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By the time you arrive for your first session, you will have already connected with a counsellor over the phone or by email; feel free to ask them any questions you might have. You will have been invited to activate your Jane account, and you will have received an electronic ‘Welcome Letter’ and ‘Informed Consent’ form to fill out ahead of time. When you arrive to our office, we have a reception area where you can enjoy something to drink and get settled before your session begins. At the time of your appointment, your counsellor will greet you and escort you to one of our confidential offices. The first session often involves a fair amount of information gathering as your counsellor learns about you, and you about them, and you explore what you hope to get out of counselling and what you wish to achieve. At the end of the session, your counsellor will offer to schedule another appointment, and payment arrangements will be confirmed.

Since we don't have a receptionist, we have created a comfortable and welcoming reception area for you to hang out in until your appointment begins. We've decorated with interesting art for you to enjoy while you sip some tea or coffee. Don't fancy hot beverages? We also have a fridge stocked with water and juices for your convenience.

Everything in your session is private. There are certain circumstances however when we must break confidentiality - it is always in regards to safety of yourself or others and whenever possible we will speak with you ahead of time to keep you informed. Please see the limits of confidentiality (or when we need to break your privacy) below:

• If we have reason to believe that a child is being harmed and is in need of protection.
• If there is a risk to yourself or someone else.
• If subpoenaed by the courts to provide documents.

We accept cash, cheque, credit cards or e-transfer. Credit cards can be stored on our online system (Jane App) and can be charged on our end, after your session. We also accept e-transfers to info@ignitecounselling.ca (auto deposit; no special question required).

We don’t like doing it on our end, so please do give us 24 hours notice to cancel. However, if less time than that is given, we charge for the full session fee as we have specifically set aside that time just for you. 

• We want to be able to support clients to access counselling in any way that works for them, including offering alternatives to coming in-person to the office. In recent years, the move to more online services and secure platforms has expanded our capacity to meet with folks. Online sessions are delivered through our secure platform using Jane App software. You can request online sessions for any reason. You will just need to provide your counsellor with your e-mail address to ensure access.

Please note that sessions are never recorded, and are dependent on internet access. 

• If an online session can’t work for you or you don’t desire it, there is always an option of counselling over the phone. For phone counselling, it is important to ensure that during your session, you’re able to have somewhere private and safe to be able to talk and be free from distractions. Please note that often our agency/counsellors' phone number will show up as 'Blocked' or 'Unknown' for privacy reasons. If you do not answer, your counsellor will try back in another 5-10 minutes. Please speak with your therapist at any point that you feel that phone counselling would be more beneficial to you.

Sessions are booked for 60-minutes; however, appointment times can vary, based on need and preference. Please discuss with your counsellor if you think more or less time would work best for you.

Most definitely! It is important to check with your insurance provider ahead of time to ensure that these services are covered by them. We require payment at the time of your visit and will then issue you a receipt with all the necessary information for submission to your insurance provider.

We are not offering any public groups at this time, but always great to check back!

There are 3 free counselling programs offered through Indigenous Services Canada that can be accessed. 

• The Non-Insured Health Benefit (NIHB) program – provides 20 hours of free counselling a year, plus 2 hours of assessment at the start. To access this program, you just need to provide your counsellor with your status number and birth date. 
• The Indian Residential School (IRS) program – provides 60 hours of free counselling a year. To access this program, you need to provide your counsellor with the name of your family member who attended day school or a residential school; as well as their birth date and the name of the school they attended. Your counsellor will do the rest to complete the application and have the hours approved. 
• The Missing Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) program – provides 60 hours of free counselling a year for anyone affected by MMIWG. Please speak to your counsellor about accessing this program.

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• Our session fees range between $170-$200/hour (depending on your clinician).
• Our practicum clinician session fee is $85/hour.

We encourage clients to find child care whenever possible for their sessions. Children can sometimes be a bit of a distraction, and may hinder ability to fully focus in the session - and truly, we want you to get as much as possible out of your time with us.