For the appointment
Bring this to your doctor.
You do not need a referral to see a counsellor in British Columbia. You may still want your doctor in the loop — and family-practice appointments are short. This is the page to print and hand over.
Do you need a referral to see a counsellor in BC?
No. You can book a Registered Clinical Counsellor directly, today, without your doctor knowing about it. There is no waiting list to be placed on and no form for anyone to sign.
The reason is worth understanding, because it explains a lot of the confusion. Referrals exist where a public payer or a specialist’s office requires one — psychiatry, for instance, which is a medical specialty billed to MSP. Counselling by an RCC is not billed to MSP at all; it is paid privately or through extended health. There is no gate, because nobody is standing at one. What MSP covers and what it does not sets out the division in full.
One consequence people find genuinely useful: a doctor’s note is not needed to start counselling, and it is not needed to use the twelve ICBC-funded sessions available after a crash either. The note is only ever needed for the thing it is actually about — time off work.
What is worth asking your GP for
A referral is not on this list, because it does not exist. These are the things a family doctor can do that a counsellor cannot, and the ones worth spending a short appointment on:
- A medical review before you conclude it is psychological. Thyroid function, iron, B12, sleep apnoea and medication side effects all produce symptoms that read as low mood or anxiety. Counselling does not rule any of them out.
- A medication conversation. Counsellors do not prescribe. Where medication is part of the picture, the work runs alongside a prescriber rather than instead of one.
- A note for a leave, and the paperwork that follows. Only a physician or nurse practitioner can certify one. The work-and-leave cluster covers what to ask for and in what order.
- A referral to psychiatry or for formal assessment. A diagnosis, an ADHD or autism assessment, or cognitive testing needs a psychiatrist or a registered psychologist — how those routes actually work in BC is honest about the waits.
- Coordination, if you want it. Nothing is shared with a doctor without your written consent. If you do want your counsellor and your GP talking to one another, say so and it can be arranged — and if you do not, that is the default.
The sheet below is the part to print. Press Ctrl + P (⌘ + P on a Mac) and choose your printer or “Save as PDF”. The site navigation, buttons and forms drop away automatically.
For the treating physician
Westpeak Wellness — practice summary
Virtual counselling practice serving adults across British Columbia. Sessions are provided by a Registered Clinical Counsellor (MA, RCC), verifiable in the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors register. No physician referral is required for a patient to book.
Delivery and access
- Format: video sessions only; no in-person office.
- Area served: Virtual counselling across British Columbia.
- Languages: English & Punjabi.
- Population: adults and couples.
- Access: a free 15-minute consultation is booked directly by the patient at www.westpeakwellness.com/book. No intake paperwork is required before it.
Common presentations seen
Anxiety, depression and low mood, trauma and PTSD (including EMDR), burnout and work-related stress, grief, relationship and couples work, and cultural and intergenerational strain in South Asian families. Approaches used are listed at www.westpeakwellness.com/approaches.
Scope limits — what this practice does not do
- No diagnosis. An RCC does not diagnose mental disorders. Where a formal diagnosis is needed for a claim, an accommodation or a medication decision, that remains with medicine or psychology.
- No prescribing or medication adjustment.
- No formal psychological assessment — psychoeducational, ADHD, autism and cognitive testing all require a registered psychologist.
- No court-ordered or forensic work, including custody and parenting evaluations or any assessment intended as evidence.
- Not a crisis service. Sessions are scheduled and there is no on-call line. Urgent presentations should go to 9-1-1, 9-8-8, or BC Mental Health Support at 310-6789.
- Not a fit for every presentation. Active psychosis, an eating disorder requiring medical monitoring, or substance dependence requiring withdrawal management are referred on rather than taken on.
Fees and funding
| Session | Length | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Initial consultation | 30 min | Free |
| Individual counselling | 50 min | $140 |
| Couples counselling | 50 min | $175 |
| EMDR intensive | 90 min | $190 |
Not billed to MSP. Many BC extended-health plans reimburse a Registered Clinical Counsellor — patients should check that their plan names the RCC designation specifically. Patients injured in a motor vehicle crash are pre-approved by ICBC for twelve counselling sessions in the first twelve weeks, with no physician note required to begin.
Contact and information sharing
Practice enquiries: info@westpeakwellness.com. Clinical information is released only with the patient’s written consent; a request for a consent form can be made through the same address. Standards, ethics and the complaints route are published in full at www.westpeakwellness.com/standards.
If your doctor wants to refer someone here
There is no referral form and none is needed — the patient books the free consultation themselves, which is also how they find out whether this is the right place before anyone commits. Clinics that would rather send information first can write to info@westpeakwellness.com, and the enquiry form reaches the same inbox.
Where this practice is not the right fit, saying so is the normal outcome of a consultation rather than a failure of one, and free and low-cost counselling in BC is the list worth having in the room for the patients for whom cost is the actual barrier.
Therapy starts with one conversation.
Book a free 15-minute consultation over secure video. No pressure — just a chance to see if we’re a good fit.
Book Free ConsultationLooking on behalf of someone else? What to send them, and what not to — including the funded routes most people do not know they qualify for.