Policies and Statements
1 / Insurance & Fees
Although psychotherapy is a regulated health profession in Ontario, it is unfortunately not currently covered by OHIP. However, many extended health benefits/employer and student benefits do cover psychotherapy costs, just as they would cover dental services and prescriptions. Please review your employee/student coverage prior to your first session.
Our rates for Psychotherapy:
20-minute initial consultation in-person, video or call: Free
Individual therapy 60 minutes: $180
Couples therapy 75 minutes: $240
2 / Sliding Scale
One of the biggest barriers to therapy is cost and affordability for those who do not have insurance. We are able to see clients at sliding scale rates. If you are experiencing financial strain, please make an inquiry about sliding scale on our intake form, and in your free initial consult. Please see this list of local, no-cost mental health supports if you are in crisis.
3 / Payment Policy
We collect payment after each session. Upon payment, you will be issued an official receipt including the therapist’s registration number and information for insurers. Payment can be made via e-transfer to admin@asktherapyhub.ca or by inputing your credit card to Jane, our booking system. Non-payment of fees will result in termination of therapy.
4 / Cancellation Policy
To ensure fairness and respect for your therapist, we require a minimum of 24-hours notice for appointment cancellations. Cancellations made with less than 24 hours notice, will incur the full session fee.
Being on time for your sessions demonstrates your commitment to therapy and your wellbeing. We ask that you make every effort to be prompt, as your therapist will also begin and end your session on time. If you are unable to attend or will be late, please notify your therapist or the clinic as soon as possible.
5 / Age of Consent
Clients are required to consent. In accordance with PHIPA (Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act) the consent must be signed by the patient if they are 12 years of age or older. Parental consent is accepted if the patient is less than 12 years of age, or is incapable of consenting. If there is a conflict between the child and the parent, the capable child’s decision prevails with respect to consent.
6 / Client Confidentiality
Confidentiality is a cornerstone of building a trusting therapeutic relationship and provides a safe space where you can explore your challenges freely. Your clinical records are strictly confidential and will never be shared with any third party without your written consent. At Ask Psychotherapy Hub, we are deeply committed to protecting your confidentiality. As Registered Psychotherapists, we adhere to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice set forth by the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO). There are very limited exceptions where confidentiality may be broken. These include:
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A risk of harm to yourself or others
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Suspected child abuse or neglect involving a minor (under the age of 16), which we are legally required to report to the Children’s Aid Society under the Child and Family Service Act
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A court of law subpoenaing clinical records (if this occurs, we will, if possible, notify you prior to releasing any information)
Confidentiality is also an important legal concept that applies to all regulated health professionals, including Registered Psychotherapists.
7 / Personal Information Protection and Privacy Policy
The Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA) establishes the rules relating to confidentiality and privacy of personal health information in Ontario. PHIPA requires that personal health information be kept confidential and secure. Our psychotherapists receive specialized training and are governed by strict ethical codes to ensure your protection. We are also professionally bound by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) to safeguard your privacy and ensure confidentiality. Privacy of personal information is an important principle toAsk Psychotherapy Hub. We are committed to collecting, using and disclosing personal information responsibly and only to the extent necessary for the psychotherapy services we provide. We try to be open and transparent about how we handle personal information. Below describes our privacy policies.
Personal health information is information about an identifiable individual. Personal health information includes information that relates to:
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the physical or mental health of the individual (including family health history);
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the provision of health care to the individual (including identifying the individual’s health care provider);
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a plan of service under the Home Care and Community Services Act, 1994;
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payments or eligibility for health care or coverage for health care;
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the donation or testing of an individual’s body part or bodily substance;
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the individual’s health number; or
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the identification of the individual’s substitute decision-maker.
Ask Psychotherapy Hub is a team of psychotherapists and support staff. We also use a number of consultants and service providers that may, in the course of their duties, have limited access to personal health information we hold. These include computer consultants, office security and maintenance, bookkeepers and accountants, lawyers, temporary workers to cover holidays, credit card companies, and cleaners. We restrict their access to any personal information we hold as much as is reasonably possible. We also have their assurance that they follow appropriate privacy principles.
