Six sessions, then a wait until January
The work tends to deepen right as the allowance ends. Continuing privately at a gentler rate keeps the thread going, rather than starting over next year.
Online counselling : Canada
Support that carries on
after the benefits
have run out.
Affordable therapy in Canada usually means stretching a workplace allowance, and most plans cover somewhere between five hundred and fifteen hundred dollars a year, which tends to run out around session six, just as things get going. Provincial plans rarely cover private counselling at all. I hold UK CPCAB Level 4, I work online, and the notes below explain exactly how that works for you.
Qualified practitioner
CPCAB Level 4, UK
Registration No. 433TM4D-128-303701
UK CPCAB Level 4 qualification
Sessions available coast to coast and in the north
What I can and cannot offer, said upfront
Strictly confidential
Does provincial health insurance cover therapy in Canada?
Provincial plans generally cover psychiatry and hospital based care rather than private counselling, so most Canadians pay privately or use a workplace benefits allowance that commonly runs out after five or six sessions. Online counselling with a practitioner qualified abroad is self funded, and it is not reimbursable through provincial or private plans.
Who I work with
Who books from
Canada.
Benefits caps and thin local choice bring most of these clients here.
Months for publicly funded counselling
Wait times for free services stretch across much of the country. You can start now and use the public appointment when it comes, or find you no longer need it.
Few or no practitioners nearby
Outside the big centres, choice of therapist narrows quickly. Online sessions treat where you live as irrelevant.
Rebuilding a life from the beginning
Credentials that do not transfer, a winter that arrives early, and family watching hopefully from another country. That is a great deal to hold at once.
Doing well, and running close to empty
Therapy used for focus, recovery and clearer decisions, rather than only for repair.
Two sets of expectations at once
Parents who sacrificed to get you here, and a life that looks nothing like the one they pictured. Both things can be true and both deserve room.
Allowance running low?
Continuing privately at 99 dollars a session keeps the work going instead of pausing until January.
Coverage and scope
What this does
and does not cover.
These sessions are self funded. Provincial health plans do not cover private counselling in most circumstances, and workplace benefits plans reimburse only practitioners registered within Canada, so please do not count on a claim. I provide a receipt on request, and some flexible wellbeing budgets accept it.
I am a counsellor and psychotherapist holding UK CPCAB Level 4. I am not registered with a Canadian provincial college, I do not use protected titles such as psychologist or registered psychotherapist, and I cannot diagnose, prescribe, or write documentation for an insurer or an employer.
Provinces regulate who may practise therapy with their residents, and the rules differ between them, so it is worth checking where you live before booking. For medication, assessment or urgent care, a locally regulated clinician is the right person, and counselling with me can run alongside that.
The arithmetic
What a course of
sessions costs.
The fee is the same for every client wherever they live, so you can work the cost out before you book. Nothing is added on top of the session fee.
$99
One session
The same fee for every client, charged in US dollars, with no assessment fee and no separate intake charge.
$1,188
Twelve weekly sessions
Twelve weeks is a common shape for focused work, and each session is paid for in the week it happens.
48 hours
Payment before the session
Payment reaching me two days ahead confirms the slot and keeps that time held for you.
$0
Covered by provincial plans
Private counselling generally sits outside provincial health coverage, whichever practitioner you choose.
My approach
What you get
for the hour.
Canadian clients often come to me with a handful of sessions already used up elsewhere. That means we tend to start from what has and has not worked, rather than from a blank page.
Talking therapy
Unhurried sessions where you can say anything at all, and I help you find the shape of what you are feeling.
Stress management
Small, practical things you can use between sessions to ease the daily load and look after your energy.
Breathwork
Simple breathing practices that settle the nervous system when thinking alone will not reach it.
Mindful somatic work
Hakomi based approaches that follow what the body holds, useful when emotion sits below language.
Family therapy
Sessions that gently look at the patterns a family repeats together, rather than treating one person as the problem.
Couples therapy
Gottman informed work on communication, conflict, trust, and the friendship underneath the relationship.
No waiting list, wherever you live in Canada.
Coast to coast and up north, on identical terms, usually starting within days.
Two minute check in
Wondering whether
therapy is for you?
Six short questions about the last two weeks. Free, private, and run entirely inside your browser, whatever your benefits plan happens to cover.
This check in gives you language for what you are noticing. It does not diagnose anything, and only a proper assessment can do that.
Question 1 of 6
Over the last two weeks, how often has worry stayed with you through the day?
Nature, breath and the nervous system
Finding your footing
when something strong
is running inside.
How do you learn to stay calm when you feel something strong rising?
Calm is a skill rather than a personality trait, and it is taught through the body before the mind. Slow breathing, grounding through the senses, and contact with the natural world all lower the physical arousal that fuels panic and anger. Practised in ordinary moments, those skills become available in hard ones.
Most of us arrive wanting the feeling to stop. What tends to help more is learning to stay upright while it moves through, since a wave that is ridden passes far sooner than one that is fought. Nature does a surprising amount of this work on its own, and Canada is not short of it. A winter walk in real daylight, a lake in summer, a trail at the edge of town. Northern clients know better than most that light and movement have to be planned in the cold months rather than hoped for.
Settling the body first
Simple breathing practices that lower arousal in minutes, so thinking becomes possible again.
Coming back to the room
Sensory techniques that interrupt a spiral before it gathers pace, usable anywhere and unnoticed by anyone.
