Online Depression Counselling Across Ontario
Depression Therapy in Ontario
When everything feels heavy and nothing feels good, getting help shouldn’t be one more thing you can’t start. Work with a therapist matched to you, online, with no waitlist.
- No waitlist
- Secure video sessions
- Reduced-fee sessions available
- Receipts for extended health benefits
What Depression Feels Like Day to Day
Depression isn’t always crying or staying in bed. For many people it arrives as flatness, a grey stretch where feeling good and feeling terrible have both gone quiet.
You wake up tired no matter how long you slept. Showering, eating and answering messages take an effort nobody else can see, and things you used to look forward to become items on a list.
Then there’s the voice. Depression turns your attention inward, so every ordinary stumble becomes evidence about who you are: lazy, behind, a burden. From the inside it feels like honesty, which makes it hard to argue with alone.
Some people feel it in the body, with heavy limbs and sleep that won’t come or won’t end. Others notice it first in motivation, in the gap between knowing what would help and being able to begin. You don’t have to wait for it to get worse to talk to someone.
What People Work On With Us
Depression shows up differently depending on what sits underneath. These are common reasons people begin.
Anxiety
Depression and Anxiety Together
A flat mood and a mind that won’t stop scanning often arrive as a pair. About anxiety therapy
Exhaustion
Burnout or Depression?
Work out whether the exhaustion is your job, depression, or both.
High functioning
Functioning Depression
You hit deadlines and answer messages, and still nothing feels good.
Energy
Sleep and Motivation
Rebuild rest, movement and small daily structure when willpower alone isn’t doing it.
Self-worth
A Harsh Inner Critic
Recognize the voice that calls you lazy or a burden, and answer it.
Loss
Low Mood After Loss
Grief and depression overlap. Support for when sadness settles in and stays. About grief counselling
Neurodiversity
ADHD and Depression
Years of masking, unfinished plans and self-blame wear mood down. About ADHD therapy
Trauma
Depression After Trauma
When low mood sits on top of something older that never got processed. About CPTSD therapy
Identity
2SLGBTQ+ Clients
Affirming support from therapists who won’t ask you to explain yourself. About affirming therapy
Is Depression Therapy Right for You?
You don’t need a diagnosis or a set number of bad weeks to be worth talking to someone. If low mood has been shaping your days and you’d like that to change, that’s enough.
Therapy helps most when you have somewhere honest to put all of it, including the parts you don’t say out loud.
Depression therapy may be a good fit if you:
- Have lost interest in things that used to matter
- Feel exhausted in a way that sleep doesn’t fix
- Are getting through work while feeling empty underneath
- Criticize yourself harder than you’d speak to anyone else
- Notice low mood and anxiety feeding each other
- Can’t tell whether this is burnout, depression or both
How Depression Therapy Works
Getting started is simple, and everything happens online.
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Pick a Time
Choose a free 15 to 20 minute consultation slot and tell us a little about what’s going on.
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We Match You
Behind the scenes, we pair you with a therapist based on what you’re working through, how you like to work and your background, then confirm your appointment by email or text.
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Free Meet & Greet With Your Therapist
Ask your questions and assess fit. Start sessions within days and schedule with them directly.
What Therapy for Depression Involves
Depression therapy isn’t a lecture about positive thinking. It’s practical work on the loop you’re stuck in, paced for how little fuel you have.
What CBT for Depression Looks Like
Cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, is one of the most studied approaches to depression. The idea is straightforward: thoughts, feelings and actions pull on each other. When you’re depressed the thoughts turn harsh and absolute, which pushes you to withdraw and gives them more evidence.
CBT interrupts that loop. You and your therapist catch a specific thought, something like “I always ruin things,” and treat it as a claim rather than a fact. Over weeks you get faster at doing that yourself. It isn’t about pretending things are fine, it’s about no longer taking depression’s first draft as the final word.
Behavioural Activation, in Plain Words
When you’re depressed, motivation tends to arrive after the action, not before it. Behavioural activation works with that order. You and your therapist pick something small and specific, a ten minute walk, one message to a friend, opening the laptop for a single task, small enough to actually happen and clear enough to notice what it does to your mood.
Your First Session
Your therapist will ask what brought you in, how long it has felt this way and what has helped before. You don’t need to arrive with it organized.
What Progress Tends to Look Like
Progress is rarely one big lift. You answer a message the same day. You’re tired but you go anyway. A bad afternoon stays an afternoon instead of becoming a bad week. The critical voice still shows up, and you recognize it as a voice rather than a verdict.
Some people come for a focused stretch of sessions, others stay longer. Your therapist will check in on goals as you go.
Approaches Our Depression Therapists Draw On
Depending on who you work with, your sessions may draw on one or more of these, adapted to you and grounded in a trauma-informed way of working.
Trauma-informed and goal-oriented. If your family history or past experiences are relevant, your therapist can explore them with you, while keeping sessions focused on the goals you came in with. The work is paced with you, so you are never pushed into feelings that are too overwhelming, or left on your own to figure out how to manage them.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Works on the harsh thinking depression produces and the withdrawal that keeps it fed, including behavioural activation.
Emotion-Focused Therapy
Makes room for the feelings under the flatness, including what numbness is often covering.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Builds your ability to have a hard feeling without being run by it, and to act on what matters on a low day.
