Periodically, our fees may increase, and we’ll do our best to provide one month’s notice for current clients. However, if you haven’t attended recent sessions, you may need to confirm your rate.

Please note that the number of sessions provided by interns is limited as they’re only here for a short time. After your sixth session, you and your counsellor will evaluate how the counselling is going and decide how many more sessions are required.

Many of our payment options require you to pay upfront for your session, except for EAPs, First Nations Health Authority, CVAP and ICBC. Your payment options will be confirmed at the time of intake.

Extended Health Medical Plans

Many extended health plan providers cover our services, but it does depend on your specific plan.

Before contacting us:

Contact your plan provider to determine whether your plan covers our services. Unfortunately, most plans don’t cover all three of these designations, so it’s important to know your coverage before contacting us.

1. Which designation does your plan cover?

• Registered Clinical Counselors (RCC)
• Registered Clinical Social Workers (RCSW)
• Registered Social Workers (RSW)

2. Does your plan require that the therapist hold a specific Master’s degree (i.e. Masters of Social Work/MSW)?

3. How much does your plan cover per calendar year?
We offer limited direct billing to plan providers. However, most plans will require you to pay our fee upfront and submit the receipt to your plan provider for reimbursement.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

We contract with limited Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) and the Employee Family Assistance Program (EFAP) in BC, including Homewood Health, and have extensive experience with workplace conflict. The number of sessions available depends on your plan.
Please consult with your Human Resources Department to determine whether or not you’re covered by an EAP or EFAP.

First Nations Clients

Terresa McKenzie and Nicole Carr are contracted service providers to the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA). If you identify as First Nations, you may be eligible to receive funding for counselling services.

Crime Victim Assistance Program (CVAP)

If you are a survivor of a crime, are an immediate family member of a survivor, or witnessed a crime in British Columbia and have a claim number, you may qualify for financial assistance (funding) for our counselling services. For more information on the Crime Victim Assistance Program, click here or email cvap@gov.bc.ca.

ICBC Subsidized Councilling

If you’ve been in a motor vehicle accident, you automatically qualify for up to 12 counselling sessions within 12 weeks of the accident, paid for by ICBC. When you complete the intake form, please include your ICBC Claim number, date of the accident, and date of birth. Visit ICBC Subsidized Counselling for more information.

Did you know that Canadian first responders experience post-traumatic stress disorder at twice the general population rate due to high-stress work situations?

Several of our clinicians have extensive experience and training working with first responders. Terresa is a member of First Responder Health and Wounded Warriors and is proud to be an occupationally aware clinician.

There is also mounting evidence that EMDR works well with emergency personnel, such as paramedics, law enforcement officers, emergency dispatchers, firefighters, and other front line employees, such as child protection social workers.

EDMR for First responders

EMDR is designed to help you process a “bad call” or disturbing critical incident. We’ll use EMDR to activate your brain’s natural healing process using a proven framework of guided bilateral eye movements. This treatment helps resolve traumatic events and will reduce the emotional symptoms you may be experiencing. You’ll also learn coping skills to support you during future high-stress work situations.

How PTSD Might Feel

Some post-traumatic symptoms you might experience include:

• Intrusive thoughts, dreams, and unwanted recollections of the traumatic incident
• Worrying about harm happening to your loved ones
• Hypervigilance or being easily startled
• Avoiding triggering places or people
• Feelings of fatigue and burnout
• Irritability or detachment
• Trouble sleeping
• Depression
• Ineffective coping mechanisms

Some common ways a person might try to cope (but that doesn’t help heal the trauma) might include:

• Using substances, such as alcohol or drugs
• Self-harming by cutting or binge-eating
• Increased risk-taking, such as reckless driving

Experiencing Moral Injury

Moral injury is a term used to describe what happens when a workplace incident is so severe that it changes how you make sense of life.

Examples of moral injury are:

• Feeling obligated to go against your values to do your job, causing inner conflict, guilt, or depression
• Not being able to prevent another person’s actions that go against your values or moral beliefs
• Your unit or organization doesn’t support you, and you feel betrayed by them

Please do reach out if you’re experiencing any of these issues.

Yes! Terresa is a member of The Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance (CADDRA), and, as a Registered Clinical Social Worker, she’s able to conduct comprehensive psychosocial assessments with her clients.

These assessments include understanding the effects of ADHD on educational, occupational, interpersonal, and social functioning throughout life. These assessments are pretty complex, so there’s a need to collect information from multiple sources. Terresa has good relationships with many local physicians and can work with you alongside your health care team to address the appropriate interventions and level of care needed.

ADHD often involves comorbidities, so Terresa can also assess or refer where applicable. She works from what is referred to as a “biopsychosocial spiritual approach”, which addresses how ADHD (and potential comorbidities) impacts different areas of functioning.

Our office Coordinator is responsible for all scheduling-related tasks. Please don’t send appointment requests or cancellations to the therapists alone, as they cannot always respond promptly.

Please read our Cancellation Policy carefully. Feel free to ask us to explain anything you don’t understand or that you have any concerns about.

Scheduling

We use Jane App booking software for scheduling appointments. When the first appointment is booked, clients receive an initial welcome email from the system. 

If you’re running late, email your therapist on their private email. This is especially important for sessions booked after the building closes at 6:30 pm or at the weekend. This will ensure they know you’re on your way and will wait for you.

Cancelation Policy

There are often clients on a waiting/cancellation list who really need a session. By providing proper notice of cancellation, you’re allowing those clients the opportunity to receive the session they need. You’re also ensuring that you won’t be charged for a missed session you won’t benefit from.

When you need to reschedule an appointment, please provide a minimum of 24 hours’ notice.

If you don’t show up for your appointment, you’ll be expected to pay your full fee. When you provide less than 24 hours’ notice, you’ll be required to pay 50% of your fee. Cancelling your appointment within 4 hours of your session time is considered a no-show. We’ll process payments on the card on file.

For clients covered by EAPs that do not pay for no-shows, and all First Nations clients, you will be required to pay for any missed sessions personally.

For clients receiving free counselling through our interns, if you don’t show up, you’ll be expected to pay the full fee of our interns’ sliding scale rate of $30.00. When you provide less than 24 hours’ notice, you will be required to pay 50% of this fee ($15.00+GST). Cancelling your appointment within 4 hours of your session time is considered a no-show.

How To Cancel an Appointment

You can cancel your appointment by emailing info@innerbalancesolutions.ca or contacting us by phone. Please leave a voice message (our messages are date/time stamped).

We’ll always respond by phone or email to let you know that your message has been received and confirm your appointment has been cancelled.

We won’t make another appointment until payment for the missed appointment has been received. If you’ve booked advanced sessions, we’ll cancel them if you have an outstanding balance.

If you have any questions regarding our cancellation policy, please let us know. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

How to create a Moble Phone Shortcut: HERE.