We collect, use and disclose personal information in order to serve our clients. For our clients, the primary purpose for collecting personal health information is to provide psychotherapy. For example, we collect information about a client’s health history, including their family history, physical condition and function and social situation in order to help us assess what their health needs are, to advise them of their options and then to provide the health care they choose to have. A second primary purpose is to obtain a baseline of health and social information so that in providing ongoing health services we can identify changes that are occurring over time.
We understand the importance of protecting personal information. For that reason, we have taken the following steps:
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Paper information is either under supervision or secured in a locked or restricted area.
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Electronic hardware is either under supervision or secured in a locked or restricted area at all times. In addition, strong passwords are used on all computers and mobile devices.
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Personal health information is only stored on mobile devices if necessary. All personal health information stored on mobile devices is protected by strong encryption.
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We try to avoid taking personal health information home to work on there. However, when we do so, we transport, use and store the personal health information securely.
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Paper information is transferred through sealed, addressed envelopes or boxes by reputable companies with strong privacy policies.
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Electronic information is either anonymized or encrypted before being transmitted.
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Our staff members are trained to collect, use and disclose personal information only as necessary to fulfill their duties and in accordance with our privacy policy.
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We do not post any personal information about our clients on social media sites and our staff members are trained on the appropriate use of social media sites.
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External consultants and agencies with access to personal information must enter into privacy agreements with us.
We need to retain personal information for some time to ensure that we can answer any questions you might have about the services provided and for our own accountability to external regulatory bodies. However, in order to protect your privacy, we do not want to keep personal information for too long.
We keep our client files for at least ten years from the date of the last client interaction or from the date the client turns 18.
We destroy paper files containing personal health information by cross-cut shredding. We destroy electronic information by deleting it in a manner that it cannot be restored. When hardware is discarded, we ensure that the hardware is physically destroyed or the data is erased or overwritten in a manner that the information cannot be recovered.
While we will take precautions to avoid any breach of your privacy, if there is a loss, theft or unauthorized access of your personal health information we will notify you.Upon learning of a possible or known breach, we will take the following steps:
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We will contain the breach to the best of our ability, including by taking the following steps if applicable
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Retrieving hard copies of personal health information that have been disclosed
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Ensuring no copies have been made
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Taking steps to prevent unauthorized access to electronic information (e.g., change passwords, restrict access, temporarily shut down system)
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We will notify affected individuals
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We will provide our contact information in case the individual has further
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We will provide the Commissioner’s contact information and advise the affected individual of their right to complain to the Commissioner
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We will investigate and remediate the problem, by:
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Conducting an internal investigationo Determining what steps should be taken to prevent future breaches (e.g. changes to policies, additional safeguards)
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Ensuring staff is appropriately trained and conduct further training if required
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Depending on the circumstances of the breach, we may notify and work with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. If we take disciplinary action against one of our practitioners (or revoke or restrict the privileges or affiliation of one of our practitioners) for aprivacy breach, we are required to report that to the practitioner’s regulatory College. We may also report the breach to the relevant regulatory College if we believe that it was the result of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity.
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Our Information Officer, Emma Heutschi, can be reached at: emma@asktherapyhub.ca She will attempt to answer any questions or concerns you might have.If you wish to make a formal complaint about our privacy practices, you may make it in writing to our Information Officer. She will acknowledge receipt of your complaint, and ensure that it is investigated promptly and that you are provided with a formal decision and reasons in writing.
You have the right to complain to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario or Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you have concerns about our privacy practices or how your personal health information has been handled, by contacting:
Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario
2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400
Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8
Telephone: Toronto Area (416/local 905): (416) 326-3333
Long Distance: 1 (800) 387-0073 (within Ontario)
TDD/TTY: (416) 325-7539
FAX: (416) 325-9195
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
30 Victoria Street, 8th floorGatineau, QCK1A 1H3
Telephone: (819) 994-5444
Toll-free: 1-800-282-1376
TTY: (819) 994-6591
This policy is made under the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004, S.O. 2004, c. 3. and Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). These documents are complex statutes and provide some additional exceptions to the privacy principles that are too detailed to set out here.