Frequently asked questions

Yes. Westpeak Wellness is currently accepting new clients across British Columbia. The best first step is a free 15-minute consultation, where we can see if we're a good fit before you commit to anything.

Yes. Westpeak Wellness is a fully virtual practice, with no office and no in-person sessions, serving clients across British Columbia. Sessions take place over a secure, confidential video platform: all you need is a private space and a stable internet connection. Online sessions follow the same ethical, legal, and privacy standards as in-person therapy.

Online only. There is no office and no in-person option: the free 15-minute consultation and every session after it are by secure video. Once you book, the link arrives by email and opens in your browser, with nothing to install and no account to create. All you need is a private space, a phone, tablet or computer, and a stable connection. You are never required to be on camera to be in a session. Sessions are never recorded.

Not at the moment. Sessions are for people located in British Columbia. What counts is where you are during each session, not your permanent address, because a session counts as delivered where the client is sitting. Booking from a counsellor's own page opens that counsellor's calendar.

No fixed opening hours are published. Open times come from each counsellor’s own calendar, and the booking page shows the real ones. The free consultation is 15 minutes. The practice is online only, with no office and no walk-in address, and the best way to reach it is by email, at info@westpeakwellness.com. A directory listing that shows a street address, opening hours, in-person sessions or a consultation of any other length is not maintained by the practice; where it disagrees with this site, this site is current.

Book a free 15-minute consultation. It's a relaxed video call to ask questions, share a bit about what's going on, and see whether working together feels right, no commitment required.

For most practical purposes in BC, yes. A counselling session is a health-care appointment for sick-leave purposes. The Employment Standards Act's sick days cover attending to your health, and you never owe an employer the detail. For taxes, the medical expense tax credit generally does not apply to fees paid to a Registered Clinical Counsellor in BC until psychotherapy is regulated (from 29 November 2027), because the CRA does not yet list BC counsellors as authorized practitioners; check with whoever prepares your return. What it is not: an MSP-billed physician visit, which is why payment runs through you or your extended health plan rather than your CareCard.

Sessions are paid by credit card at the time you book, not at the end of the hour. Cancelling or moving a paid session with at least 24 hours’ notice gets a full refund. With less than 24 hours’ notice, or for a no-show, 50% of the fee is kept. The time was held and cannot realistically be filled at that notice. The client portal sets out the whole process, including what happens if something unavoidable comes up. To cancel or move a session, reply to your confirmation or reminder email, or write to info@westpeakwellness.com. No phone call and no reason are needed. The free consultation carries no fee, so moving it costs nothing.

It depends on your plan, not the insurer. Many BC extended health plans include Registered Clinical Counsellors (RCC), and the insurers behind them include Pacific Blue Cross, Manulife, Sun Life, Canada Life and Green Shield. If your plan lists RCCs, sessions here qualify: every session comes with a receipt showing the counsellor's RCC designation to claim with. Amounts and per-session limits vary, so check your benefits booklet or ask the insurer. BC's public MSP does not cover private counselling. Plans that list an RCC usually reimburse a video session on the same terms as in person, but this depends on the plan. Ask: are virtual sessions with an RCC eligible, and on the same maximum?

BC has a substantial amount of free and low-cost mental health support that many people do not know about: health authority services, Foundry for anyone under 25, Here2Talk for post-secondary students, employee assistance programs through work, and university training clinics. Those are worth exploring, and it is a reasonable thing to raise on a consultation call.

Individual sessions are $140 for 50 minutes, couples are $175 for 50 minutes (or $340 for a 110-minute extended session), and EMDR intensives are $190 for 90 minutes. There is no GST on RCC counselling in BC. Full details are on the Fees page.

Not directly, psychiatric referrals in BC route through a physician or nurse practitioner. What a counsellor does in practice: recognises when psychiatric assessment is needed, says so plainly, writes a summary you can hand your doctor (there is one already written), and with your written consent communicates with them directly. The referral letter carries more weight when the GP can see months of documented counselling behind it, so the counsellor is often the reason the referral happens, just not the signature on it.

Yes. Camille Granda works in Tagalog and English, including moving between the two inside one session, so there is no need to translate your family or your context before you can talk about them. Tagalog-speaking counselling explains how it works.

Yes. Sessions are available in Punjabi, English, or a mix of both. Some things land better in your first language, and you won't have to translate your cultural context to be understood.

Sessions are 50 minutes. Most people start weekly or biweekly to build momentum, then space sessions out as things improve. There's no set number of sessions, you're always in control of the pace.

The first session is about your story: what brought you in, what you're hoping for, and what "better" would look like. It's also a chance to get comfortable with how your counsellor works. There's no pressure to have everything figured out; that's what the work is for. Before the first paid session you sign the practice’s consent form, which puts the limits of confidentiality and the 24-hour cancellation rule in writing. Session one then covers what brought you, some history, current concerns and safety, and you can decline to go into anything.

Because soliciting testimonials from counselling clients is prohibited under BCACC advertising standards. Someone inside a therapeutic relationship cannot give uncoerced consent to be used as marketing. What this practice publishes instead, and how to check a counsellor's registration on the public register yourself, is set out in full on the reviews and references page.

Yes. It is built to WCAG 2.1 AA and tested for colour contrast, keyboard navigation and touch-target size. The accessibility page sets out what has been done and how to report anything that does not work for you. Those reports are welcome and are treated as defects rather than complaints.

Yes. Everything you share is confidential and protected under BCACC's code of ethics and BC privacy law. The limits are risk of serious harm to you or someone else, a child or vulnerable adult at risk of abuse or neglect, or a court order, and they are set out in writing before your first session.

Nothing goes to your employer, your family, your doctor or your insurer without your written consent. A receipt you claim with shows that a session took place, the fee and the counsellor’s RCC designation, not what was said; an RCC does not diagnose, so there is no diagnosis on it either. Receipts and booking emails go only to the email address you give, so a personal address keeps them out of a work inbox. Session notes are brief working notes, not transcripts, held in Cliniko’s Canadian region, and sessions are never recorded. What an insurer reports to the employer that sponsors the plan is set by the plan, not by this practice, so if that matters to you, ask the plan. Confidentiality has legal limits, which are risk of serious harm to you or someone else, a child or vulnerable adult at risk of abuse or neglect, or a court order.

Westpeak Wellness is not a crisis service. If you're in distress, call or text 9-8-8 (Canada's suicide crisis line, available 24/7) or the BC Mental Health Support Line at 310-6789. If you're in immediate danger, call 911.