Healing that draws on the outdoors
Daylight, green space and movement built into the week, because the nervous system responds to place as much as to insight.
Sessions and fees
A fee that outlasts
the allowance.
Sessions run by secure video, so all you need is a quiet room and a pair of headphones.
Single session
One to one counselling
$99
one to one session
one to one session
- Zoom or Google Meet, whichever you prefer
- Morning and early afternoon slots across Canadian zones
- A rate that lets the work continue past session six
Ongoing work
Regular sessions
$99
each session
each session
- Weekly or fortnightly, by agreement
- The same counsellor throughout
- Reviewed together as the work goes on
Couples and family
Relationship sessions
On request
booked ahead
booked ahead
- Gottman informed couples work
- Family sessions for repeating patterns
- Partners are welcome to join from two places
Booking and payment policy
Payment
Payment comes through at least 48 hours ahead, and that is what holds your slot for you.
Currency
Charged in US dollars, at the same rate for every client wherever they are. Your bank converts at the day's rate.
Cancellations
Life happens. Let me know as early as you can and I will move your session. A last minute cancellation without a genuine reason is not refunded, because the time stays reserved for you.
Late cancellations
If a session is cancelled at the last minute without a genuine reason, I am not able to refund it, since the hour stays reserved and cannot go to anyone else.
Want to check the details first?
Ask about fees, timing or what these sessions can and cannot cover. No pressure either way.
About
A little about
who you would meet.
Mehwish Salman
Psychotherapist and Counsellor
I qualified as a psychotherapist and counsellor and I hold UK CPCAB Level 4 in therapeutic counselling, registration number 433TM4D-128-303701. I work with adults, couples and families, and I shape each session around the person in front of me rather than a fixed script.
My continuing professional development covers stress management, breathwork, Hakomi based mindful somatic approaches, family therapy, and couples therapy using Gottman methods. That range lets me bring the right tool to the right moment rather than stretching one method over every situation.
Canadian clients often ask what a UK qualification means for them. It means a counsellor trained and assessed against UK CPCAB Level 4 standards, working with you by video. What it cannot do is produce a receipt your benefits plan will reimburse, so please treat these sessions as self funded.
UK CPCAB Level 4
Adults, couples, families
Integrative practice
Online worldwide
Questions
What clients in
Canada ask first.
Will my workplace benefits reimburse this?
Almost certainly not, since Canadian plans reimburse practitioners registered with a provincial college. A receipt is available on request, and some flexible wellbeing accounts accept one, so it is worth asking your plan administrator before you assume either way.
Are you registered with a provincial college?
No. I hold UK CPCAB Level 4 rather than a Canadian college registration, and I would rather say that plainly than let a title do the work. I do not describe myself as a registered psychotherapist or a psychologist, both of which are protected in Canada.
Can you prescribe or provide a diagnosis?
Neither sits within what I do. A family doctor, psychiatrist or locally regulated clinician is the right route for that, and counselling with me can run alongside it.
What time are sessions available?
Mornings and early afternoons suit Canadian clients best, with the widest choice in the Atlantic and Eastern zones. Tell me roughly when suits and I will send back the times I have open in your own zone.
I live somewhere very remote. Does that work?
Yes. A private room and a connection that holds for the hour is all it takes, and clients in small northern communities attend on exactly the same terms as clients in Toronto.
What happens in the first session?
We spend the hour getting oriented. You describe what brings you here, I ask about your history and current situation, and together we name what you want to be different. You control how much you share on day one, and you decide afterwards whether to continue.
How do payment and cancellation work?
Payment reaches me at least 48 hours before the session and confirms your slot. If you cancel at the last minute without a genuine reason the fee is not refunded, because the time stays reserved for you. Tell me as early as you can when something genuine comes up and I will move your session.
Does OHIP or my provincial plan cover therapy?
Provincial plans generally cover psychiatry and hospital based care rather than private counselling, which is why most Canadians pay privately or use a workplace benefit. That applies to any private practitioner, not just to me.
How much does a therapist cost in Canada?
My fee is 99 US dollars a session, and it is the same for every client wherever they live. There is no assessment fee and no separate intake charge, and your bank converts to Canadian dollars at the day's rate. These sessions are self funded, because workplace plans reimburse practitioners registered within Canada, so please do not count on a claim.
Why will my benefits not reimburse these sessions?
Canadian plans reimburse practitioners registered with a provincial college, and mine is UK CPCAB Level 4. I provide a receipt on request, and some flexible wellbeing accounts accept one, so ask your plan administrator before assuming.
What is the difference between a registered psychotherapist and a counsellor?
In Ontario and several other provinces, registered psychotherapist is a protected title held by members of a provincial college. Counsellor is not protected in the same way everywhere. I do not use protected titles, and I would rather state exactly what I hold than borrow a label.
How long are the waits for publicly funded counselling?
Waits of several months are common across much of the country, and longer outside the major centres. Starting privately while a public referral progresses is entirely normal.
Booking
Two easy ways
to get started.
Send the form below or message me on WhatsApp. Do say roughly where you are so I can suggest hours in your own time zone. Every message comes straight to me.
Book on WhatsAppNot sure yet? Ask anything you like first. There is no pressure to book, and questions are always welcome.
- thehealingtreepk@gmail.com
- WhatsApp, the quickest route
- Sessions by secure video, wherever in the world you are