Our Intake Process
As we take your confidence in us seriously, we have a thorough intake process to prepare you for counselling. Please read the following process carefully so that you can make effective use of our counselling resources. You do not need a referral from a family doctor to book sessions with our therapists/family physicians.
EASY 2-STEP PROCESS
STEP 1: Read, complete and sign our Counselling Request Form.
Our counselling request form will provide us with your basic information and details about your request. This form also includes limits to confidentiality and permissions to communicate electronically.
Couples and Family Therapy
Each counselling attendee will need to fill out the Counselling Request Form separately before the forms can be fully processed.
Counselling attendees under 16 years old are not required to submit the form. At least one parent/guardian is responsible for signing on behalf of these individuals and indicating their names in the counselling request form.
STEP 2:
For registered psychotherapist/social workers (eligible third party insurance, not covered by OHIP):
The average wait time is less than one week. Our staff will contact you regarding your complimentary 15-minute consultation with one of our therapists.
For physicians (covered by OHIP):
We will email you our “Getting to Know You” Intake Form to complete and sign. This form will be sent from a secure platform and you will receive an email from no-reply@cognisantmd.com. If you do not receive an email in your main inbox, please check your “junk mail/spam” folder.
Couples and Family Therapy
Each individual will need to fill out the “Getting to Know You” Intake Form separately. We will connect with you once all attendees complete and submit the form.
It is important to set aside 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to complete the form in one sitting. The average wait time for counselling with a physician is 12 to 18 months. If you run into any issues, please contact therapy@gracehealthcentre.ca or call us at 416-633-7337.
Get Started Today
We welcome you to begin step 1 by filling out the 2 forms (Form A – Counselling Request Form and Form B – Confidentiality and Electronic Communications Consent Form)
Form A
Form B
Before Your Session
Once you have your first appointment booked, you may be requested to fill in a series of in-depth, evidence-based counselling questionnaires to understand your thinking and emotions for the physician/therapist’s understanding.
Initial Sessions
During the first session we will discuss your presenting concerns, strengths, resources for recovery, present family situation, personal history, relationships, and family background. By the end of the second session, we will usually have a sense of the issues that need to be addressed, their causes, and some strategies to resolve them. If you choose to begin working through these issues, your therapist/family physician will work with you to create specific goals and decide on the number/frequency of subsequent counselling sessions. Those subsequent sessions will focus on implementing the discussed strategies to address your concerns.
Virtual and In-Person Counselling
Counselling sessions are conducted via secure online video-conferencing service) or phone call and usually last for 45-120 minutes, as discussed with your therapist/family physician. With your consent, sessions may be attended/conducted by qualified interns under the supervision of the therapist/physician.
In-person counselling is available for selected physicians and therapists at our clinic.
Note: If you are requesting for a couples or family therapy, you will only need to fill out Form A once for your family as the main registrant. Each member joining therapy will need to fill out Form B separately.