Solution-Focused Therapy
Starts from what is still working, however small, and the concrete next steps from there.
Narrative Therapy
Separates you from the problem, so “I’m a failure” becomes a story depression tells rather than a fact.
Somatic and Nervous System Work
Attends to the physical side of depression, the heaviness, shutdown and exhaustion.
No idea what you need? That’s a normal starting point, and you don’t have to work it out before you get help. Book a free consultation and we’ll talk it through — working out what would suit you is part of what the call is for.
Know what you’re looking for? Tell us when you book and we’ll match you with a therapist who works that way.
How to Support Someone Who Is Depressed
If you’re reading this for a partner, friend or family member, the fact that you’re looking already helps. Depression tells people they’re a burden, so steady contact matters more than perfect words.
- Ask plainly how they’re doing, then leave room for the honest answer
- Offer something specific, like a walk on Sunday or a ride, instead of “let me know if you need anything”
- Do the small logistics with them rather than for them where you can
- Go easy on advice, since tips about exercise and gratitude land badly on someone struggling with basics
- Notice their effort out loud, especially the invisible kind
- Keep inviting them even when the answer is usually no
If they tell you they’re thinking about suicide, take it seriously, stay with them, and call or text 9‑8‑8 together. Call 911 if there is immediate danger. Asking directly doesn’t plant the idea.
Therapists Who Work With Depression
These therapists list depression among their areas of focus. We’ll help you find the right fit.
Our team includes Registered Psychotherapists and Registered Psychotherapists (Qualifying). Meet the full team.
What Depression Therapy Costs
We offer different price points depending on your needs and your therapist’s qualifications. Every session comes with a receipt for your extended health benefits.
Affordable Care$90Sessions completed with a Masters Level Resident Intern working under supervision. Ideal for clients experiencing hardship.
Sliding Scale$100–$160Sessions completed with a Masters Level Resident Intern or Advanced Therapists offering sliding scale. Ideal for clients with limited health insurance.
Standard & Specialty$170+Sessions completed with therapists with higher levels of experience or with specialized care with different issues. Ideal for clients with health insurance coverage.
Your 15 to 20 minute consultation is free. Fees vary by therapist. OHIP does not cover private psychotherapy. See our affordable care, sliding scale and standard options. Individual sessions are 50 minutes.
Using Your Benefits
Many extended health benefit plans cover psychotherapy. Check which provider types your plan covers, and keep in mind that a Health Spending Account may cover sessions too. We provide a receipt after every session so you can submit your claim.
Online Depression Therapy Anywhere in Ontario
Because every session is online, you can see the same therapist wherever you live, without finding energy for a commute.
- TorontoOnline therapy
- OttawaOnline therapy
- MississaugaOnline therapy
- HamiltonOnline therapy
Related Services
Frequently Asked Questions About Depression Therapy
How much does depression therapy cost?
Sessions are $90 through Affordable Care with our Masters Level Resident Interns, who work under supervision, $100 to $160 on our Sliding Scale, and $170+ for Standard & Specialty sessions with our most experienced therapists. Your 15 to 20 minute consultation is free, fees can vary by therapist, and every session comes with a receipt for your extended health benefits provider.
Does OHIP cover therapy for depression?
OHIP does not cover private psychotherapy. Many extended health benefit plans include psychotherapy coverage, and we provide receipts after each session for you to submit.
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.
Is there a waitlist for depression therapy?
No. True Self Counselling has no waitlist. Most people book a free consultation and begin therapy within days.
How does online depression therapy work?
Every session takes place over secure video, so you can attend from anywhere in Ontario. You book a free 15 to 20 minute consultation, we match you behind the scenes with a therapist who fits what you’re working through, and you meet them for a free meet & greet before starting sessions online.
Does CBT work for depression?
Cognitive behavioural therapy is one of the most studied approaches to depression, and many of our therapists draw on it. CBT works on two things at once: the harsh thoughts depression produces, and the withdrawal that feeds them.
Can therapy help with depression and anxiety at the same time?
Yes, and the two often travel together. A flat mood and a mind that will not stop scanning feed each other, so therapy works on both rather than as separate projects.
What is the difference between burnout and depression?
Burnout is usually tied to a situation, most often work or caregiving, and eases when the load genuinely changes. Depression follows you into the weekend and the new job, and flattens interest and self-worth more broadly. They overlap often, and your therapist can help you tell them apart.
Do I need a referral to see a depression therapist?
No. You don’t need a doctor’s referral. Some extended health benefit plans ask for one before they reimburse psychotherapy, so it’s worth checking your plan.
What about medication for depression?
We are psychotherapists, not prescribers, so any question about medication belongs with your physician. Whatever you decide with them, your therapist can work alongside it.
How can I support someone with depression and anxiety?
Ask plainly how they are and leave room for the honest answer, offer something specific rather than “let me know if you need anything,” and go easy on advice. If you are worried about suicide, ask directly and call or text 9‑8‑8 together.
Ready to Start Depression Therapy?
Book a free 15 to 20 minute video consultation with a therapist matched to you.
or call / text 289‑270‑1220
True Self Counselling is not a crisis service. If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 9‑8‑8 any time, or call 911 in an emergency.