If you have extended health benefits through an insurance plan, it may cover counselling services under "Psychotherapist" or "Registered Social Worker".  

 

Prior to your first session, it is your responsibility to contact your insurance provider to confirm that you have coverage for our services. It is helpful to ask your provider (a) what mental health professionals your plan covers (i.e. Registered Psychotherapist or Registered Social Worker) and (b) the amount of your coverage (i.e. dollar amount per session/per year). If your insurer covers our services, you can provide our receipt to your insurance company and they will partially or fully reimburse you, depending on your particular benefit plan. NOTE: You are responsible for fees not covered by your insurer - we cannot provide a refund if you discover after your appointment that your benefits don't provide coverage, so please ensure that you understand the type and amount of your coverage before your first session.

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Payment for services is made at the end of each session. We accept cash and credit cards.

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Most insurers provide full or partial coverage for Psychotherapists and Social Workers including:

 

• OTIP

• Sun Life

• Great West Life

• Green Shield 

• Standard Life

• Empire Life

• Cooperators

• Manulife 

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We are also providers for Victim Services Niagara, the Criminal Compensation Board, WSIB, Health Canada and Veterans Affairs. Call us at (905) 321-0550 if you have any questions about fees or your benefit plan.

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Please note our booking and cancellation policy:

• Your appointment time is reserved just for you. If this is your first session with us, we require a valid credit card number at the time of your booking to secure your appointment. 

• Your credit card will not be charged until the day of your appointment; if you prefer to pay by cash at the time of your appointment, you can do so. 

• Your credit card number will be stored in a secure credit card vault hosted by Square and is heavily encrypted, and will be used only to hold future sessions and for processing payment for follow-up appointments. 

• Therapists do not receive a salary and are only paid per session, and so a cancellation without enough time to fill that spot means they lose a significant portion of their income for the day. Abma Counselling requires a minimum of 24 hours’ notice to cancel or reschedule your appointment, otherwise you will be charged for the full session.

• Each appointment booking is sent out with a cancellation link, so that you can cancel online if you need to. This cancellation link allows you to select a reason for your cancellation and to type a note that will be sent to the therapist, if you so wish.

• As well, you will receive two appointment reminders: an email reminder 48 hours before your appointment and a text message reminder 24 hours before your appointment. To avoid a late cancellation charge, you can either reply to your confirmation email, or call or text our office at 905-321-0550 more than 24 hours before your appointment.

• We recognize that some situations are unavoidable, so we are certainly willing to work with you if/when an emergency occurs. In cases of emergency or illness, let us know and we will discuss waiving the cancellation fee. Outside of these types of unavoidable situations, there are many options available to attend counselling even if something does come up. Switching to a video or phone appointment, having a backup plan for childcare and responding to email appointment reminders are all helpful ways to avoid having to pay for a session you didn’t attend.

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