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Therapists Serving Ottawa, Ontario

Online Therapy in Ottawa

Therapists matched to you on purpose, booked in days. Secure video anywhere in Ontario, so nothing depends on the weather or the Queensway.

Book a Free Consultation Explore Ottawa Services
  • Evening and weekend options
  • Free 15 to 20 minute consultation
  • Sessions from $90
  • Receipts for your benefits plan

You’ve Been Meaning to Do This Since Last Winter

Most people who contact us in Ottawa have been thinking about it for months. They looked once, got a voicemail, sent an email, opened an intake form, got overwhelmed, decided things weren’t that bad, and carried it through another busy fall, another holiday with family, another grey February.

Then something small gives way. You cancel plans you were looking forward to. You sit in the car in the driveway for ten minutes before going inside. You realize you haven’t actually wanted to do anything in a while.

What people tell us they want is simple: a time that fits their week, often after work or once the kids are in bed, a therapist who actually gets it, and care where they don’t have to explain or defend who they are. Many of our therapists see clients in the evenings and some on weekends, and every session runs over secure video, so there is no drive downtown.

We also don’t hand you to whoever has a gap in their calendar. Matching is deliberate: what you’re carrying, how you like to be spoken to, and the background you’re bringing with you, including your culture, faith, sexuality, gender identity and neurodivergence.

Who We Work With in Ottawa

Ottawa is an easy city to look fine in for years. Our clients here tend to be people who have been managing beautifully and privately: the director who briefs upward all day and lies awake at two, the parent running the house on a shared calendar and five hours of sleep, the paramedic coming off four nights, the student at Carleton far from home, the couple who have become excellent co-parents and near strangers.

Nothing has broken yet. That is usually why people wait, and it is a good reason to start.

  • People pleasers who agree to the extra file, the extra favour and the extra weekend, and want to hold a boundary without a guilt spiral
  • Highly sensitive people who register every sigh in a meeting and arrive home with nothing left to give
  • Adults practising emotion regulation, so a hard moment gets handled when it happens instead of reheated for days
  • Parents in Kanata, Barrhaven or Orleans whose workday starts before their kids are up
  • Professionals and public servants riding out reorganizations, staffing freezes and files that never close
  • Students, residents and graduate researchers at uOttawa and Carleton, far from home and short on money
  • LGBTQ2S+ adults who want a therapist they don’t have to educate
  • Bilingual households where the language of the argument isn’t the language of the apology
  • Newcomers and families who relocate every few years and keep starting over
  • Adults recognizing ADHD or autism in themselves late, often after a child’s assessment
  • People in their forties whose sleep, worry or concentration have taken a turn, who suspect perimenopause is part of it and want someone to take that seriously
  • People who stopped enjoying things months ago and can’t point to a reason
  • Shift workers, on-call staff and first responders whose sleep is set by a rotation

Anxiety, ADHD and Trauma Counselling in Ottawa

Ask what brings people in here and three words come up again and again: anxiety, ADHD and trauma. They tend to travel together. On the outside it looks like someone who is very good at their job and always slightly braced. On the inside it is a mind that will not let a single email go unanswered.

Anxiety in this city often looks like competence. You prepare for the meeting twice, reread the message before you send it, and lie awake replaying a comment from a briefing. Your shoulders live up near your ears, your stomach knots on Sunday evening, and a quiet weekend feels oddly hard to sit through.

In a lot of cases the anxiety rests on ADHD nobody ever identified. School worked out because you put in double the effort. Working life ran on to-do lists, alarms and last-minute adrenaline, until a promotion, a baby or perimenopause added one more weight and the whole arrangement collapsed. Many people only see it when their own child is assessed and the report could have been written about them. It was never laziness or weak willpower.

Other times the source goes further back. If you learned as a child to read a parent’s expression to know what the evening held, your body may still be on watch long after you left that house. Emotional flashbacks, when a minor moment drops you into an old sense of being in trouble or on your own, are one marker of complex trauma. It does not take a dramatic event for this to count, and trauma therapy goes at the speed you choose.

