FAQ
Q : How do I know if I need counselling ?
You don’t need a diagnosis or a crisis in your life to benefit from counselling. If you are struggling with something that is impacting your mood, relationships, energy, or quality of life—counselling is a positive step toward developing coping strategies that will last a lifetime. It’s a tool to improve your self-awareness, confidence, emotional processing, or communication ability, just like any other skill.
Q : What if I am finding it difficult to ask for help ?
Feeling anxious about counselling is a common experience. It involves treading into territory that many of us prefer to avoid; being vulnerable, perceived as weak, experiencing emotions such as shame or guilt, the fear of being judged, or acknowledging that which we’d rather ignore. Yet there are benefits in doing so, like realizing that many of our fears never materialize or seem much smaller with perspective. Facing fear and vulnerability is not a weakness but a strength. It means being brave enough to challenge whatever makes us smaller than we could otherwise be. Therapy can help us overcome that which limits us.
Q : Are KFR Counselling’s services confidential ?
Yes. Registered Social Workers are bound by a strict code of personal and professional ethics and subject to provincial and federal privacy legislation. An example of how strict these standards can be, is that I couldn’t even indicate that I know a client in public unless they engage me first. Confidentiality is of utmost importance and there are very few instances in which information can be shared without explicit consent, such as substantial evidence that someone is a danger to themselves or others. It’s important to have a full conversation about this during the first appointment so that everyone knows exactly what to expect.
Q : What is counselling like ?
The first session, some might refer to it as a meet and greet, typically begins by getting to know a little bit about each other. It’s good to review the details of confidentiality and chat to determine what someone is looking for in a counsellor, discuss comfort levels with sharing, and the preferred pace to set moving forward. In general, it should feel much like a conversation between equals where room for you to express yourself is prioritized. From time to time, I may ask questions to facilitate a deeper understanding or share a professional perspective to help someone gain more insight about their situation.
Q : What is consultation like ?
Consultation is primarily resource or problem-solving based professional advice. It involves collecting details in order to assess someone’s situation and provide tailored guidance for their circumstance and legwork in uncovering public or private resources, groups, organizations, funding, programs, housing, or solutions to their needs. Needs can vary from struggling to navigate publicly available health resources after a recent diagnosis, to aging in place, to… It can include contacting relevant agencies or authorities, finding contact information or programs, help with applications, etc… There is typically a goal in mind or someone has found themselves at a standstill with an existing unmet health related need.
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Q : What is a Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) ?
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Q : What is a Montréal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) ?
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Q : How many counselling sessions will I need ?
How many sessions you will need depends on the concern you wish to address. Some people may want one or two sessions to solve a straightforward problem while others may take more time to sort through complicated emotions. It is important to note that counselling sessions should not go on forever. You should feel like you are making progress and that counselling is having a positive impact on your wellbeing. It is the greatest reward as a counsellor and a sign of success when someone no longer needs my services.
Q : What delivery methods for counselling or consultation are available ?
I believe in meeting people where they are at in a way that’s customized for their needs. This is why counselling is available by phone or video call across Saskatchewan and in person in the Saskatoon or surrounding area.
Q : What online service platforms are used for phone or video call sessions ?
Phone or video call sessions are run through Apple Facetime which is securely end to end encrypted (E2EE). If you have an Android, Microsoft, or Linux device I can still email you a link to join the session provided you have the Microsoft Edge or Chrome web browser on your device.
Q : Where will in person sessions or meetings take place ?
Sometimes it is difficult to leave your home or arrange transportation to access services. You may be experiencing poor health/mobility or just feel better dealing with someone in person. I am happy to meet you in your home or at a mutually agreed upon location that is appropriate for the task at hand and meets the level of expected confidentiality (limited to Saskatoon and the surrounding area).
Q : How does medication relate to counselling ?
Biological origins of distress usually require medication and situational causes often merit counselling. Many studies indicate that therapy in combination with medical treatment is more effective than either alone. Working with your doctor can help determine whether one, the other, or both is the best course of treatment. There is no shame in using all the tools available to you if it results in a better quality of life.
Q : Are services covered by insurance ?
Insurance coverage varies according to company, provider, and policy. Services may not be covered so it is best to consult with your insurance provider to determine if services accessed through a Registered Social Worker (BSW, RSW) are an insured benefit of your plan. KFR counselling does not provide direct billing but can provide an insurance receipt should any applicable coverage require it.
Q : What methods of payment do you accept ?
