FAQ

A referral is not required to set up an appointment at The Clinic.

Contact us directly by telephone at 416-515-2649 or via email at info@theclinicondupont.com

Our specialty is in treatment evaluation and in helping you find the right therapist to meet your needs. If you do not already know whom you want to work with, your first contact will be with Dr. Randy Katz, founder and director of The Clinic, or with our referrals coordinator. Both specialize in assessment and, after a discussion with you, will be able to refer you to the most appropriate therapist at The Clinic for treatment. If your particular problem is not well suited to treatment at The Clinic, we are also more than happy to provide you with an appropriate referral to someone at another facility.

The greatest predictor of therapeutic success is the alliance formed between the therapist and the client. If you do not feel that your therapist is the right person to help you with your problems, you should let us know. We will be happy to refer you to another one, either within The Clinic or at another facility.

CBT is generally a short-term psychotherapy lasting 6 to 24 sessions, with each session 50 minutes in length. Sessions usually take place once per week, although depending on the severity of the problem, they may be more or less frequent. In any case, the frequency of sessions will eventually be tapered off as you become more proficient with our techniques. Our goal is to help you become your own therapist.

When you arrive for your first appointment, please come right into The Clinic at 99 or 101 Dupont, and take a seat in one of our main waiting areas on the first floor. Your clinician will meet you in the waiting area, and take you to his or her office at your designated appointment time.

During your first appointment, your clinician will discuss fees and payment options with you. Your clinician will give you the option of filling out a preauthorized credit card payment form, or you can pay after each session by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Interac, cheque or cash. Our administrative team will process your payments and will send you a statement of account monthly.

CBT is generally a short-term psychotherapy lasting 6 to 24 sessions, with each session 50 minutes in length. Sessions usually take place once per week, although depending on the severity of the problem, they may be more or less frequent. In any case, the frequency of sessions will eventually be tapered off as you become more proficient with our techniques. Our goal is to help you become your own therapist.

Yes, all sessions at The Clinic are completely private. We do not offer group therapy and because we are not a teaching clinic, there will never be anyone observing your therapy sessions. We will be happy to discuss unique concerns that you might have about privacy during your first session at The Clinic.

We move very quickly here and we don’t believe in waiting lists. We will respond to your first phone call or e-mail within 12 hours. You will have your initial assessment appointment within the week following your first contact with us, and you may be working with your therapist as early as the day after your initial appointment.

We have a sliding fee scale governed by the recommendations of the Ontario Psychological Association. Fees are charged on an hourly basis and set individually with each client. Payment is accepted by cash, cheque, Interac or credit card.

No, our services are not covered by OHIP.

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Services rendered by registered psychologists are typically reimbursed partially, or in full, by extended health care providers. In the province of Ontario, people who experience difficulties as a result of a motor vehicle accident are entitled to appropriate psychological services. We provide all clients with a detailed invoice of their appointments, which they may submit to insurance companies for prompt reimbursement.

Although psychologists may have training in the use of medication to treat psychological problems, psychologists working in Ontario are not licensed to prescribe medication. Thus, our treatment plans at The Clinic do not include medications.

When you make an appointment at The Clinic, your therapist sets aside a specific timeslot just for you. If you must cancel or change your appointment, it is important to contact your therapist at least 24 hours in advance so that he/she can offer your timeslot to someone else. If you do not cancel your appointment 24 hours in advance, you will be charged the full hourly rate for your missed appointment. Under certain extenuating circumstances (e.g. medical illness, family emergency, dangerous weather conditions, etc.), fees for missed or cancelled sessions may be waived. These situations are handled by your therapist on a case-by-case basis and you may speak with him/her if you’d like further clarification.

Therapists at The Clinic seek to maintain the strictest standards of confidentiality and privacy with respect to your information. As such, it is our policy that your information does not leave The Clinic in any form without your fully informed consent and written authorization, or that of your legally-designated decision-maker. This having been said, in the province of Ontario, psychologists and every other group of registered health care professionals are required to break confidentiality under four specific circumstances. These circumstances constitute the “limits of confidentiality” and are as follows:

• In cases of suspected child abuse or neglect, psychologists must immediately report their concerns to local authorities (i.e. the Children’s Aid Society) with or without patient consent.
• In cases involving imminent risk of physical harm to oneself or another, psychologists must take whatever actions are necessary to protect patients and/or third parties, even if doing so involves breaking confidentiality.
• Where psychologists discover that another registered health care professional (i.e. a dentist, chiropractor, physician, etc.) has sexually abused, sexually assaulted, or sexually harassed a patient, they must report that practitioner to his or her own regulatory body; however they are not required to identify their patient unless they have received permission to do so.
• Where a judge subpoenas a patient’s clinical records, psychologists may be required to turn them over as ordered.

Psychologists are regulated and licensed health service providers, registered with the College of Psychologists of Ontario to practice psychology within the framework of the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA). This means that psychologists are uniquely qualified to use certain kinds of psychological tests to assess intelligence, emotional and behavioural problems, and neuropsychological dysfunction, and to communicate assessment results and diagnoses in a court of law or to your insurer. In addition, psychologists are uniquely trained as scientist-practitioners. This means that we stay on top of the current research literature and constantly evaluate and update the treatments we provide so that they are consistent with the latest scientific findings.

Regulation and licensing are important because they protect the public by ensuring that psychologists are highly competent, that they meet a high standard of qualifications, that they abide by provincial regulations and a Code of Ethics, and that they are answerable to consumer complaints.

If you have any concern about the behaviour of a regulated practitioner, you can contact the provincial or territorial regulatory body that licenses his or her practice. The role of the regulatory body is to protect the public by ensuring that its practitioners are properly trained and competent. You have no assurance that an unregulated person is competent to provide the service offered and no regulatory body to contact if you have any concern about the service provided. More information is provided on the website of the College of Psychologists of Ontario at http://www.cpo.on.ca/

The Canadian Psychological Association’s website lists the names and coordinates of all the provincial and territorial regulatory bodies of psychology. Because psychologists are regulated provincially and territorially, in order to determine whether your practitioner is in good standing, you should contact the regulatory body in the province or territory in which you are receiving services.