Early sessions focus on what is happening for you today, then turn practical: separating a real problem from one you are rehearsing, setting up routines that suit how your attention works, and teaching your body to stand down when nothing is actually wrong. Some people want a focused few months; others want to trace the pattern back to its start.

People usually start with anxiety therapy or ADHD therapy, and plenty end up needing some of each. If it feels less like worry and more like going numb or getting swamped, emotion regulation could be the better place to begin.

The Three Questions Ottawa Clients Ask Before Booking

They come up in almost every consultation, and they deserve straight answers before you spend money or courage.

Your schedule

Can I fit this around my week?

Most people aren’t free at 2pm on a Tuesday. Many of our therapists see clients in the evenings and some on weekends, and because every session is online, you can log on from home once the kids are down, from a parked car on your lunch break, or between meetings. Tell us the windows that actually work when you book, and we match you with someone whose hours fit.

Fit

Will my therapist actually get me?

You should feel understood early, not after a month of background. We match you on what you’re carrying and who you are, including your culture, faith, sexuality, gender identity and neurodivergence, so your first sessions go to what brought you in rather than to explaining the basics.

Language

What if English isn’t where I feel things?

Plenty of Ottawa households run in two languages, and feelings don’t always translate cleanly. Tell us at booking which language you want to work in. We factor it into your match and we tell you honestly if we can’t meet it, instead of placing you with someone who is close enough on paper.

Wondering what your plan covers? Many workplace and student plans in Ottawa include psychotherapy, and extended health plans often cover sessions with a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying). Ask on your free consultation and we’ll help you work out which level fits.

What Ottawa Clients Come to Us For

Every one of these runs online over secure video, so the list is identical whether you’re logging on from Sandy Hill or Stittsville.

Not sure which door to use? Book a consultation and describe it in your own words. Sorting it into categories is our job, not yours. You can also browse all our services.

Therapists You Can Book From Ottawa

Every therapist on our team works by video, so whether you are in the Glebe or Barrhaven, your options stay the same. The therapists below often help with the concerns Ottawa clients bring. Read their profiles and book a free consultation with the person you feel would suit you.

Would you like to see the whole roster? Meet the full team here.

How It Works

First message to first session usually takes only days.

  1. Pick a Time

    Choose a time for your free 15 to 20 minute consultation and let us know briefly what you are dealing with.

  2. We Match You

    Using what you are working through, your communication style and your background, we select a therapist for you and confirm the time by email or text.

  3. Free Meet & Greet With Your Therapist

    Put your questions to them and decide whether the fit feels right. From there you book with them directly and can usually begin within days.

What Happens in Your Meet & Greet

Your meet & greet is for you to describe what is going on, what you would like therapy to change, your background and your goals, and to ask how the therapist tends to work. The real test is whether this person feels like a good fit. If they do, the next booking is made directly with them. If they do not, let us know and we will line up another therapist. In most cases the first match is a good one.

Individual sessions last 50 minutes over secure video. A private space and a stable connection are all you need.

Psychotherapist, Psychologist, Psychiatrist: Which One Does Your Plan Cover?

The three titles get used as though they were interchangeable, and benefits plans treat them very differently. Worth two minutes before you spend money guessing.

Talk therapy

Registered Psychotherapist

Trained in psychotherapy for anxiety, trauma, grief, relationships and big transitions. Regulated by the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO), which keeps a public register you can search by name. OHIP does not cover private sessions, though most extended health plans pay toward them.

Testing and diagnosis

Psychologist

Normally trained to the doctoral level and able to assess, diagnose and treat. Psychologists are the usual route to a formal assessment, so some people see one once and a psychotherapist every week. Regulated by the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario, and not covered by OHIP when seen privately.

Medication

Psychiatrist

A medical doctor who diagnoses and prescribes. OHIP covers the visits, which normally need a referral from your family doctor or nurse practitioner, and waits vary with that referral. You do not have to choose between medication and therapy; many people use both.