All payment types are accepted (cash, cheque, e-transfer, interac, credit card, or mobile payment). Payments can be made in person, over the phone, or online through Square (the same platform we use for online booking).
Q : What is your cancellation policy ?
The most notice possible is appreciated. Cancellation can be made by the method in which the appointment was booked or by phone or text at (306) 221-8033.
Q : What is a safe space ?
A safe space is somewhere that you are treated with respect and your boundaries are recognized and adhered too. It is a place where you are spoken to with consideration and sensitivity. Somewhere you are not judged for being different or for your perceived shortcomings. There will be no assumptions, disrespectful language, mistreatment, or discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, neurotype, mental nor physical ability. Safe means you can be your true self with dignity.
Q : What is a Holistic Approach ?
A holistic perspective views someone as an interconnected whole rather than unrelated individual parts. It considers physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and situational aspects together rather than in isolation. It recognizes that all those elements combine to create the current circumstance and that an issue may be rooted in multiple or unexpected areas of one’s life.
Q : What is Solutions Focused Therapy ?
Solutions focused therapy is a goal-oriented method that concentrates on interventions for the future instead of reliving the past. It empowers individuals by exploring existing strengths, resources, and “exceptions” (times when the problem is absent) to foster rapid, practical, and sustainable results.
Q : What is Humanistic Therapy ?
Humanistic Therapy is a client-centred approach emphasizing an individual’s inherent drive toward growth and personal meaning. This form of talk therapy focuses on the present, recognizing someone’s behaviour is separate from who they are, and uses active listening and empathy to facilitate emotional healing without judgment. It aims to remain affirmative of someone’s worth, to build them up, improve their self-esteem, and foster self-awareness through thoughtful encouragement. It means not forgetting the person behind the struggle.
Q : What is Trauma Informed Therapy ?
Trauma Informed Therapy is a lens through which the counsellor views their clients while considering the widespread impact of trauma. Rather than just treating symptoms, this approach seeks to avoid re-traumatization by prioritizing safety, collaboration, choice, and empowerment while remaining attuned to how trauma affects an individual’s behaviour, self-regulation, and well-being.
Q : What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) ?
CBT targets upsetting emotions and dysfunctional patterns by changing the automatic and unexamined core thoughts or beliefs that cause them. What we believe has great power over how we see ourselves and the world. If we suffer from negative false beliefs and base our decisions on them our own actions or inactions can incorrectly confirm their validity. If this happens repeatedly our limiting misbeliefs become that much stronger and more entrenched. Testing and changing these self imposed thoughts or limits can completely change our lives when we understand that we unknowingly kept ourselves confined to the negative place, thought, mentality, or emotion we were in.
If you never consider something possible, in consequence it really isn’t, even if it was possible had you tried. If you stare at a closed door, fearing it is locked, and walk away believing it is, you’ll never know if you could have walked through it. In reality it might have been unlocked but because you believed it was, to you it was. Testing whether the door is really locked is central to CBT.
It recognizes that by interrupting reoccurring internal or external processes with some form of action, the brain has the capacity to remodel itself or the world around it. Laying new neural pathways and habits can cause persistent changes in how you think or feel.
The idea is that misconceptions in our mental reasoning and subsequent behaviour can distort our view of ourselves and the world around us with great consequence. Challenging or correcting these distortions can release us from the negativity that comes from what is really nothing more than a cruel mental mirage. When you can see yourself differently the world can too.
Q : What is Assisted Living ?
Assisted living, sometimes referred to as supported living, is a private housing arrangement between a residential organization and a fairly independent individual. There are many of these residences throughout Saskatchewan with varying amenities and services. Some are non-profit and offer subsidized or low-income accommodation while others are owned by large companies providing more expensive options.
Q : What is a Personal Care Home (PCH) ?
Sometimes called a private care home, a personal care home (PCH) is a privately-owned residential facility that provides accommodation, meals, and assistance with daily activities for seniors or adults needing more support than assisted living but less than long term care. These homes are licensed and monitored by the Ministry of Health under the Personal Care Homes Act but operate as private businesses that set their own fees. The individual is responsible for finding and arranging accommodation and will sign an agreement with the PCH operator. Cost may be partially subsidized by the government for those with limited funds.
Q : What is Long Term Care (LTC) ?
Long Term Care (LTC) facilities are partially funded by the government and sometimes referred to as nursing homes. Applicants must show a high need for complex care that cannot be met by assisted living or a personal care home. To qualify for placement a Saskatchewan Health Authority assessment is required and the criteria can vary regionally. Cost is based on income and applied on a sliding scale.