On our team you will find Registered Psychotherapists, Registered Psychotherapists (Qualifying) and pre-licensed Master’s-level psychotherapy interns. An RP (Qualifying) is a CRPO registrant who treats clients under clinical supervision on the way to full registration. Affordable Care sessions are with Master’s-level psychotherapy interns, supervised by highly experienced psychotherapists.

What We Offer

Special Approach to Every Client

We have three levels of service based on the experience of the clinician and your financial needs.

Affordable Care

$90
Per Session
  • Sessions completed with a Masters Level Resident Intern working under supervision.
  • Receipts provided for reimbursement.
  • Ideal for clients experiencing hardship.
Learn More

Sliding Scale

$100–$160
Per Session
  • Sessions completed with a Masters Level Resident Intern or Advanced Therapists offering sliding scale.
  • Receipts provided for reimbursement.
  • Ideal for clients with limited health insurance.
Learn More

Standard & Specialty

$170+
Per Session
  • Sessions completed with therapists with higher levels of experience or with specialized care with different issues.
  • Ideal for clients with health insurance coverage.
Learn More

All sessions are online over secure video. We don’t offer in-person therapy in Ottawa.

Extended health plans often cover sessions with a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), as well as sessions with a therapist supervised by a Registered Psychotherapist. Check your plan, and keep the receipt we send after every session.

Benefits, Receipts and the $90 Option

OHIP doesn’t cover private psychotherapy, for anyone, anywhere in the province. What most people use instead is a benefits plan, and Ottawa is full of people who have a good one and have never read it.

  • Go through your plan once, carefully. Look for the psychotherapy line, the yearly maximum, any cap per session and the designations it reimburses. Plans handle a Registered Psychotherapist, a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) and a supervised intern differently, and that detail sets your refund.
  • Keep every receipt. We issue one after each session with the details your insurer needs. It shows psychotherapy and nothing about the conversation.
  • Check for a health spending account. If your employer provides one, it can often be put toward therapy and can carry you once your main plan runs dry in the spring.
  • Sliding Scale, $100 to $160. For clients whose coverage is thin or nonexistent.
  • Affordable Care, $90. Sessions with a Master’s-level psychotherapy intern, for clients experiencing financial hardship.

If any fee is out of reach for now, the Ontario Structured Psychotherapy (OSP) Program offers free, publicly funded, short-term cognitive behavioural therapy to adults with depression, anxiety and related concerns.

From Westboro to Orleans, Wherever You Can Close a Door

Sessions happen wherever you can close a door. Clients log on from a home office in Westboro, a spare bedroom in Barrhaven, a parked car near Tunney’s Pasture on a lunch break, a student apartment in Sandy Hill with headphones in. In February, when it’s dark by five and the roads have turned to slush, the fact that nobody has to drive anywhere stops being a detail.

  • Centretown
  • ByWard Market
  • Sandy Hill
  • The Glebe
  • Old Ottawa South
  • Hintonburg
  • Westboro
  • Little Italy
  • Alta Vista
  • Vanier
  • Nepean
  • Gloucester
  • Kanata
  • Stittsville
  • Barrhaven
  • Orleans

One boundary worth naming: our therapists are registered in Ontario only, so we can work with you only while you are in Ontario for your sessions. If you live across the river in Gatineau, we aren’t able to see you, even if your office is downtown. Within Ontario, the upside is that you choose a therapist on fit rather than on who has a room near your building.

Mental Health Support in Ottawa Beyond Us

Ottawa has strong public mental health services, and some situations call for them rather than for us. These are the ones to keep handy.

In a crisis, call or text 9‑8‑8 any time, or call 911.

Ottawa Therapy Questions, Answered

Which parts of Ottawa do you work with?
All of it, because none of it involves driving. Centretown, Sandy Hill, the Glebe, Hintonburg, Westboro, Alta Vista, Vanier, Nepean, Kanata, Stittsville, Barrhaven, Orleans and the rural edges past them.
How soon can I start?
Generally within a few days. Book the free 15 to 20 minute consultation, we match you with a therapist, and you set up sessions with them directly, with evenings available from many of our therapists.
What does a session cost?
You can choose from three levels. Affordable Care costs $90 a session with Master’s-level psychotherapy interns. Sliding Scale is $100 to $160 a session. Standard & Specialty begins at $170 a session with our more experienced therapists. Each individual session is 50 minutes.
Could my employer find out I am in therapy?
We are a private practice with no connection to any employer. We do not contact your workplace, we do not bill through it, and your therapist is bound by the confidentiality obligations of a regulated health professional in Ontario, with the usual legal limits around risk of serious harm. Nothing is released without your written consent. If you claim sessions through a benefits plan, the plan sees a receipt for psychotherapy, not what you talked about. If your job has its own screening or reporting rules, those are set by your employer, so check with them directly.
Do I have to talk about my work?
No. Plenty of our clients sum up what they do in one sentence and never go further than that. The useful material is the pressure, the broken sleep, the flatness at home, the resentment you cannot say out loud, and none of that requires the contents of the file.
Can I ask for a therapist who works in French or in my first language?
Ask when you book, and we will be straight with you about whether we can match it rather than placing you with a near miss. It is worth raising even if your English is excellent, because for a lot of people the words for grief, shame and fear sit in the language they grew up in.
Does OHIP pay for any of this?
No. Private psychotherapy is not covered by OHIP anywhere in Ontario. Most extended health plans include it, and you get a receipt after each session to claim.
Do you offer direct billing to my insurance?
Not yet. We don’t currently offer direct billing, but we’re working on it. For now, you pay for each session and we send a receipt you can submit to your extended health plan for reimbursement.
Do you offer couples therapy and marriage counselling in Ottawa?
Yes. Couples work, marriage counselling and relationship counselling are all part of what we do, online over secure video. Bring the argument you keep having, not a polished summary of it.
My partner works shifts. Can we still do couples sessions together?
Yes. With online sessions you can sit on the same couch or log in from two separate screens, which is often the only way a rotating schedule and a regular office day line up in the same hour. Bring up timing and fees at your free consultation.
Do you offer EMDR therapy?
Yes, EMDR is one of the approaches on our team, and it is delivered over video like everything else. If EMDR is specifically what you are after, say so when you book and we will factor it into your match.
I am a student at uOttawa or Carleton. Is there a cheaper option?
Yes. Affordable Care is $90 a session with a Master’s-level psychotherapy intern, and Sliding Scale ranges from $100 to $160 for thinner coverage. Look at your student health plan too, as many cover some psychotherapy, and every session comes with a receipt.
What happens if I get posted somewhere else in Ontario?
You keep your therapist. Sessions are online and our therapists are registered across Ontario, so a move to Kingston, Pembroke or Thunder Bay changes nothing about your appointments. A move to Quebec or another province does.
Do you have appointments outside office hours?
Many of our therapists offer evenings and some offer weekends. Earlier mornings depend on the individual therapist. Tell us the windows that actually work around your rotation or your compressed schedule when you book, and we will treat that as part of the match instead of an afterthought.
Do I need a referral from my family doctor?
No. In Ontario you can see a Registered Psychotherapist without one. The only snag is that some benefits plans require a referral before reimbursing, so check yours first.
What credentials do your therapists have?
Your therapist will be a Registered Psychotherapist, a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) or a pre-licensed Master’s-level psychotherapy intern. The first two are registered with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. Affordable Care sessions are with Master’s-level psychotherapy interns, supervised by highly experienced psychotherapists.
I would rather sit in a room with someone. Why online?
It is a fair preference, and research on online therapy for concerns like anxiety and depression has found outcomes comparable to in-person work. What online adds here is practical: no parking, no forty minute drive in from Orleans, no cancelling because of freezing rain, and a choice of therapist based on fit rather than on who happens to have an office near yours.

Also Serving Eastern Ontario

Same team, same fees, wherever you are in the province.

Booking from somewhere else? Browse every area we serve.

Ready to Start Therapy in Ottawa?

Book a free 15 to 20 minute video consultation with a therapist matched to you.

Book a Free Consultation

or call / text 289‑270‑1220

True Self Counselling is not a crisis service. If you are in crisis, call or text 9‑8‑8 any time, or call 911 in an emergency.